Arizona State announced last week it will not extend football coach Todd Grahamβs contract through 2021, which, when a team is winning, is a routine rollover maneuver.
But Graham went 5-7 last year, losing six of his last seven with a defense that yielded 56 points to a bungling Arizona team. Most analysts pick the Sun Devils to battle Arizona for last place in the Pac-12 South.
Arizona has made no announcement on Rich Rodriguezβs contract. It has not been rolled over to 2021, either.
Both schools attempted to trigger some public support last week. Arizona transmitted a photo-shopped twitter image of tailback J.J. Taylor sitting in an tiny chair next to oversized lineman Jacob Alsadek with the theme βRun Game.β After a 3-9 season, the cute summer videos of previous years β a James Bond-themed video and a tough guys at Old Tucson setup β donβt work.
Just play.
ASU last week promoted its new big screen video board at Sun Devil Stadium. It is 5,400 square feet, which is a few yards bigger than the one Greg Byrne installed at Arizona Stadium five years ago.
βHaving one of the Top 10 largest video boards in collegiate athletics will set us apart,β said Sun Devil athletics COO Rocky Harris.
Well, probably not. Almost every Pac-12 stadium now has a video screen of similar size and function.
