Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/181992
Game Preview: arizona state All-American defensive tackle Will Sutton jumped from 285 to 305 pounds to start the season. He is stronger, but he's yet to register a sack after finishing third in the nation with 13 a year ago. The chatter surrounding Sutton's extra weight in Tempe, Ariz., is similar to questions about Notre Dame's 322-pound defensive end Stephon Tuitt, another preseason All-America pick who hasn't posted big numbers in September. "The jury is still out on [Sutton]," Haller said. "He hasn't been as active in the run game as he was last year. That's an indication that he might be slowing down a little bit, but Graham has been pretty adamant that he's stronger and he's faster than he was last year." Some of Sutton's slow start could also be attributed to facing double teams against two of the country's best offensive lines. He'll likely attract the same kind of attention from Notre Dame in 2013 Arizona State Schedule Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 5 Sacramento State W, 55-0 Sept. 14 Wisconsin (ESPN) W, 32-30 Sept. 21 at Stanford (FOX) L, 42-28 Sept. 28 USC (ESPN2) W, 62-41 Oct. 5 vs. Notre Dame^ (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12 Colorado TBA Oct. 19 Washington TBA Oct. 31 at Washington State (ESPN) 10:30 p.m. Nov. 9 at Utah TBA Nov. 16 Oregon State TBA Nov. 23 at UCLA TBA Nov. 30 Arizona TBA the trenches. Large venues and national television starts are commonplace this year for the Irish, who will play at least five games in primetime this season and two in NFL stadiums. Arizona State isn't as familiar with that scene, and has had trouble adjusting. Last year's marquee non-conference matchup for Arizona State came against SEC newcomer Missouri on the road. The Sun Devils fell behind by double digits in the first half of a winnable game and weren't able to recover. They ended up losing 24‑20. "The big thing with the Notre Dame game is that ASU does not perform well when the lights are on against a bigtime opponent," Haller said. "They always dig themselves into a hole." Graham has a history of giving Brian Kelly fits with less-talented teams. This year he has a lot of weapons that can hurt the Irish if they prove they can finish on the big stage. ✦ 2013 Notre Dame Schedule Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 31 Temple (NBC) W, 28-6 Sept. 7 at Michigan (ESPN) L, 41-30 Sept. 14 at Purdue (ABC) W, 31-24 Sept. 21 Michigan State (NBC) W, 17-13 Sept. 28 Oklahoma (NBC) L, 35-21 Oct. 5 vs. Arizona State^ (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19 Southern California (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Oct. 26 at Air Force (CBSSN) 5 p.m. Nov. 2 Navy (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 9 at Pittsburgh (ABC/ESPN) TBA Nov. 23 Brigham Young (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 30 at Stanford (FS1) TBA ^ Shamrock Series at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas