ASU’s fall camp is in its rearview mirror, but the answer to the most burning question on the collective minds of the Arizona State fan base still lies ahead. Two weeks before the 2023 season opener versus Southern Utah, the Sun Devil staff has yet to name a starting quarterback. Granted, maybe it was never supposed to be a position battle that would be easily solved in early August, and there are objective reasons why the resolution on this matter may still be several days away.
Let’s reset the competition picture and examine where it started and how it developed to its current state.
When fall camp began on July 31st, it was understood that two signal callers, returning starter Trenton Bourget and Notre Dame transfer Drew Pyne, would be the two contenders for the job. At the end of spring practice, Bourguet had a comfortable advantage over Pyne, but throughout the first couple of weeks in August, Pyne did a solid job narrowing the gap between the two.
The element that swiftly reshaped this starting role race was Pyne’s “minor hamstring tear” injury, as described by head coach Kenny Dillingham, suffered last Saturday during the Camp Tontozona scrimmage. Currently, Pyne’s availability is unknown, but what is seemingly indisputable is that for the time being, he won’t be in consideration to start the season opener as he rehabs from that injury. Dillingham admitted that Pyne’s injury did alter his timetable for naming a starting quarterback, implying that he may have favored Pyne over Bourguet.
When preseason practices began, it did not seem as if true freshman Jaden Rashada had much of a chance to be a spoiler in this race. Nevertheless, that same scrimmage where Pyne was injured was arguably Rashada’s best session this month, and after fall camp’s last scrimmage yesterday at Mountain America Stadium, Dillingham praised Rashada’s big play ability, finding ASU’s leading wide receiver Elijhah Badger for two receptions each over 50 yards, saying that the ability to stretch the field “is something that we’ve been lacking in fall camp in general and in spring ball... That’s winning football at this level in this league.”
Objectively speaking, though, if you look at the totality of fall camp, Bourguet is the quarterback that has been the most consistent in his performance. I won’t argue with those who say that he is not playing better than he did in the spring, but I also don’t think that he had regressed, let alone ‘earned’ to see his depth chart niche take a back seat to Rashada and even when Pyne was healthy, Bourguet was still ahead in his performance.
Let’s go back to yesterday’s scrimmage, which was supposed to potentially provide answers not only on the pecking order at quarterback but in other positions where two-deep battles were ongoing.
Looking at the stats my staff compiled, here is how the two quarterbacks fared in that Wednesday scrimmage:
Trenton Bourguet: 6/16, 2 TDs, 1 INT | 3 scrambles | 4/4 Goal Line Pass segment (not included in scrimmage stats)
Jaden Rashada: 6/17, 2 TDs | 4 scrambles | 0/4 Goal Line Pass segment
When you look at the stats, not including the goal line pass segment, the numbers are virtually identical sans the one interception that Bourguet had. Conversely, his advantage was being perfect in the goal line/two-point conversion segment, a period where Rashada had no success.
True, there were a couple of near interceptions by Bourguet, and yes, Rashada was once nearly intercepted as well. And if people want to use that aspect as a differentiator between both, so be it. But let’s not also forget that it’s Rashada, not Bourguet, that was given the majority of first-team reps yesterday, yet he produced the same stats as Bourguet, who was operating with not only the second team but an offensive line that was giving him less breathing room to in comparison. Yes, he should have done better as a veteran between the two, but I wouldn’t gloss over the objective factors in place.
The constant knock on Bourguet is his lack of big play ability. While no one can argue that this is one skill where Rashada does have an advantage, I still believe that it is also inadvertently short-changing Bourguet in that department.
Let’s take a look at how many explosive plays (passes of 20-plus yards) Bourguet tallied in all the games that he got meaningful reps in last year:
Came in relief in an upset win over Washington and had four explosive plays
In a win over Colorado had ten explosive plays, 435 passing yards
In a loss to UCLA, one explosive play passing for 343 yards
In a loss to Washington State had no explosive plays on a day cut short due to an injury
A loss to Oregon State was clearly his low point of the season, with just 122 passing yards and one explosive play
In a loss to Arizona, five explosive plays, 376 yards passing
So, the facts bear out that he is definitely capable of having games with not only multiple explosive plays but also formidable passing numbers as well. And let’s not forget that Badger and fellow junior Jalin Conyers were primary beneficiaries of Bourguet’s play, and that duo is a shoo-in to be front and center contributors this year in ASU’s passing game. Familiarity and chemistry matter, and that is an undeniable advantage that Bourguget has.
Furthermore, now imagine having all three returning players enjoying an offensive staff that is head and shoulders above what ASU had in 2022 and how much that aspect can improve the entire Sun Devil offense.
Yes, most of Bourguet's success came against the porous defenses of Washington, Colorado, UCLA, and Arizona. Yet, this fact should not be held against him or any other quarterback on the roster or in the league. Taking advantage of an opponent’s shortcoming is hardly a reflection of your own deficiency, and no signal caller should ever apologize for shredding a secondary that could not stop him on a given Saturday.
One extremely important element to keep in mind is a significant rule change this year: the clock will not stop after a team gains a first down unless it’s in the last two minutes of the half or the fourth quarter.
Moving the chains is no longer a cute football cliché but rather a necessity in this new landscape of college football. Of course, explosive plays not only gain a good chunk of real estate but energize your entire team while demoralizing the opponent. But a feast or famine approach, if you will, does have the potential to come back and adversely affect you.
Games this year are poised to be shorter in length, and quarterbacks, even if they’re challenged in being reliable with their long ball, but having a high degree of accuracy in their shorter passes (Bourguet completed over 71 percent of his passes in 2022) can still be effective in games where their team may be a (heavy) underdog. When you face an explosive offense such as USC, Washington, Oregon, etc., wouldn’t you want those offenses to spend as few minutes on the field as possible when you know your chances to win a shootout are low?
If you’re not able to repeatedly nitpick those defenses and keep the yard markers moving toward the end zone, are you really giving yourself a realistic chance of winning a contest against that caliber of Top-25 opponent and notching a statement win?
ASU truly has the ‘good headache’ of having one of the best quarterback rooms we’ve seen in a while in Tempe. No matter who the starter is, they will absolutely have little room for error in order to keep their job, especially when all of his competitors are 100 percent healthy.
It’s impossible to overstate how bright the future is with such a skilled quarterback as Jaden Rashada, especially with such a talented offensive mind trust in Tempe. And as much as you’d like to redshirt him (playing in four games or less) and preserve one more year of eligibility, that may not be a plausible scenario.
I don’t feel that there’s a need to take the ‘baptism by fire’ route with Rashada. He should absolutely get dozens of reps as a backup versus Southern Utah, and if the game flow allows it, get the same volume of reps in any game thereafter if Pyne were to miss other contests in the month of September. Ultimately, coaches should look at the film and determine if he (or any other player in any other position) should see the field and for how many snaps.
Therefore, I would refrain from naming Rashada as the starter for the season opener, and I do believe that Trenton Bourguet should be named ASU’s starter for the season opener. That does not mean his starter status will or should be etched in stone no matter how he performs, but that is the prudent move for the Arizona State staff for the here and now.
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