Slocum not surprised by week one performances of Turk, Zendejas

ASU’s 30-7 win on opening night versus Kent State was far from perfect, as any ASU coach will tell you, but as the score would suggest, there was a lot that went well for the Sun Devils.

Of course, here we’re focusing on special teams, and for starters, they literally got the best punting performance in the nation by sophomore Michael Turk in his ASU debut after transferring from Lafayette in 2018.

“He’s a talented young man,” special teams coordinator and associate head coach Shawn Slocum said. “I thought it was a good indicator of what he is as a competitor for him to step out in his first opportunity to have a good performance like that.”

Turk set a new single-season record for Lafayette as a freshman when he averaged 42.7 yards per punt in 2017, which earned him second-team All-Patriot League honors. In his first action in the two years since due to his redshirting and sitting out 2018 per NCAA transfer rules, he averaged 20 yards more than that per punt, in case you missed it in the tweet. This set ASU, Pac-12 and NCAA records, which has fans and the coaching staff alike excited for his future in Tempe.

“He’s a very good technician, first of all,” Slocum added. “Everybody’s a little bit different, but a few of the pro guys that I was around, he reminds me of. He’s got a lot of potential and he’s just got to keep proving it.”

As perfect of a start as it was for Turk, he doesn’t want his first ASU game to be overhyped too much because, as he says, he’s still got an entire season left to play.

“It’s definitely humbling,” Turk said of all the attention he’s received for his performance. “Obviously something that I try to get the point across is that it’s all due to the Lord, all glory to him, and I’m just so thankful to be in this opportunity.

“Another thing is I’m definitely not trying to let it get to my head. It’s a long season, I got to stay humble and hungry like (head coach) Herm (Edwards) talks about. So, it was cool, but in the grand scheme it doesn’t mean much, I got to keep it going, so that’s for sure.”

The punting game was smooth sailing from the start, but the kicking game was a whole different story. Not that there were any problems once the game was rolling, but junior kicker Brandon Ruiz was ruled out only hours ahead of the opening kickoff.

This thrust sophomore Cristian Zendejas, a Chandler, Arizona native and Perry high school alum into kicking duties, while true freshman Josh Plaster served as the kickoff specialist, only needing to come on twice during the game.

However, Zendejas had a much busier night but came through for the Sun Devils when he was needed, making all three of his PAT’s and more importantly all three of his field goals, each from at least 31 yards with a long of 40.

“He’s really worked hard in the time that he’s been here,” Slocum commented on Zendejas, now in his third season with the program as he redshirted in 2017. “He’s got great bloodlines obviously and has been training very well, I’m not surprised he was successful.”

Based on the team’s official depth chart released Tuesday, it appears that Ruiz is ready to return to his normal kicking duties for week two.

But Slocum stated that they are still taking it day-by-day with Ruiz, and the priority is to be sure he’s healthy before they get him back on the field. He noted the differences between Ruiz and Zendejas as kickers as well, saying the team is in a good spot having both guys on its roster.

“Brandon’s got a little bit more length (on his kicks),” Slocum said, “Cristian’s very accurate…I think all kickers are slightly different, and a lot of them have different qualities, and we’re fortunate to have both of them.”

No matter who is kicking, Slocum acknowledges that as long as they’re playing in Sun Devil Stadium the kickers will have an advantage compared to other Pac-12 teams that deal with less moderate weather conditions in their home stadiums.

“The good thing here is it’s warm and there’s not a lot of wind, that helps often,” Slocum said, adding that he doesn’t particularly notice a difference in kicking due to the elevation of the stadium, such as in Tempe (1,181 feet elevation) versus Los Angeles (285 feet).

Also, moving into the coverage units that surround the aforementioned kickers and punter, Slocum named a pair of true freshmen that stood out to him after evaluating the game film from Thursday.

“One guy to me that stood out quite a bit was Willie Harts,” Slocum said, “and I thought Case Hatch stood out, and those guys moving forward are going to be an important part of our coverage (units).”

As for the players who will return punts and kicks, Slocum speaks on the subject in terms of how many options they have, especially considering that receiver and College of the Canyons transfer Brandon Pierce, who boasts a 4.31 40-yard dash, is eligible for the first time this Friday- although Slocum didn’t specifically mention him by name.

Still, considering that receiver Brandon Aiyuk didn’t do anything to stand out on returns last Thursday, the door remains open with a plethora of options such as Jack Jones, A.J. Carter and even one more name that fans may have forgotten about, but Slocum surely hasn’t.

“We got multiple guys, you know, and (redshirt freshman receiver) Geordon Porter’s in that mix, so we’re in good shape in terms of quantity,” Slocum stated.

Porter has been progressing noticeably in recovering from a hamstring injury suffered early in Fall camp. It’s unlikely he’ll play Friday night, but if he can be back by the time ASU is playing power-five teams, he should be up there with Pierce and Jones as the team’s top return options in addition to Aiyuk on punts and Carter on kickoffs.

All in all, it was a good showing from ASU’s special teams in week one. Sure, there’s room for improvement as always, but it seems that the coaching staff feels good about the players they have for all facets of the unit.

“I think we can be improved; I think we’ve got a good nucleus of guys to do it,” Slocum said. “I had some young freshmen on the kickoff team when they ran the one up the middle, and we put some other guys in there and ended that. But it’s evolving, and the unique thing about special teams play is it evolves on a weekly basis because of injury and because of changes on the offensive and defensive depth charts, so that’s always the challenge.”

Slocum didn’t specify whether they would try different guys on either punt or kickoff returns during Friday night’s game, although he hinted at it by noting how many competent guys they have for both roles. In terms of that, everyone will just have to wait and see, as the Sun Devils will kick off their second game of the season Friday at 7 p.m. when they host Sacramento State. The game will once again be aired on Pac-12 Networks.