ASU veterans trust newcomers, seldom used players are up to the task
Coach everybody, and depth shouldn’t be an issue.
Arizona State senior defensive end Michael Matus echoed this mantra throughout the program’s third summer Zoom session on Wednesday. He saw the effect preparing past the starters had in 2019, when ASU would play upwards of 20 freshmen in a game and 32 total throughout the year. Matus himself was one of those freshmen, a redshirt seeing his first game action and contributing in his role. Now, he’s a linchpin of an ASU front that aims to become the team’s engine in the fall.
With the transfer portal wreaking heavy fractures across the roster since the conclusion of the 2021 season, finding fuel for that engine is more vital than ever.
Tyler Johnson exhausted his eligibility, as did Shannon Forman. D.J. Davidson now dons the blue and red of the New York Giants. Jermayne Lole, a preseason All-American candidate before a triceps injury ended his season in August, transferred to Louisville.
Matus is the only starter remaining on the defensive line, yet he didn’t blink when asked if this year’s team can yield similar results to the unit that produced the Pac-12’s No. 1 defense a season ago.
“I’m confident the guys that we have, and I know we can accomplish what we need to this year,” Matus said.
Matus and the defense have been aided by continuity, which was prioritized by defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson. “I think I changed one word,” Henderson told reporters in the spring. Although the faces will change, the system has stayed the same.
“It’s more so establishing a relationship with the guys you’re playing next to and building that trust up again,” Matus said. “And not that we didn’t have trust, but when you’re playing with new guys, you have to learn to play with new people. And so that’s really what it is.”
Omarr Norman-Lott will fill in at 3-technique after serving predominantly in a third-down role last season with B.J. Green, the team’s sack leader. Nesta Jade-Silvera, a transfer addition from Miami, replaces Davidson at nose tackle alongside junior T.J. Pesefea. Anthonie Cooper steps up at the right defensive end spot.
The Sun Devil defense prides itself on stopping the run, so concerns around the stability of the interior defensive line following the aforementioned departures have taken root. But neither of the two spots in question are lacking in playing time. Matus reaffirmed his statements that the lineup is more than its collective of starts.
“Omar, Nesta, TJ, these are guys that have taken snaps,” Matus said. “They might not have been a starter, and there were some good guys ahead of them. But it doesn’t mean that they’re any less of a player than the guys that were before them.
“I just think they just haven’t had their opportunity to shine. After all, I played here for two, almost two and a half years, and I didn’t have my opportunity until a couple of years ago. So it’s really just an opportunity to go out there and shine. I don’t think it’s a lapse in technique or talent or ability. I just think it’s their time, and they’re gonna get an opportunity they haven’t had before.”
Matus credited position coach Robert Rodriguez for the group’s confidence and said working with the defensive line has “gotten to a point where it’s perfection.” The group enters the third year of technique, playbook knowledge, and discipline. Of course, there is also Rodriguez’s booming, no words wasted coaching style.
Naturally, the defensive line could combat the roster turnover issues better than other areas of the team. However, you won’t hear them gloat about it.
“It’s easy to point the finger and say some groups are better than the other,” Matus said. “But as a collective, if one group fails, the whole group fails. So realistically, I don’t think anybody is less important than anybody else or less athletic or talented.
“I think it’s important for people to accept their roles and play them to the best of their ability.”
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Timarcus Davis did not imagine his college career would span six years, two schools, and a pandemic.
“I must not be a good player if I’m in college that long, that’s what I would say,” Davis reflected as he charted his journey from a Baylor recruit in 2017.
Davis learned a few things along the road since then. Setting an alarm clock, doing laundry, and living on his own. He has seen the transfer portal transform in power since he decided to leave Baylor for ASU in 2018. He watched his teammates in the secondary get drafted into the NFL and realize their dreams.
He also saw himself collect nine tackles and an interception in the Las Vegas Bowl seven months ago and return for his final season as the top cornerback on the roster. And the pandemic that stunted his ascension into the lineup allowed him to have one more chance to prove himself right.
“That’s why I love football,” Davis said. “It’s circumstantial; life is circumstantial, you know? You gotta read and react to it. And that was my story.”
Davis said being a senior member of the secondary was “a total role change” but stepped up when he recognized the need for leadership this offseason. But Davis does not want the leadership to stop at him. Rather, he wants the team to recognize the value of mentoring regardless of seniority.
“I want everybody to be a leader,” Davis said. “When I mess up, I want them to say something to me. And I just want it to be to where everybody’s comfortable and everybody can break out the huddle and can call the play.
“It doesn’t always have to be me to say, ‘hey, you know, everybody come together. We ain’t doing this right. We need to get our attitude together.’ You know, it could be from the youngest guys to the oldest guy.”
The defense had to replace eight starters, including all four players in its backfield. But Davis believes the biggest difference will be a shift in mentality. Last year, the Sun Devils crumbled when they were countered by momentum in games against BYU, Utah, and Washington State. Davis hopes this team will be better equipped to manage those swings.
“I think this year, we’ll be able to be like, ‘okay, here comes adversity,’” Davis said. “You know, let’s not be surprised because we knew this was coming. I think we just gonna handle that in a much better way.”
Nothing is more important to a cornerback than knowing he can count on his help. With two new safeties blanketing the back half of the defense, the strength of that security has been a major talking point since Khoury Bethley, and Chris Edmonds arrived last spring. Since then, Davis has grown to trust the two arrivals.
“If I gotta play underneath, I know they’re gonna be able to talk,” Davis said. “Or if I’m outside leverage, they’re inside and vice versa. So I feel safe, you know, I feel good about that. I feel that I can play aggressively and know that the other guy’s got my back.
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Here’s your monthly Emory Jones update from the man snapping him the football:
“The chemistry is going a lot better than anticipated, to be honest. We were having like some walkthroughs going on, like player-led walkthroughs and stuff. And we’ve been getting the snaps down, and him and Paul and Trent are all still rotating still.
“They’re all asking me to go down and get some snaps in. I’m over there like, ‘man, it’s too much for me.’ But you know, it’s all good. You know, a while back, we all went to Top Golf, and it was fun just getting that chemistry going between all of us.”
Ben Scott will move to center full-time after spending the last two seasons at right tackle. With Dohnovan West signed to the 49ers, ASU is counting on a smooth transition for Scott as they simultaneously prepare Jones for his first season in maroon and gold. According to Scott, Jones is progressing well in learning the playbook as well as meshing with the rest of the team.
“He always brings a positive attitude out here,” Scott said. “He’s for sure leading the guy, like when he asked us today like to go outside and go train a little bit more.”
Scott has indeed been training and working on “playing to his strengths.” He acknowledged the differences he’s encountered in the switch from tackle to center.
“During spring, I was really working on the little techniques here and there and not building bad habits,” Scott said. “All that stuff and getting my leverage right. And especially playing out of an even stance, getting out on outside zone and sweep plays will benefit me the most where I can use my speed because I feel like I’m a lot more athletic than majority of nose tackles.”
Just don’t ask Scott to reproduce in the same fashion West was known for.
“I don’t really watch Donovan too much because he has a really distinct playstyle that not too many guys can replicate,” West laughed. “He was really quick and liked to use his quickness, which I will do from time to time.
But I like to watch Cory Lindsey, the Chargers center, Ryan Jensen from the Buccaneers, and Creed Humphrey from the Chiefs. I like to watch those guys, just like looking at what their strengths are individually and trying to see how my film compares to theirs in a way. How they would treat certain fronts and certain looks, and how like their steps are.”
Like the rest of the team, Scott has heard the outside noise and is eager for his chance to silence it.
“We definitely have a lot to prove,” Scott said. “And it helps that we brought in a lot of guys from other schools. They already had that mentality because they have to prove themselves and earn their spot pretty much. The guys that are here, like myself, we have got to prove that this is still our spot.
“And I gotta prove that I’m gonna be the best center in the pack, which I really believe I will be.”
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