I'm Enjoying it While I Can

Continuing on from my earlier post regarding the rest of the nation taking notice of Sun Devil football, here's some sound bites from others outside of the state of Arizona:

"But with 14 starters back from last year's 7-6 disappointment, Erickson has instilled a belief system that has made ASU this week's talk of the nation. How much did the players believe in the coach who turned around Idaho, Washington State and Oregon State, and won two national titles at Miami (Fla.)? Not one player has quit or transferred." The Denver Post

"Conventional wisdom said Dennis Erickson would get Arizona State to play with physicality and toughness. Conventional wisdom also said the Larry Brown of college football wouldn't achieve greatness this quickly." FoxSports.com

Even Tucson is smart enough to know a good thing when they see it:

Things we cannot ignore about Arizona State, after rallying past California:

The Sun Devils are more persistent than ants. They have trailed Colorado 14-0, Oregon State 19-0 and California 13-0. But they've outscored opponents 153-29 in the second half . . . Freshman Thomas Weber has not missed a college field goal yet, hitting all 15 . The Tucson Citizen

"Staying in the Pac-10, the undefeated Arizona State Sun Devils have given up more than 20 points just once this season, thanks in large part to the play of underrated senior OLB Robert James. Standing just 5-foot-11, 228 pounds, James covers a lot of ground, is a sure tackler and has excelled in pass coverage." Mel Kiper, ESPN

Oregon sports information David Williford took a break from calling security to send along a note from his colleague Mark Brand at Arizona State. Brand says the only way for reporters to talk to Erickson will be on tomorrow's Pac-10 teleconference. Why? "He has had over 60 interview requests in the past nine days and I have him booked solid for the next three weeks." The Oregonian

So what does all this mean? Absolutely nothing but after 10 years of not being talked about nationally to any large extent, it's nice to get some national spotlight shining on the program. Even if we lose to Oregon this weekend, I'm going enjoy reading about my Devils in something other than the Arizona Republic this week.