CAMP TONTOZONA, Ariz. - Saturday's morning scrimmage chain of events wasn't much different from what we saw in the preceding practices east of Payson. Here is our scrimmage report:
Offensive report:
First Team
RT Emmit Bohle
RG Cade Briggs
C Leif Fautanu
LG Sione Finau
LT Isaia Glass
QB Trenton Bourguet
RB Cam Skattebo
TE Jalin Conyers
WR Melquan Stovall (slot)
WR Elijhah Badger
WR Xavier Guillory
RB DeCarlos Brooks and rotated Cam Skattebo during first-team reps. TE Messiah Swinson and Bryce Pierre rotated with/joined Conyers with the first team. WR Andre Johnson, Troy Omeire, and Gio Sanders rotated in with the first team.
Second Team
RT Max Iheanachor
RG Kyle Scott
C Ben Bray
LG Sean Na’a
LT Bram Walden
QB Drew Pyne
RB George Hart III
TE Bryce Pierre
WR Andre Johnson
WR Troy Omeire
WR Gio Sanders (slot)
RB Javen Jacobs, Kyson Brown, and Tevin White rotated with Hart during second-team reps. WR Shawn Charles and Max Ware rotated in with the second team. TE Messiah Swinson rotated with the second team. QB Jaden Rashada took reps with the first/second teams.
The first team portion started with the ball placed at the three-yard line going in, simulating a two-point conversion try or a goal-line score situation. As Drew Pyne got most of the first-team snaps yesterday, Trenton Bourguet filled that role. To begin, Bourguet threw a ball to the back of the endzone intended for Jalin Conyers that went incomplete. Bourguet then rifled a ball in the right bottom corner of the endzone for Elijhah Badger that was then dropped. One last chance had a ball thrown up high to Conyers again falling incomplete.
Pyne came in with the second team having a lot more success, although his first pass, to Bryce Pierre, went behind the tight end. In the following play, George Hart III caught the ball in the flat for a score. Starting fresh, Pyne threw a ball to Andre Johnson, but the pass was broken up. Gio Sanders, on the next play, ran a route over the middle of the field for another score. The period would end after an incompletion to Melquan Stovall.
The team transitioned into series play, replicating game-like situations driving down the field. Bourguet took the snaps with the first team.
Bourguet found Badger out in the flat on the right side to begin the action. A ball that looked complete to Xavier Guillory was ruled incomplete. Before the next play, which would be a third down, there was a false start, a mishap that has been somewhat of a pattern in camp. Nonetheless, the third down would not be converted as a ball intended for Sanders was deflected.
The second team came in with Pyne, hoping to continue the success from earlier. Pyne went 4-5 with one of the completions, adding a flag on the defense. Javen Jacobs and Hart, and Tevin White all had carries in the drive as the offense was making serious progress. Towards the end of the drive, Pyne scrambled, sliding out of bounds, and would leave the field due to a small hamstring tear and didn’t return to the scrimmage.
Bourguet would take over the drive handing the ball to Hart first. He then would try to find Hart again, but the ball fell incomplete. The last play of the drive on what looked like a nice ball to Sanders was tipped in the air by EDGE Gharin Stansbury. As Bourguet somewhat struggled, he was asked about what we could improve on after the scrimmage.
“Trusting my eyes, trusting my reads,” Bourguet said. “Not trying to go too fast or think too much, just trusting what the coaches are telling me to do and not overcomplicate it and just play some football.”
Dillingham said most starters would not get an excessive amount of playing time, so after that Bourguet drive, freshman quarterback Jaden Rashada had four straight drives with a fifth and sixth to end the practice, a scenario that was obviously arouse due to Pyne’s injury.
The first series being with the first team, and the latter drives being with the second and third teams. Rashada complied 22 completions in 34 attempts. His first drive ended in a 37-yard Dario Longhetto field goal, and the second to last drive ended in the only touchdown of the day on a long ball to Shawn Charles. Most of the last drives by Rashada play called by Bourguet on the sideline.
Before Bourguet’s day was done, as he then moved to the play calling, his last drive went 2-4 with a nice gain from Hart on a screen.
Since today’s scrimmage was opened to the public, we didn’t see a great deal of complexity in the offense. Nonetheless, today’s scrimmage did reflect the previous practices at Camp T and the defense dominance we saw.
A Wednesday scrimmage closed to the public will be more of an indicator as to the state of the offense and forming its two-deep. As much as Bourguet did not have his best day, the starting role is likely his to lose due to Pyne’s injury.
Defensive report:
First Team:
EDGE: Clayton Smith
DT: Dashaun Mallory
DT: Anthonie Cooper
EDGE: BJ Green
LB: Travion Brown
LB: Will Shaffer
CB: Ro Torrence
CB: Demetries Ford
Nickel: Jordan Clark
S: Xavion Alford
S: Chris Edmonds
Like they have been doing all camp, the Linebackers rotated in and out during the scrimmage as Will Shaffer often switched out with Tate Romney.
Second Team:
EDGE: Michael Matus
DT: Sam Benjamin
DT: Tristan Monday
EDGE: Prince Dorbah
LB: James Djonkam
LB: Krew Jackson
CB: Keith Abney
CB: Ed Woods
Nickel: Macen Williams
S: Damon Williamson
S: Josiah Cox
The second team defense saw rotating up front with tackle Blazen Long-Wong and tackle Harold Brooks III switching in.
In the scrimmage, the defense held the offense to just one touchdown and one field goal across eight drives.
The defense made their mark early in goal-line situations/two-point conversions, not allowing quarterback Trenton Bourguet to punch it into the end zone a single time.
Bourguet attempted to find red zone weapon Jalin Conyers multiple times in the end zone, just to be met with pass breakups by linebacker Travion Brown and defensive back Josiah Cox. Bourguet also attempted to find wide receiver Elijhah Badger in the corner of the end zone with a back shoulder throw, but defensive back Ro Torrence denied the score.
Following Bourget, quarterback Drew Pyne led the second-team offense out on the field and quickly had more success, throwing two touchdown passes. At the end of the goal line period, the defense allowed just those two touchdowns on eight plays from the three-yard line.
Right after the goal line situations, the team got into the main event of the day, which was the 11-on-11 scrimmage. Overall, the team ran eight drives starting with Bourguet leading the first-team offense against the first-team defense.
The defense picked up where they left off against Bourguet, forcing a three-and-out on the first drive of the scrimmage. After a short completion on first down, the defense forced two straight incompletions. First, defensive back Ro Torrence locked down an out route intended for wideout Xavier Guillory. Then, nickel corner Jordan Clark had an interception fall through his hands after he jumped an out route intended for wideout Gio Sanders.
After the three-and-out, the second-team offense and defense took over, with quarterback Drew Pyne leading the way. After Pyne got a first down, safety Josiah Cox made his presence felt, stopping back-to-back runs from running back George Hart III. Linebacker James Djonkam also had a nice play shadowing Sanders in coverage 30-plus yards down the sideline and forcing an incompletion.
“I’ve learned how to read offenses,” Cox said about his first ASU fall camp. “I really didn’t know how to do that; I was just playing football at first. I learned how to make adjustments and anticipate what is coming next. It is little things like that have made me a better player.”
Pyne began moving the ball downfield but after suffering a hamstring tear, had to come out of the scrimmage. Bourguet took over once again, and on a slant route intended for Sanders, EDGE Gharin Stansbury continued his fantastic camp, jumping up and blocking Bourguet’s pass.
After Stansbury’s block ended the drive, quarterback Jaden Rashada entered for the offense and quickly gained a first down. In the very next play, Rashada forced a ball to Xavier Guillory and threw it a little bit behind him right into the chest of Torrance, but Torrence was unable to haul it in. Rashada began driving down the field, but the drive came to a halt as EDGE Clayton Smith rushed around the corner, getting to Rashada for the sack. The offense settled for their first points of the day with a field goal.
The next drive, the defense made a stand forcing a quick three-and-out. Rashada began driving down the field on the next drive, getting across the 50-yard line, but thanks to great plays from Cox and fellow defensive back Ed Woods, the defense held and forced a would-be punt.
The rest of the drives would be a mix of the second and third-team defenses, and they resulted in the defense surrendering the only touchdown.
Overall, the defense once again had an outstanding performance, finishing the day allowing just ten points while also posting three sacks and multiple tackles for losses. Dillingham described the day as “sloppy” due to a large number of penalties on both sides of the ball, but heading into the home stretch of the fall camp, ASU has plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the defensive side of the ball.
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