Moustache Koozies = Moustache Power!!!
Our friend Diskin and I walked up to their tailgate and were immediately welcomed with great conversation and beer (they have Tecate, we have Natty Light...I'll take the Tecate, please). I'm sure they were concerned at first as to why two morons, one wearing red pants with bulldawgs on them, were walking straight for their tailgate.
Most everyone we talked to were from Tempe, some from other parts of the west coast, and we met a few that were currently living in Atlanta.
Over the next hour or so, we learned the basics of the Moustache Nation:
-They're a large group of ASU fans that are extremely dedicated (we can relate), and pick one road game a year to travel to as a very large group (I'm talking approximately 50 people).
-Several of them often travel to other college football games around the country during ASU's off week.
-Many of them wear awesome moustaches that I could only dream of being able to grow.
-They are named Moustache Nation in honor the great Jake Plummer, who grew a moustache and later began to resemble Ted Kaczynski once he entered the NFL (which I find awesome).
-You know they are the Moustache Nation because they wear yellow jerseys that say "Moustache Nation." The front of the jerseys have a retro picture of their mascot, Sparky, as well as an awesome moustache with "5 Cent Rides" written on it.
-The back of their jerseys say "SALAD BOWL" and "'51." This is in honor of the 1951 Salad Bowl game that Arizona State not only played in, but also lost to Miami (OH). You have to love a group of fans who so greatly appreciate that they played in a bowl called the Salad Bowl, even if they lost.
Boone's Farm, a preferred drink of Moustache Nation...along with hundreds of cans of beer.
B'NE & MOUSTACHE NATION UNITE!
This year is a different story. After struggling to a 5-7 record in '08, the Sun Devils come east very quiet and heavy underdogs. I expect the results to be much the same as they were last fall.
Who are these guys?
Arizona State comes in 2-0 after playing two cupcake games to open year. They looked impressive, especially defensively, but Arkansas's defense looked pretty good against crappy competition as well.
As stated earlier, Arizona State was a preseason ranked team who struggled to a 5-7 record in 2008. Gone is quarterback Rudy Carpenter, replaced by senior Danny Sullivan. Up until this point, Sullivan has been more of a game manager, only completing about 50% of his passes for only 1 touchdown. The real offensive leaders on the team are running back Dmitri Nance and receiver Chris McGaha. The line is still questionable at best and if they can't provide better protection for Sullivan than they gave to Carpenter last year, it may be a long night for the Sun Devil offense.
Defensively, the Sun Devils are currently ranked as the #1 overall defense in the country. Granted, that has been against bad competition, but allowing only 150 yards a game is still impressive. For Arizona State's defense to have success against what is suddenly a prolific Georgia offense, they will need big days from DE Dexter Davis and DT Lawrence Guy. Shutting down Georgia's running game will be the key to stopping Georgia from marching up and down the field at the same speed they did last week.
What are the Dawgs going to do?
Defensively, the best thing the Dawgs can hope for is a repeat performance of last fall. The Dawgs entirely shut down the line of scrimmage, repeatedly hitting Rudy Carpenter and holding Nance to 12 yards on 10 carries. Georgia has proven it can shut down running games but we know that is not the issue. Arizona State's line is week and I think this the week Willie may finally get creative with blitzes. If he does, Justin Houston will benefit the most and could be in for a huge day. Also look for Georgia to conintue to use 5 DBs in passing situations as Akeem Dent and Darius Dewberry have continued to be slowed by injury.
After the passing fireworks last week, I think this will be the game where we see an offensive explosion from the running game. Caleb King looked strong on his 11 carries last week and Richard Samuel showed his homerun power on the 80 yard TD run. Look for a combined 35 carries between the two and around 200 yards on the ground. Orson Charles role in the team will continue to grow and AJ Green should have another big day.
What is going to happen?
For the first time this season, Georgia will come out and look dominating. The offense will not score as much as it did against Arkansas, but the defense will not be as bad either. A close game at half turns into a blowout in the second half.
Georgia 38, Arizona State 20
The Sun Devils are +8 in turnover margin, including not turning it over once (much better than the Dawgs, as we all know). They are also ranked #1 in total defense in the country, giving up 131 rushing yards and 168 passing yards. Kickoff return man Omar Bolden returned a kickoff for a touchdown last week, the second straight week the Dawgs will be facing someone who's already done that this season. Of course, we have Brandon Boykin back there. Whatever you can do, I can do better...
Bring on Georgia, huh? You're gonna hate the real heat in Athens next fall!
Photo courtesy of the AJC
13-0 does not equal Championship...when you're Auburn.
The Devils are led by senior quarterback Rudy Carpenter, known for passing prowess as well as his bad attitude. He passed for over 3,200 yards and 25 five touchdowns and has a solid core of receivers in Mike Jones, Chris McGaha, and Kyle Williams, who together combined for 17 touchdowns in '07. The Sun Devil rushing attack is led by Dimitri Nanace, however has only averaged (as a team) 117 yards per game against rather weak opponents early on in '08. The question on offense coming into '08 was the O-line, which allowed 55 sacks last year. They have only allowed 4 so far this year, but don't be surprised if you see more of the hits like the one where USC kills Rudy over and over
(http://www.youtube.com/v/QaIM_yGOlYc&hl=en&fs=1) - I'm having trouble embedding video right now.
On defense, ASU returns seven starters from the '07 squad that allowed an average of 22.5 points a game. Their defense looks like Superman coming into this game, allowing only 295 yards a game. However, this was against weak competition and we all saw how solid their defense was holding a lead against UNLV last week.
What is Georgia going to do?
If we learned anything last week at South Carolina, I hope it is that we need a healthy dose of Knowshon (and Caleb) to help set up the passing game for Stafford. If you shut down the running game, it forces us to have to throw shorter passes to make up for lost downs. On the offensive side of the ball, I'd like to see Knowshon get 25 carries and Caleb about 12. This should allow Stafford to torch the ASU secondary with a mix of passes over the middle and deep balls. We definitely need a better performance by our receiving crew and don't be surprised if AJ Green catches 6 or more passes this week.
On defense, the weaknesses shown during the 4th quarter last week do scare me. Carpenter is the heart of ASU and if he is having a good day their offense will move the ball down the field. We need to ditch the constant zone and bring blitz. This line is not that good (as evident by their performance last year) and we should be able to get to Carpenter at least 4 times.
Coach Martinez: Please let the Liberian nightmare run wild!
What will happen?
This game could be a back and forth offensive battle. Look for both teams to score quick and early on as the defenses settle in. I look for this to turn into a game similar to the '07 Oklahoma State game, where Georgia's offense pours it on in the second half while clamping down on D. Knowshon should have a huge day (150 yards or more).
Georgia 38, Arizona State 23
We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, laughers, screamers...
The majority of the Bubba 'N Earl staff left for Las Vegas last night with intentions to invade Tempe, AZ on Friday. Streit and I, the remaining bloggers left behind, want to wish them luck and look forward to their random reports in from the road.
Go Dawgs!
* Picture and Quote from book/movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
