As of yesterday, the countdown to Arizona State’s season opener has reached the two-sleep mark. With 43 new players requiring integration since last winter, it has been a busy offseason for the Sun Devils. Slowly but surely, all the right pieces have fallen into place.
ASU found its starting quarterback in Florida transfer Emory Jones. The backfield boasts a multi-pronged rushing attack once again. The receiving corps looks much farther along in their chemistry and overall knowledge of the playbook than they did last year. Plus, the tight ends emerged as popular targets and frequent mismatches.
Offensive coordinator Glenn Thomas has spent the last two weeks tweaking his offense so that it not only maximizes Jones’ unique skillset but makes the signal caller feel comfortable executing the game plan. That comfort level will be examined from every angle against NA. But Jones has earned Thomas’ trust and will have limited freedom to make adjustments if needed.
“I mean, it’s not an open forum,” Thomas explained. “He’s not gonna call the game. But there are obviously situations where we give him some flexibility to get us in the right play.”
Jones’ mastery of the scheme has noticeably increased during each week of preseason camp. The latest ASU practice showcased a surgical two-minute drill where Jones dotted up a variety of targets on quick-hitting routes. The 6-3, 210-pound quarterback moved the chains efficiently and stepped up away from pressure to deliver timely throws to his receivers.
Thomas likes his quarterback under center and his offense to huddle a lot. Jones’s success at operating the offense at a faster pace is encouraging. It opens up more opportunities for the Sun Devils to keep the defense on their toes without fretting over leaving their own playmakers confused over the call. So far, switching up the pace of the offense is not creating a major disconnect on that front.
“I think that’s probably what’s unique about what we’re doing,” Thomas said. “Offensively, we can get big, put a big personnel grouping in there, and then we can get into a no-huddle, 11 personnel spread set. So I think the capability of being able to do that both and a comfort level to be able to do both breeds a lot that the defense has to look or defend. And I think our guys have confidence in both; whether it be a two-minute situation, they love it.
“Shoot, those guys, athletes, they love spreading it out and throwing it and going fast. But also those linemen, when you start getting down in there running the ball, they like to move people off the ball. So you know, it piques interest of different position groups, obviously, but we have the availability to do both. And I think we can be successful doing both.”
Thomas outlined his priorities for the team against Northern Arizona on Thursday. He doesn’t want to focus on the fact that an FCS team beat ASU’s hated rival last season. Thomas would rather hone in on the little things his offense can get right, which in turn will create a smoother night for the offense.
“This sounds cliche, but just control what we can control and the execution,” Thomas said. “I think those are the two things, particularly early in the season, as you’re trying to create a rhythm, you’re trying to create some balance in your identity of what you got going. I think you have to, I’m a firm believer as well; you have to run the ball. You know, they play a lot eight-man spacing, they’re gonna get a lot of guys in the box. But at the end of the day, we still have to run the ball.
“And you know, as you talk with the procedural things, and the pre-snap issues, just be crisp, be clean, control what we can control, be consistent, and given an opportunity to convert whether it be third down a red zone, let’s make that happen.”
Thomas has worked from the sidelines all preseason, but he will assume a different perch on gameday. The former Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks coach plans to call plays from the press box. Former ASU offensive coordinator Zak Hill was usually on the field.
“You definitely can see it from a different perspective,” Thomas said. “We got some great guys down there that can communicate and get good information relayed.”
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Meanwhile, defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson made some final checks of his own on the other side of the ball. With the defensive line rallied behind position coach Robert Rodriguez and the linebackers returning experienced starters in Kyle Soelle and Merlin Robertson, Henderson’s priorities have been focused on establishing the standouts in the secondary. With two days to go before, Henderson finally has answers.
Ro Torrence and Ed Woods will be ASU’s starting cornerbacks. Chris Edmonds and Kejuan Markham will be behind both at their safety posts. Woods is the name that finished the preseason on the highest note, proving himself over the last few weeks of practice with lockdown play and consistent production.
Henderson praised Woods for overcoming some of the mental hurdles that plagued his ascension in the spring after a promising freshman season.
“When he first got here as a freshman, he played very hard, made some mistakes, competed. And then all of a sudden, we got to the next year, we start bringing in more guys, and his participation in my opinion – he practiced well. He had some issues off the field that he had to deal with, family things that really put him in a different mode. So when he came to talk to me, and he talked to me probably just the start of training camp. And what I told him is, ‘hey, go back to when you first got here and compete. That’s all you can do. If you get beat, you get beat, nobody saw what we all get beat.’
“But for a guy like that, who came in here as a freshman, and really stood out to lose a year because of all the things that he was going through, on and off the field… and I told him, ‘Hey, just don’t worry about all those things. You know, when you’re on the field, you’re on the field of play. That’s all you can do. You make a mistake. You move on. A guy beat you, so what?’ My biggest thing is I tell him if a guy just beat you on out, did he ever beat you? I tell him ‘No, he didn’t beat you. You gave him one. The next time let him run the same play the same route and I guarantee you’ll win.’ So what I mean by that it’s usually technique that you lose on not because of the guy being better than you.”
Another player that saw his amount of reps soar as the preseason wrapped up was nickel cornerback DJ Taylor, who also is ASU’s starting kickoff and punt returner. The coaching staff experiments with Taylor at outside cornerback and safety over his first two seasons before trying him out at nickel two weeks ago. The third position switch seemed to be the charm, as Taylor impressed with his athleticism and quickness guarding the team’s slot targets.
Last season’s nickel back, Jordan Clark, is out against NAU. That means Taylor is primed to make his first start for the Sun Devils. Even though he’s new to the position, Henderson believes Taylor’s potential is sky-high.
“He’s very athletic,” Henderson said. “He’s fast. He’s strong. He’s big. He likes football. And, you know, last year, I think last year when I was coaching the secondaries, I held him back a little bit. I didn’t think he was ready to play at that particular time.
“But I also saw this year that you know, you got a guy that can flat out run, and he’s physical, and he loves football, and he can change direction. So I said, hey, let’s put him at the nickel when Jordan went down. I said let’s put him at the nickel, let’s see what he can do. And he’s proven that he’s learning the position. I believe this: if we can put him in enough situations that it’s repetition, so to speak, of what he’s supposed to do, he’ll skyrocket. I do believe that, because of his athleticism.”
Henderson took a more direct approach than Thomas when asked about his game plan for NAU. Henderson knows the strengths of ASU’s opponents. He mentioned NAU running back Kevin Daniels as a player that players need to “bring your lunch pail” for when tackling. Wide receivers Coleman Owen and Hendrix Johnson also caught Henderson’s eye.
“They’re gonna run the football and throw it around,” Henderson stated pragmatically. “For us, we just got to make sure that we tackle well and get to the ball. And I keep it simple. So we can play. We need to play fast and keep the things simple so everybody can play fast. That’s my main objective right now going into this game is trying to keep the ball in front, stopping the run, and try to keep the quarterback from extending plays.”
One asset that will help Henderson bamboozle the NAU offense: the rotation of the defensive line. The unit is stacked with talent, and players like Joe Moore, Omarr Norman-Lott, and B.J. Green enjoyed a fruitful preseason that showcased their development. Rodriguez has been given free rein to rotate his packages when he sees fit.
“The ones (first team) are probably six guys,” Henderson said. “You normally see four guys, so our ones that we got are about six guys that can rotate, and I felt good about that. So that’s what you see. You don’t see just ones and twos. You’ve seen more ones, six reps, six guys, let’s just get it done. Whoever’s in there, I’m happy with. I don’t have a problem with them right now.”
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