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The only podcast covering all things Arizona State athletics! We bleed maroon and gold, and love talking about the Sun Devils no matter what sport.
Tom Hardon (00:01)
Welcome in, Sun Devil fans, to another episode of Echo from the Buttes. I'm your host, Tom Harden. With me, I have Andrew Hazlett and Austin Bundy. And it's Hall of Fame Week from Mountain America Stadium. Big matchup against the number seven ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders. A game that at the start of the season was viewed as a possible Big 12 championship game preview. Now, Sun Devil's coming off a loss in Salt Lake City. This is...
Andrew Hayslett (00:27)
you
Tom Hardon (00:29)
It's an effort to save the championship game bid for the Sun Devils. ⁓ Andrew, we'll start with you. Practice this week. What have we been seeing out of the team in practice?
Andrew Hayslett (00:42)
Yeah, on Tuesday we saw a lot of intensity on Wednesday too. Tuesday ⁓ we saw actual tackling in practice for a little bit on when the first, I think it was the second team or when the good on good was happening, not against the scout team. We saw some tackling there, which is trying to get that intensity up. And on Wednesday, what we saw is Jordan Tice.
and Miles Rouser, they were barking at each other at one point in the 11 on 11s after Tyson made a good catch. They were going down the field and then it was Alfred and a couple other guys on defense had to get in on Rouser to kind of hold them back just.
Showing that intensity is that these guys are hungry. They want it and they feel that their season Could potentially be on the line this week
Tom Hardon (01:49)
Awesome with that intensity does that does that say to you that these guys are just straight up turning the page from last week's loss?
Austen Bundy (01:56)
Yeah, absolutely. mean, Kenny's going to get him ready. What happened happened last week does not matter anymore. This week is the beginning of the rest of the season. You focus on what you can control what's in front of you, and that's going to be Texas Tech coming into Mountain America Stadium. The intensity at practice shows that these guys are pissed. They really want to avenge the losses this season, prove that they are the Peach Bowl team that we saw last season, that they still have a versatile offense.
They still have a strong defense and hopefully getting Sam Levitt back. He's probable right now in the injury report, but hopefully getting him back on Saturday is going to really give a boost to this offense ⁓ and hopefully catch the Red Raiders by surprise that ⁓ the real Sun Devils are gonna step up here.
Tom Hardon (02:46)
the team. We did see the drop of the uniforms to be worn on Saturday, and I think that they are spectacular.
wearing white at home for the first time since 2015. Gold shell with the 70s style sunburst logo and actually in an inverse of what the team actually wore during that 1975 season. This logo is reminiscent of the 76 to 79 years. But still that classic sunburst with the gold tails, gold pants and white shoes. The striping on the shoulders is very, you know, very retro. It's got the sparky patch.
On your first look of these jerseys, Andrew, what were your thoughts?
Andrew Hayslett (03:41)
I liked them. I think it's really cool to do a throwback uniform. Don't really often see that in college as much as the NFL, I think. But I think it's really cool. It's gonna be weird to see them wearing white.
at home, that's opposed to a maroon or a gold or a black or whatever color they want to roll out. I don't, I don't remember the last time they wore white at home off the top of my head, but something cool, something different, and I'm, and I'm all for it.
Tom Hardon (04:16)
And ⁓ that game would have been in 2015 against New Mexico for a whiteout early in the season. ⁓ Makes sense with that being a late August, early September game, wear white while the temps are hot. Austin, I'll pivot that to you. Do you think that wearing white at home at this point in the season, do you think that?
is maybe creating an inadvertent advantage for Texas Tech being able to come in in their all dark uniforms and with their fan base and their dark attire as well.
Austen Bundy (04:50)
⁓ I mean, we all know look good, play good. Sun Devils look good. I think they're going to play good in those. But wearing white at home is a tradition that really only stopped being a thing in the last like 20 years or so. ⁓ NFL teams, college teams, they all wore whites at home for the better part of the last century. So this is a hearkening back to an older era of football in general. And I mean, I'm all for it. I love wearing our colors and showing them off at home, but like,
Going back to some tradition wearing white at home, especially the the white uniforms that are harkening back to that exact era in 75 These are the kind of uniforms That's the kind of white that you would have seen the Sun Devils wearing at Sun Devil Stadium back in the day anyways And I'd like to Andrew's point you're seeing a lot more of these throwback uniforms in college football I believe Wisconsin had their own throwbacks last year that were very popular. They wore them again this year, I believe ⁓
I like when college football is in these college programs that are very much about the modernizing, very much about having different looks and being unique. ⁓ I'm very happy to see a lot of their jersey and branding partners ⁓ embracing the retro and instead of ⁓ coming up with something experimental, recycling what's already worked. And we know these 75 uniforms, the ASU sunburst, ASU's got a lot of great logos.
in their history but the Sunburst is one of the best of them. We saw the hockey team wear them on their jerseys and on their helmets last season and that was a fantastic decision. So the fact that ASU has been able to come up with winning combinations across different sports. ⁓ I just think again you look good, play good, fan base is gonna love it. Doesn't matter if they're wearing white, orange, whatever as long as you're out there playing football I think the Sun Devils are gonna play up to the competition this weekend.
Tom Hardon (06:46)
The Sun Devils did wear a variation of these throwbacks in the pandemic impacted 2020 season as well. The only home game of the year against UCLA. Unfortunately fans ⁓ at large were not able to see these. Only a handful of team support staff were able to see it in person. So this will be a great opportunity for the fan base to get excited, get behind these jerseys and
Who knows, I expect to see a few dozen of them worn by fans throughout the stadium on Saturday. With Hall of Fame weekend as well, we would be remiss if we did not address the inductees to this year's Hall of Fame. First and foremost, that 1975 Sun Devil football team will be so honored. Several members of that team have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame themselves, but now we see the team as a whole.
inducted into the hall. Also joining the class of 2025 will be Troy Young, Paul Asmuth, Ryan Bader, Dallas Escobedo, Jeff Ayers, Kelly Farquharson, and Gary Donnelly. What do you guys make of this class of Sun Devils going into the hall?
Austen Bundy (08:05)
It's a solid class. mean, obviously, like these are big names in school history. ⁓ I personally, I think I would love it's not going to happen, but personally, I kind of love to see the see Graham Racini and the athletic department decide to ⁓ claim that seventy five national championship and hang the banner in Mountain America Stadium for the fan base. I believe we wrote about it on Devils in Detail before the season started. But that that ASU team was voted national
Tom Hardon (08:05)
Austin, we'll start with you.
Austen Bundy (08:35)
⁓ the
If UCF can claim a national championship in 2017 without going to the college football playoff and ⁓ darn who was it that just recently, ⁓ Auburn. Auburn just claimed like four national championships from the 40s ⁓ for their football team. I mean if they can do this and do that in retrospect in the SEC why can't ASU go and claim a 75 national championship back when they were in the whack.
Tom Hardon (09:31)
And I think Auburn was what really set this hypothesis off as well.
Andrew Hayslett (09:32)
Bye.
My question is, does this mean Arizona State can claim innovation awards from way back in the day too as well? 11 years of innovation, but...
Austen Bundy (09:53)
Number one in innovation since 1886.
Tom Hardon (09:53)
as far as I can tell.
Andrew Hayslett (09:57)
But going back to the ⁓ topic at hand, it's obviously a very prestigious class, a very ⁓ high talented group. ⁓ Dallas Escobedo is a name that kind of sticks out to me, the softball pitcher. Softball has been a ⁓ very successful program at this school, especially around those mid 2000s years in particular. So I think it's cool to see just every sport have.
people into the Hall of Fame. It's just not a football and basketball club. It's truly an everyone club.
Tom Hardon (10:36)
Absolutely, seeing everybody get represented is really what you like to see. All sports are worthy of recognition for their contributions to the athletic department as a whole. Looking ahead to this weekend, there's no way around it. Texas Tech is...
A daunting opponent to say the least and in our previews for Devils in Detail, we have not been any too. Shall we say optimistic about these chances going into the week? Texas Tech boasts a very, very high powered offense and a stout defense top 10 at least top 15 in in both passing and rushing offenses and defenses. ⁓
Andrew, what have some of the, in addition to the live tackling that you've seen in practice, have you seen ⁓ any additions to the plate calling that haven't been present in practice?
Andrew Hayslett (11:43)
Not really, and I thought Tom you were supposed to be the optimist here.
Tom Hardon (11:48)
Well, you know, I gotta be a Rueless every once in a while. Can't let Austin have all the fun.
Austen Bundy (11:54)
Yeah
Andrew Hayslett (11:55)
Yeah, I hadn't really seen anything out of the ordinary. just practiced. Other than the live tackling, kind of just felt business as usual to an extent. Nothing to me jumped out of the ordinary with anything in particular. ⁓ Just business as usual, trying to just...
get all the details right and I think they can, there's the chance for them to do that on Saturday.
Tom Hardon (12:32)
Texas Tech is possibly going to be without their starting quarterback, Baron Morton. Will Hammond, the backup, came in last week against Kansas. they present two very different strategies when you're looking to defend at the quarterback position. Austin, with Morton being a more passing quarterback and with Hammond being the running quarterback, who would you rather face if you are the Sun Devil defense?
Austen Bundy (13:01)
Can I say neither? They were both pretty scary. I Morton, we've seen previously in the season, up defenses through the air. And then Hammonds was running all over that Kansas defense. I mean, granted, Kansas is probably not the best case study for a solid defense in the Big 12 this year. But it's still going to prove a gigantic challenge considering how poor ASU has fared against mobile quarterbacks.
We saw last week ⁓ with Devin Dan Peer running all over our defense and we could hardly stop him at any point. I feel like I would rather take my chance with Morton considering that.
if you can pressure him enough and if maybe he wants to sit in that pocket for a little bit or you want to force him out and make him uncomfortable I think you might have a little bit better of a chance in that case. I'm not sure if ASU survives with a pass rush that forces someone like Hammond who can move quick and get out of the pocket and pick up first downs when you've already committed up the middle in the pass rush. ⁓ That's where I think I'm a little
This is there's a week you want Morton to come back early. This would be the week ⁓ Because you would hope that maybe you rush it back a little bit. He's not fully there They have to make changes at halftime, perhaps ⁓ You you either way, I think this ASU defense is going to be tested by whatever quarterback they get ⁓ I think Morton presents a little bit better of the of the matchup even though our secondary is still banged up and is not as effective
as they have as they could be their potential they've not lived up to it yet ⁓ but I think I would rather take chances with Morton handing off the ball and having to force having to prove it through the air like he's done earlier in the year Hammond I feel like as much as he's got a little less experience ASU has just been burned by mobile quarterbacks and I'm not sure that's going to be the wisest the wisest choice
Andrew Hayslett (15:05)
Cut.
Kind of going off of that Texas Tech plays Oklahoma State next week who is the I'm just gonna say the worst team in the Big 12 I Didn't until proven otherwise they are so if you're Texas Tech, maybe you're trying to
be more conservative with Morton knowing that you have not necessarily a bi-week in Oklahoma State but a pushover coming up. So just, I think they're trying to lean towards Hammond this week and not push Morton unless he's healthy because of that. if you are able to get him back for next week, I think...
that that's kind of where you'd want them to be against a team who doesn't pose a respectfully to Oklahoma State versus an Arizona State team that probably will at worst hang around with you and provide a threat.
Tom Hardon (16:22)
Yeah, Hammond has been serviceable through the air a little bit over 400 yards in ⁓ in backup or mop up duty and in five appearances so far this season, but definitely much more of a running quarterback. No matter who is under center, the Texas Tech has so many weapons at their disposal and they do an incredible job at spreading the ball around. There's no one target that.
dominates the offensive play. You do have Caleb Douglas and Koi Eakin, who are the leading receivers. But Terrence Carter, who ⁓ I opined is the tight end that Sun Devil fans wish that Shema Mateer would be utilized like. And then you have Reggie Virgil and Jacobi Williams, who are both very ⁓ skilled at. ⁓
and at pass catching as well. These they have five receivers with over 200 receiving yards so far this year. There's no shortage of weapons. So, you how how does a depleted secondary like the Sun Devils really defend against that?
Andrew Hayslett (17:32)
I wouldn't really call
this Sun Devil Secondary depleted. Yes, they do have had Xavier on Alfred out for a long time, but there's no really other injury concerns there at the end of the day. I do believe some guys are on the injury reports, probable, they'll probably play, unless there's some setback, which that's what we saw last week with Sam Levitt, so take of that what you will.
But at the end of the day, think it's a decent secondary. They have to play at their best and I think they can shut down the Texas Tech passing offense if they're at their best. That's a key word, if.
Austen Bundy (18:17)
Yeah, I think Andrew's got the right point there. If they're at their best, they have not played up to their potential so far this year. We've seen them have some flashes, we've seen them have some good shut down moments, but they're going to need to be from start to finish the dominant force out there when they're on the field. ⁓ I know that sounds like a captain obvious type thing for any, you want them to be ⁓ dominant every time they're out there on the field for every game, but this is the number seven team in the nation and they have proven that they are one of the best through the year.
If there's going to be a game that the ASU secondary and the ASU defense is going to have its best game of the year, it's got to be now. It's now or never.
Tom Hardon (18:58)
On speaking of Sam Levitt back in practice this week listed as probable on the initial injury report that is undoubtedly a massive boost just to the ⁓ feeling in the locker room. We talked about a little bit on on some days recap show, but Andrew I'm interested to get your opinion on this. Do you think that?
Jeff Simms was really set up for success going into the Utah game, kind of thrust into the starting role.
Andrew Hayslett (19:33)
that's a good question. yes and no. Because yes, Sims got the reps on the bye week. But Levit got the reps during game week. So, that's how I get my yes and no. Yes from the week before, no the week of. So, he was given decent opportunity, but at the end of the day it's...
It's gonna be tough. Could it have been tougher? Yes. Could it have been easier? Yes. I can't really say on how Sims played. I just didn't watch the game because I was at hockey. And I haven't had the time to since just because of life being busy, you know? So with that said, that's kind of my opinion on that.
Austen Bundy (20:29)
Sims looked lost out there, at least because I watched the game from the comfort of my home. He was, it was clear that he did not, he was not prepared. Like he didn't get reps with the ones that week. He was kind of just thrown into the fire. I mean, you can be a veteran of college football all you want, but if you're not participating in the system that is going to be on game day, if you're not getting the practice that you need ahead of these games, like it almost looked like he didn't even get a chance
to go through a walkthrough with these guys. He was just not on the same page. He was scrambling a lot and having to ⁓ pick up the pieces and a lot of these broken plays that just could not get off the ground from the start. ⁓ And a lot of, mean, you could tell from his throws, like he was, he and Jordan Tyson were not communicating. It seemed like every other receiver was going in a different direction than what he was calling. ⁓ It's just, the chemistry was not there. And I don't necessarily blame him. I blame the
coaches and I blame however this SAM injury was handled in the week leading up ⁓ that
it just set him up for failure. Like, Sims was never going to have a shot in that game just because you can't just tell ⁓ a backup, in there, and hopefully he's gonna be able to figure things out. I know sometimes it seems different when your mid-game and your star quarterback goes down injured and your backup has to come in without having played with the ones during the week in practice, but it just didn't seem like there was any cohesive game plan that was prepared
with Sims and Kenny kind of just was hoping things would work out better that Sims veteran abilities would would kick in his instincts would allow him to command the offense and it just it was too much for him. I don't blame him at all but it just it just didn't work.
Tom Hardon (22:23)
Yeah, I think just not being clear on with love of getting a lot of the reps in practice up until midweek that really did not set Sims up for the best situation possible. But like we said, turn the page, learn from that. Sam is listed as healthier, at least initially in the injury report. But quite a few other names on the list as being out. ⁓
I've got to mention Ben Coleman. Really unfortunate with his injury up in Salt Lake. I have heard that he did undergo surgery, but really tough way for him to round out his Sun Devil career. And really want to wish him the best in all of his future endeavors outside of football.
We also have Zaris Faisu who is out for the season with surgery with a loss at linebacker there. We already mentioned.
Andrew Hayslett (23:29)
Medical Ride shirt
is on the table for Zyrus.
Tom Hardon (23:32)
Medical register, ⁓ that is certainly reassuring for going forward. Xavier Nauford, we already know is going to be out for an extended period of time. No real timetable that I've at least been able to see, just that it's a multi-week absence. But in the running back quarter, the send-off will be down, Kyson Brown, and that is...
A little bit concerning, already going up against the best ranked run defense in Texas Tech, a defense that allows just 62 and 1 half rushing yards per game. Really, hoping that a healthy Sam Levitt is able to spread the ball around against a pass defense that really is no slouch either, allowing under 200 yards per game. In your mind, Austin, is this?
What is the best recipe for success for the passing game against Texas Tech?
Austen Bundy (24:30)
I mean, like you said, you want to see Sam spread the ball around. You want to make sure, I mean, these guys are going to double up Jordan Tyson, obviously, but like everybody else, it seems.
Rosie Rosie glasses to put on here just to be like everybody's got to step up like you got to have other people other than Jordan Tyson catch the ball I mean yeah, you want that in any game, but Against a defense like this that is this daunting You need to give Tyson an opportunity to shed a defender if you need levitt to find guys like Shaman Matei or you need to find ⁓ you Sabio you need to Find Malik McLean Jalen Moss you need to find other guys that this defense
is going to give less attention to. You need to find the mismatch on these plays. ⁓ I'm hoping Kenny has designed plays into to create mismatches, especially for Jordan Tyson, who's going to have multiple defenders keyed in on him. ⁓ I think this is if there is a game where Kenny has plays that he's not used yet this season, if he's got plays that were experimental, what do you got to lose? Your back is already against the wall. You might as well break out some of these trick plays.
as well break out some of the plays that you've thrown together in practice but have been a little more conservative about in previous games. Throw everything in the kitchen sink at this defense. They clearly can take everything that's traditional. Why not give them the unorthodox and see if they truly are one of the best in the nation?
Andrew Hayslett (26:00)
Yeah, absolutely. I think you hit the nail on the head. Just try to find the weakness, whatever that is. it's... If finding... If they're running in zone, play... Figure out where the hole is on the zone. Find the weak... The running man. Find the weak defender where you... Where he's getting beat. Or you can out-jump him in one-on-ones, jump ball types. Whatever that is, find it. And I also do think the running back...
I we'll still see our fair share runs with Relique Brown. Kanye Udo, whether he's going to be fully healthy or not, I know he was sick on Wednesday, missed practice. Timetable for him is unknown if he'll return by the end of the week or not. Tyson, know he's going to be, Kenny said he'll be out until the end of, or until around the second bye week, so that's kind of the timetable for him.
what he said at practice on Wednesday. And then outside of ⁓ Relique and possibly Udo, we'll see a lot of Demarius, Man-Man Robinson. And he can be explosive in practice. A lot of the reporters that, when I talk to them in practice,
They all seem to be high on Man Man. We'll see if Man Man is the man on Saturday possibly if Relic is the only guy with possibly Udo and we know Kaisen's out. So that'll be interesting to see that dynamic on what that could be with the pieces and parts moving there as well.
Tom Hardon (27:50)
Good stuff there. We are going to take a quick little, uh, quick little jog away from the football talk just for right now. Uh, Andrew and I were both at the icebreaker games for hockey this past weekend. And Andrew, I'm interested to hear what some of your takeaways from, uh, from hockey last weekend were, you know, what, were your views from the student section?
Andrew Hayslett (28:22)
to the trick with one of them coming up on an empty net is I think what you want to see after the power play started. I don't remember what I mentioned in my article, but you can read that on Devils in Detail for the exact numbers because I can barely remember numbers as it is.
like one for 17 or something.
Tom Hardon (28:47)
Yep,
one for 17 is exactly what we were, what the Devils were before Saturday's game.
Andrew Hayslett (28:53)
And then Saturday's game, they got their fair share of chances on the power play. That's to be under, I would be understating it by saying that. I think they got like eight or nine if memory serves me right. Five out of nine, which is what you want to see. I thought the defense played a lot better on Saturday in particular.
Tom Hardon (29:05)
I have five out of nine on the power play.
Andrew Hayslett (29:22)
Goal tending was would I would say elite through the two games It is concerning that a little bit concerning that Samuel urban was cramping during his first start Hopefully that's a little bit nervous as he can get it all worked out At some point whenever he starts next but regardless of that
To me it was interesting how they went with 17 or not 17 13 forwards and six defensemen of 12 and 7 and That seemed to work really well as I think That the scoring was was what it needed to be and the defense was clicking
Tom Hardon (30:06)
I think the emphasis was on jumpstarting the power of play and by inserting that 13th forward that really really puts the emphasis back on the back on the offensive side of the puck. Typically we had seen Lincoln Keane dressing as the seventh defenseman this past weekend. I know Johnny Waldron got was listed as the extra forward for at least one of the games but
Andrew Hayslett (30:28)
I'm both.
Tom Hardon (30:29)
for both the games. But it'll be interesting to see how that line-up chart evolves throughout the season. My biggest takeaway was the emergence of the Crandall Potter-Keven line. ⁓ I thought that line was absolutely built for speed and is one that Coach Powers should keep intact at all costs as the season goes on. I think that is the anchor line to build around.
for developing throughout the year. Andrew, what do you think on that?
Andrew Hayslett (31:03)
Yeah, they're really the kids line out there with Potter being an 18 year old sophomore. Keven, I think, is also 18 as a freshman and Carmelo is also a freshman. I don't know, not sure how old he is, but a lot of youth on that line with Potter and Keven, the two good friends, former US national team development program players.
That's a great line. Your first line on the power play looked really well of Lucius, ⁓ Schimek. Those two are buddies have been playing for a long time together. And then you've got McGurran on that line as well. And then with the power play they have ⁓ Potter as the fourth forward.
They looked good. And also the fourth line looks really good for a fourth line. You've got Alfano or Alfano, Nash, and alongside... ⁓
Flipping me right now who's on that line. Morell. Those three looked great and when Smolin joined them on the power play they looked great. Right now and then for Miami Jack Beck's coming back and he's a guy who's everyone's saying, yeah this guy's really good. He's gonna be a top two line player.
Tom Hardon (32:12)
Yep, morale.
Andrew Hayslett (32:37)
And I'm asking myself, okay, he's gonna play, who's gonna get taken out of the lineup for him? Because I see a lot of talented guys in lines I wouldn't wanna break up. So probably gonna be someone on the third line or the extra skater in Johnny Waldron, but.
I know who are you going to take out? then on the defensive side of that, same coin, Brazen Bozer is going to come back soon.
He's gonna be an impact player who you who are you gonna take out? you gonna go back to 7d man? Are you gonna take it up? So you have to take out another ford or are gonna take out some? Adi Defensive guy who's been playing well like you mentioned Lincoln Keene. He started on the ⁓ The that extra skater role he got moved up to the third deep hair replacing a zem lack so There's so many moving parts
guys potentially coming back that make this good team even better. And if you're a team looking at this Arizona State team, you're shaking your boots because I think this team could be more talented than what last year's team was at this point.
Tom Hardon (33:46)
And that's
And then not to mention you've also got Richie Baron, who's been getting a lot of minutes on the second D pairing with Joel Schellberg. And Sam Court has been paired with Lincoln Kean over this last weekend. You've got Kip Kean-Dowd on the top pairing. And there's depth all over the place on this roster. it's exciting and worrisome at the same time, because like you said, you don't want to split up a lot of these lines that are really starting to gel this early in the season. But when you're getting two high caliber players coming back in, Jack Beck,
and brazen boser, it becomes a little bit of a necessity. Just hoping that.
the right moves can be made to keep everybody together as much as possible and get the most playing time for this incredibly deep roster. ⁓ We've also got to keep in mind, we've got Austin Zemlak, who has seen one game of action, and Braxton Whitehead, who has had very limited action as well.
Andrew Hayslett (34:59)
think he's played
yet this season and I thought he was going to be guy that's going to be great for this team.
Tom Hardon (35:03)
I mean, he was the first of the CHL commits to come down. Really opened up this whole floodgate coming from Canada to the NCAA. this will be really interesting to see how the lineup shakes out throughout the rest of the season. But take a look at it. ⁓
Andrew Hayslett (35:22)
I do want to mention one
more guy in Tucker Ness, even though he hasn't played it. When he's on the ice, I think he's a fun guy to watch just the way he just plows into people, which we'll see if Powers wants, Coach Greg Powers wants to go big. He's a big dude. He's what? 6'2", 220, something like that. And if you need big, he's big.
Tom Hardon (35:50)
And not only is he fun to watch, but he is very versatile. He has dressed as both the 13th forward and as a defenseman. His true position is defense, but he has that ability to jump up onto the offensive play and be that physical presence.
But I do want take a quick glance at the weekend series for first Sun Devil Hockey. Playing the first games on the road in the state of South Dakota against the Augustana Vikings. The Sun Devils are one and one in program history against Augustana. Those two games coming in the 2023-24 season at Mold Arena. ⁓
Augustana is not a team to take lightly. Head coach Garrett Reboin in his third season now behind the bench. Last season had the Vikings as the number two seed in the CCHA tournament. this is the kind of road games that...
You can't, you have to be able to win these. And you can't go into a matchup against a CCAJ team, no matter who they are and think, we can kind of play back a little bit. Augustana is going to play very tough. And in my preview for Devs in Detail, I highlighted the... ⁓
the goal tending in Josh Cotai. was a semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award last year. Second team all CCHA and finished third in the CCHA in both goals against average and safe percentage. He is a very high caliber, high caliber netminder. And the defense is the probably the next strongest point for Augustana as well. Three very strong defensemen returning in Hayden Hennan, Easton Young and Owen Bungard.
These guys are going to play the Sun Devils tough. They have played them tough in the past and I'm just I'm interested to see if the team keeps the pedal down on the gas after coming home with their fourth consecutive in season tournament win.
Andrew Hayslett (38:03)
you
Yeah Augustana, that's a team that's going to play you tough. They got something to prove this year. This is their first full season of CCHA play. This is obviously a non-conference game for them, but clearly they're a team that has something to prove this year. ASU last year, they had something to prove, we all saw, in their first season of NCHC play. Augustana, in my mind, was I think the third best team heading in
in the CCHA heading into this year. So you can't write them off because the CCHA is still decent, at least the top end. And Augustana is a decent team. They're going to play you tough. They're going to play you hard. You can't write them off, especially I believe what it's their home opener and their place this season. So.
Tom Hardon (38:59)
Yes.
Andrew Hayslett (39:00)
that they're
going to be rocking in South Dakota.
Tom Hardon (39:06)
And Augustana has come off of an early season schedule that.
You know, they've really You they're getting themselves and they'd split at Minnesota Duluth lost for one on Friday But then coach Josh Kotei got the shutout for nothing on Saturday. You know this team, you know, he is very very capable of goalieing teams as ⁓ As a lot of people would put that you know Minnesota Duluth just ran into Kotei on a great night and he he absolutely shut them down
Andrew Hayslett (39:43)
Absolutely, this is a team that you, like I said, can't write off. Splitting with a different NCHC team, even though it's Minnesota Duluth, probably one of the worst teams in the NCHC, they're still going to be a tough team, and I think that's kind of a good measuring stick to see. This team is clearly competent, they tied, and an exhibition at St. Cloud State as well. Augustana is...
a solid team and I think realistically it's safe to like my prediction for these two games is I think we're going to see a split honestly.
Tom Hardon (40:26)
Do you expect to Sam or bond starting one of these games.
Andrew Hayslett (40:32)
⁓ yes, I think it's a... I would say that. And it could be that the Sun Devils could win the game Urban wins or loses. That's just...
It's hard to predict what what Sun Devil team will see what Augustana team will see but will be good Comparison between the two goalies when they when they're playing the same team in back-to-back nights Okay, can kind of put them together see okay. Here's where Hasley is here's where urban is Granted it's there. You might not get their best performances each night, but it's kind of say okay This is how close close they are regardless
Tom Hardon (41:14)
will have full updates on the series both nights, all weekend long on Devils in Detail. Friday's game starts at 5 PM Arizona time with Saturday's game at 4 PM. Both games will air locally in the Phoenix market on Fox 10 Extra and will stream nationwide on Midco Sports Plus. All right, pivoting back to football.
It's time to get our predictions in for this weekend. And Andrew, we're going to go ahead and start with you on this one. ⁓ Give us a score prediction and a player to your MVP of the game, offensive or defensive. Doesn't have to be one for each side.
Andrew Hayslett (42:00)
Well, the question isn't in this game. It's obvious. Anyone, I think, that has been following the team knows. Will Sam Levitt play is the question. I break that down into three separate questions. Could Sam Levitt play? The answer is yes. I think if the staff really wanted him to play, I think he would have played. But I think what relates me to the second question is, should Sam Levitt play?
I'm no doctor. I know if you search up my name on Google, there is a doctor that comes up. That is not me. I just have an armchair degree. And based off of what I've seen, I would say no. But what do I know? That's kind of... That's just my thoughts. And those two questions are what's going to guide this third question is...
Will he play? I would say yes. This is a game that means so much. think if the Sun Devils wind up losing this game, their hopes go down smaller than what they are.
They'd be 2-2 to start conference play, which is what they started conference play last year. Which is very important to note. So that, they'd have to run the table if they have any chance of making the college football playoff. So, which, yeah, I'm getting ahead of myself, because that's a long way down the road, but you still got to keep the end goal in mind here. So, this is a must-win game for the Sun Devils, and I think they got to put...
Every piece on out there that they possibly can that's gonna be Sam Levitt However, I think Texas Tech is too much of a mountain to move And I just don't think the Sun Devils will get it done. I think it's we can be close game. I think it's gonna be a a real battle for Four and four quarters and I think whoever gets the ball ass is gonna win win this game. I think that's gonna be Texas Tech
I'm going to put the score at 33-30 Texas Tech wins. Sam Levitt does have a good game in his return though.
Tom Hardon (44:25)
Austin will turn to you.
Austen Bundy (44:28)
I'll
raise Andrew with a fourth question here. Will it be detrimental if Sam plays? To his career? Potentially. Because you don't want to rush him back and then end up screwing up his right foot any more than it needs to be. And you could lose him for the rest of the season. One bad sack, one bad tackle could spell doom for his football prospects. I mean, granted, any game he goes into that could potentially happen, but when you're already working on it
injury that you probably should have sat out or had treated differently leading up to last week's game. There's a lot ⁓ of unpredictability there and a lot of potential volatility. ⁓
I'm not going to pick a player for my key person. I'm going with Kenny because this is going to be a marquee moment, I think, for his legacy because you need a rebound. You've got a top 10 team coming into Mount America Stadium. I'm not saying you necessarily need to win this game in order for this to be a successful moment in Kenny's career. Obviously you want the win, but as long as they don't go out there and get trounced, as long as they go out
there and they put up a good fight they keep this thing close they prove that they're that they had a chance in this thing then we all know that
the Kenny experiment is still on track for more success. But if they go out there, they look even more unprepared, they just can't put a drive together. I mean, especially if it's not Sam, let's say it's Jeff Simms, let's say it's Simms that goes out there again, and it's the same thing as the Utah game. I'm not saying there's any hot seat on Kenny, but it's the lack of planning, lack of coordination, any kind of cohesive preparation.
It just reflects poorly on the management of the team, especially a year removed from the amount of success that they had. ⁓
this is going to be a very tough matchup but ASU tends to thrive in those. So I still think ASU walks away losers in this game but all I'm looking for is some fight. I'm looking for them to go out there make this thing close. I'm looking for them to go out there and just at least prove that this team does not go down without swinging. ⁓ I think if there's anything that would deflate the season more and potentially push
the team on a poor track for a poor finish to the rest of the year, it would be a blowout loss. So as long as it's not that, then I think it's going to be a good enough night in Tempe for the program.
Andrew Hayslett (47:12)
Just I want to weigh on something else. Last year this team had five quarterbacks like this year. Levitt, Sims, a Christian Hunt who's still here. They had Navi on the team who wound up transferring to Juco and they kind of replaced him with Butter Tollison. The other quarterback on the team last year was Trenton Bourget. Experienced starter.
A experienced guy who's started in games before, not the guy you'd want to have starting, but he's still a guy that you feel capable in if you got down to him. This year on the team is Cameron Dyer who's going, I believe, out for this game and has been out for a long time with an injury. You don't have a third experienced guy.
Just something to put out there if the Sun Devils fall down to that level. That's something to watch out for.
Austen Bundy (48:17)
the emergency quarterback on the roster.
Tom Hardon (48:17)
Thank
Andrew Hayslett (48:20)
I don't know who that would be, to be honest. That's a good question.
Austen Bundy (48:26)
Last
year it was scadaboo.
Andrew Hayslett (48:28)
Yeah.
Tom Hardon (48:31)
Andrew, you still have the eligibility left?
Austen Bundy (48:33)
Hahaha
Andrew Hayslett (48:34)
Unfortunately,
if I was on the team, my injury report would be out due to ⁓ lack of talent.
Tom Hardon (48:45)
And I don't think I can get enrolled soon enough to even be considered to be listed.
Andrew Hayslett (48:52)
I'd
be on like ⁓ the thousandth string or something like that.
Tom Hardon (48:58)
The fourth string practice fourth string to the practice one.
Austen Bundy (49:03)
Water boy.
Tom Hardon (49:04)
⁓ Like Austin, I'm not going to highlight one player. I'm instead going to highlight a position group as what I'm watching. And I'm watching the offensive line. I want to see how these guys step up after the loss of Ben Coleman and how they will.
provide that past protection for whoever is back there, either Sam or Sims and how they recover from just getting railroaded out of Salt Lake City. Andrew alluded to it earlier in the show. Normally I am the optimist, but I've been turning over every stone. I've been turning every page trying to find some sense of hope and
I am also picking the Sun Devils as losers. I think it's going to be a 34 to 20 final. I think that it stays within two touchdowns, but I think that the Sun Devils get a closer late in the game against, as the clock's winding down, I don't think that the actual game will be as close as the scoreboard will show at the end.
Here's hoping that we're all collectively wrong. Here's hoping that there's some Mountain America magic in store for Saturday afternoon. Saturday's game will be kicking off at 1 p.m. on Fox. you know, here, that's, this is it, the make or break game, really. So for us.
Andrew Hayslett (50:49)
Yeah.
Tom Hardon (50:51)
For Austin Bundy and Andrew Hazlett, I'm Tom Harden. Thank you again for listening to this week's episode. And as always, forks up and go Devils.