Tonight marks the beginning of a new college football season, and with that, the ASU football team is promising their fans who show up at Sun Devil Stadium something different.
Yes, the team returns 14 starters from a squad that slapped expectations in the face with a 5-7 performance last season. Yes, the new Nike jerseys will still be maroon and gold. And, yes, the stadium will be half full. But the Sun Devils promise that their attitude has changed, and it will be evident when they take to the field against Texas El-Paso at 7 p.m.
Now, ASU is in a dogfight to gain interest in their program and to climb the rankings. They are not starting at the top with little ground to gain and a lot to lose like was the case last year. Training camp this season has looked more like military training and not a "let's not get anyone hurt" series of workouts.
And most of all, when something goes bad, the Sun Devils have vowed to make it through difficult moments without resembling a deer caught in headlights. If a mistake is made, it cannot snowball and turn into ugly losses to teams like Stanford and UCLA.
"I think the fans are going to see a new breed of ASU football this season," senior quarterback Andrew Walter said. "Regardless of ups and downs through the course of the game, we're going to fight adversity. I like where we're at right now.
"We definitely have something to prove. A lot of people might say we don't, but for sure we do. It's a different attitude this year. We want to get last year's taste out of our mouth."
The Sun Devils are so consumed with finding a different attitude from last season, they came up with a new mission statement during the offseason; they call it "answer the scratch." A funny phrase perhaps, but they are words the team has taken to heart in its preparation for this season. If the phrase is mentioned with a chuckle by a member of the media at the practice field, the Sun Devils keep a stern look on their faces.
"Answer the scratch is our mission statement we have put together as a team," senior defensive tackle Jimmy Verdon said. "When you got to fight adversity and when you're down and you think you can't do anymore, you have to answer the scratch."
But while ASU is pumped to speak of the change in attitude they feel they have, the team is also quick to point out that talk is cheap.
"It's been a long wait for us. We're excited to be here; excited to be playing someone else. Talking is over," said ASU head coach Dirk Koetter, the man behind the Sun Devils' new demeanor.
Koetter went as far as to create a 25-player leadership council -- comprised of players that will help the battle cry to answer the scratch -- among the team over the offseason.
"I believe in these guys but the proof is between the white lines," Koetter said. "It starts (tonight), and its going to play out of the next 12 weeks, but we just got to wait and see when we get there."
Indeed, history will judge ASU's season over the next 12 weeks, but for tonight, the Sun Devils want to make sure they take care of business. Last year the team played a pair of games against Northern Arizona and Utah to start the year -- two teams thought to be "lesser" programs.
As expected, the games were victories, but in both instances ASU's performance could not have been much worse. Then, when the Sun Devils faced nationally ranked Iowa in their game, they were embarrassed 21-2.
"We are game planning (for UTEP) like we were playing any other team," Walter said. "We're not hiding anything (early in the season) like we did last year."
Stewart out
Senior strong safety and team co-captain Riccardo Stewart will sit out tonight's game due to an inflamed nerve near his shoulder. Stewart has had a history of shoulder problems. Redshirt freshman Josh Barrett will start in his place.
Reach the reporter at Christopher.Drexel@asu.edu.
