Commentary

Osweiler, Mazzone could blow up

Arizona State's QB and fearless playcaller look like a perfect match

Updated: April 26, 2011, 11:41 AM ET

By KC Joyner | ESPN Insider

It isn't often that epiphanies occur during tape breakdowns, but one happened recently while analyzing game footage of Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback Brock Osweiler.

Osweiler was pressed into duty in the Nov. 26 game against the UCLA Bruins after starting passer Steven Threet suffered a concussion in the middle of the first quarter.

The situation looked rather dire for the Sun Devils at the time, and things got worse as they went down 17-0 after UCLA recovered an Arizona State fumble on Osweiler's first drive and converted it into a touchdown.

Many playcallers would find this to be a daunting task because that type of deficit means the defense knows you are going to have to pass the football, but that didn't faze Arizona State offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone for a moment.

In fact, Mazzone's play calls would indicate that he relished the opportunity to showcase the wide variety of attack methods contained in his playbook. This offense looks like a standard dink-and-dunk college spread scheme at first glance, but in this situation they started attacking the Bruins' defense vertically in just about every way possible.

And that's when the epiphany occurred: Noel Mazzone could very well be the next Mike Martz. And Brock Osweiler could be the perfect fit at quarterback to execute his scheme.

To read more about the potential for Brock Osweiler and Arizona State's offense in 2011, become an ESPN Insider today.