CNNSI.com - 2000 College Football Preview - CNNSI.com's Arizona State preview

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Arizona State

Aiming to get back to top of Heap

College Football: The New Century

'99: 6-6, 5-3 Pac-10

Coach

Bruce Snyder (ninth year, 52-39; 120-100-5 overall)

Key offensive players

Ryan Kealy, QB, Sr.
He's started 31 games for the Sun Devils, but offseason included fifth knee operation, indefinite suspension.

Victor Leyva, OT, Sr.
Best of four returning starters on offensive line. Graded out at 88 percent last season.

Todd Heap, TE, Sr.
An All-America in many publications, caught 55 passes last year for 832 yards.

Delvon Flowers, RB, Sr.
Replaces J.R. Redmond. Good runner and receiver, he averaged 6.4 yards per carry and 17.5 yards per reception last year.

Key defensive players

Adam Archuleta, LB, Sr.
First-team All-Pac-10 last year. Led the conference in tackles-for-loss (21) and was second in tackles per game (10.2).

Ivan Maisel's Player of the Century: John Jefferson, SE, 1974-77
"Still holds six team records. Started as sophomore on Sun Devils' only 12-0 team."

Brightest Moment: Easy: Infamous coach Frank Kush guided the Sun Devils to that 12-0 season and a final No. 2 ranking in 1975, forcing a fumble in the game's waning moments to win the Fiesta Bowl 17-14 over Nebraska.

Lowest Moment: Even easier: In the middle of the '79 season, Kush lied about punching a player and asked his assistant coaches also to lie about the incident. He was soon fired. A year later, the NCAA found Arizona State guilty of 30 rules violations.

Solomon Bates, LB, So.
Freshman All-America coming back from injury. When he played he looked like a budding superstar.

Key newcomer

Danny Masaniai, DT, Jr.
310-pound JUCO transfer will plug middle.

Throwback player

Though Adam Archuleta is only 6-foot, 213 pounds, he has piled up 39 tackles-for-loss over the past two years.

21st century player

True freshmen didn't use to play, much less dominate as a starter. But Solomon Bates, as a 17-year-old, was one of the conference's best.

Fast Fact

Arizona State owns the best overall (31-16) and Pac-10 (23-9) record in the conference over the past four years. Its three bowl appearances during that span ties Oregon for second behind Washington (4).

Outlook

It's hard to come back from a knee operation. Kealy has endured five. Yet he still plans to try to suit up this fall. That is if he is able to return from an indefinite suspension for violating unspecified team rules in July. If he is reinstated, can play and if he can stay healthy -- those are big "ifs" -- Arizona State has a shot to make some noise. If he can't go, it's a battle between five other quarterbacks, including walk-on Jeff Krohn, who was the best at the position during spring practices, and perhaps highly touted freshman Andrew Walter. Flowers is an outstanding talent but he missed spring due to academics. The offensive line is strong with four returning starters, but Richard Williams is the only wideout with any experience. Heap can dominate, and Archuleta leads a strong group of linebackers, particularly if sophomore Bates, who's only 18-years-old, returns to full strength. The Sun Devils must improve after ranking ninth in the conference in turnover margin.

-- Ted Miller