Posted by B L Z Bubba on November 22, 21 at 08:24:50:
In Reply to: Territorial Cup….. posted by Bayou Devil on October 30, 21 at 13:42:14:
Four teams, two themes.
We couldn’t help but notice the stark differences that played out in the marquee games of Week 12: Oregon at Utah and Arizona State at Oregon State.
No teams in the conference have pursued blue-chip recruits (i.e., four- and five-star prospects) more relentlessly in recent years than the Ducks and Sun Devils.
Yet both teams were beaten soundly by opponents, Utah and OSU, that take very different approaches to roster-building.
The Utes and Beavers have specific blueprints for success; they recruit players who fit their systems, many of them second-tier prospects or transfers looking to salvage their careers; and those players improve over the course of time.
It’s a shrewd, stability-driven approach to success.
Oregon has won back-to-back conference titles and could make it three in a row, so Mario Cristobal’s recruiting strategy cannot be faulted.
Arizona State, on the other hand, might want to consider a new leadership model, so to speak. The four-loss Sun Devils wagered so much on this season and are currently no better off than in the past.
Herm Edwards is 16-14 in conference play through four years (with one game remaining).
His predecessor, Todd Graham, was 23-13 at this point in his tenure in Tempe and did not have an NCAA investigation looming over the program.