Sights and Sounds from Camp Tontozona: Defense

Camp Tontozona's 2019 had a combination of perfect weather, a perfect playing surface, and perfect play from the defensive backfield. Here are a few of the sights and sounds from Saturday's practice in front of the Sun Devil faithful.

There's nothing quite like the crack of the pads, and while fans want the team to be physically prepared for the season, nobody wants to see anyone sustain a serious injury- something that has happened to players like Jalen Harvey at Camp Tontozona in years' past.

There was a scary moment in Saturday's practice where Evan Fields went up to try and secure an interception, but was undercut ad came crashing down into the turf. Fields later returned to the scrimmage, but you could hear the gathered crowd of around 2,500 Sun Devil fans hold their collective breath.

One encouraging hit on Saturday came when sophomore defensive back KJ Jarrell tackled senior WR Ryan Newsome. Both players have struggled to stay healthy during their tenures at ASU, so watching those two collide, and then walk away from that collision, is an important step toward both of them making a contribution in a live game.

Another big hit came from walk-on freshman LB Fritzny Niclasse, who went from not knowing if he'd have a place to play college football just days before the 2019 signing day, to vying for playing time on ASU's special teams.

One of the most notable and noticeable occurrences during Saturday's scrimmage was the vocal leadership of CB Chase Lucas on the first team, and LB Case Hatch on the second team. Chase Lucas drew praise from defensive backs coach Tony White on several occasions for calling out offensive plays and sets prior to the snap. In the second group, it was very obvious that the team is relying on the nearly 22-year-old freshman to provide leadership for a very young second unit on the defense.

Two defensive starters had the afternoon off in defensive lineman Jermayne Lole and linebacker Tyler Johnson. Johnson spent his time encouraging the defense from the sideline, and playing catch with some of the kids who came out to watch Saturday's scrimmage. Teammates I spoke with described Lole's injury as typical soreness, but added that of all the defensive lineman at Camp T, Lole's attitude and performance stood out the most.

If there was one takeaway from Saturday's scrimmage at Camp Tontozona, it was the performance of the defensive backs. Senior safety Ty Whiley had an interception, and a touchdown saving deflection. Chase Lucas regularly had the offense's plays read before they ran them. Darien Cornay broke up a deep pass from Joey Yellen. Terin Adams had a solid outing after deciding to return to Arizona State after nearly transferring to a school up north. Cam Phillips covered a lot of ground from the safety position. ASU's QBs struggled mightily to get the ball out quickly despite having a clean pocket, and when they did test the defense over the middle, the ball was nearly always contested or deflected.