Spring Football Practice in the Pac-10: The Arizona Schools

Spring practice is underway (the Huskies start April 9), so here's an early look at the Pac-10 in 2007

--Arizona: After scoring in single digits four times last year, Coach Mike Stoops fired almost his entire offensive coaching staff and brought in a guy from Texas Tech to run the Air Raid offense. Think multiple formations, short passes, backs running routes in the flat. Often teams will defend it by dropping linemen back into coverage, so the secondary ends up looking like somebody just yelled "gun" in a mall. Here's highlights of Air Raid when it's working, and when it isn't.
Arizona at UW, October 27

--Arizona State: Remember last year, when ASU's coach "Dirk Koetter" announced that Sam Keller was the quarterback, then had a "meeting" with players and changed his mind and announced that oh, wait, no, Rudy Carpenter was the quarterback? Yeah, so--predictably--Koetter is gone, and Dennis Erickson (out of Cascade High in Everett) is the new coach. Erickson has turned around two Pac-10 programs, Wazzu and Oregon State. Can he do it a third time? Arizona State has pretty good talent--and they are investing $700,000 in their marching band. Meanwhile, scorned quarterback Keller is in Nebraska, chucking plastic cups at chicks that steal his parking spot.
UW at Arizona State, October 13