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Show Sun Devils Figure As Darkhorse Contenders f - - , (This is the second in a series of articels by this writer analyzing the football prospects of the teams in this area.) by Mike Jacobsen Chronice Sports Writer Arizona State is picked no worse than third on every poll in the six-team Western Athletic Conference Con-ference football race this fall. If the pollsters have predicted correctly, cor-rectly, we can suppose that the Sun Devils from the warm country down south can definitely be contenders. con-tenders. The team that posted a 5-5 record (3-2 in the WAC and tied for second) last year is back almost entirely intact with the exception ex-ception of a quarterback and two fine halfbacks. ASU's schedule, with Wisconsin, Washington State, and Texas Western, besides the WAC foes, is the toughest in the 265 lb., 6-1 Curley Culp is mainstay of Arizona Aggies' line. i """" ""v- I) V; ilL ! J HEAD COACH FRANK KUSH . . . Has 23 lettermen school's history. v 23 RETURN Head Coach Frank Kush has 23 returning lettermen. Of these athletes, ath-letes, six started on defense and eight on offense in Arizona State's final game of the season in which they defeated Arizona, so there is an abundance of experience. They only must play Utah and New Mexico on the road, so this should be beneficial. Possibly the strongest and finest lineman in the country this year will be wearing a Sun Devil uniform. uni-form. Curley Culp has a thing about helmets; he enjoys decorating decorat-ing his own and demolishing those he plays against. Culp, exceptional with his forearm, totals helmets with regularity; he finished off three in one scrimmage last season. If an Arizona State defensive lineman line-man has an outstanding football game, he gets one letter toward the DEVIL club. Five outstanding games would give him the word DEVIL on his helmet. The past two seasons the first to arrive at DEVIL was the 6-1, 265 - pound Culp. Besides having a "B" average in business, the senior.was also th NCAA heavyweight wrestlin ; .. . champion last year. Pity should bj taken on the offensive guards and tackles who are unfortunate'y enough to draw the blocking assignment as-signment on Culp. Defense Adequate The remainder of the defense is adequate. Ken Dyer and Rudy Hudson Hud-son will be the ends. The tackles will be stronger than last year with Bobby Johnson, Bob Rokita, Sun Devils have Wyoming, BYU, and Arizona coming to Tempe, and and John Hanson, and the guards will be likewise with Culp. Ron Pritchard and Dick Egloff are two excellent linebackers, and Ken Dyer, Phil Booker, Wes Plummer, Dicky Brown, Dennis Farrell, and Paul Ray Powell make the defensive defens-ive secondary stronger. If the green ends can mature fast, it will be hard to run against the Sun Devils. Quarterback is a question. Six-foot-five-inch Rick Shaw could probably do the job, but a six-month six-month Army tour has hurt his ability. Ed Roseborough came off the bench to replace Shaw in the San Jose game, and he directed the Sun Devils to all their points in a 27 to 16 victory, thus winning the starting position. Offensive ends will be good with John Helton and the boy with an easy name to remember, Fair Hooker. George Hummer will return re-turn at center, and tackles Larry Langford and Nello Tomarelli along with guards Jim Kane and Herman Serignese should make the offensive line stronger. Arizona State is one and one so far on the season after beating beat-ing San Jose State and losing to Oregon State 27-20. The over-all team is definitely stronger this year, and with a guy like Curley Culp in the middle of the line, how can they not cause opposing teams headaches? The Sun Devils are surely going to have something to say about the WAC outcome. |