Sun Devils and Cardinals have plenty to prove this weekend

Arizona Sports News online

It’s a weekend to “prove it” here in our state.

Arizona State has gotten off to a terrific 3-1 start, more importantly they are 1-0 in the Pac-12 South. Winning Saturday at Dallas against Notre Dame won’t mean as much in the standings as it would in perception of the program. For the last fifteen years ASU has been a mirage. Don’t believe me? Give me a time since the 97 Rose Bowl where there has been this much interest in the program.

There is a buzz around ASU football from the casual fan. The fan that hasn’t been given anything to get excited about since Jake Plummer. The fan that would go buy a few tickets to fill up the remaining 15-thousand or so empty seats that I see at every home game.

A win over Notre Dame would surely make some of the top high school recruits in our state think twice about leaving. The image would change just off of beating a team that isn’t even the most important on the schedule.

Then there are the Cardinals. While there hasn’t been much to get excited about in their 2-2 start, they ARE 2-2!

A win Sunday over Carolina and suddenly they are in the thick of the NFC West race with games against San Francisco and Seattle the following 12 days.