One week ago, ASU interim head coach Shaun Aguano left no room for debate regarding who his starting quarterback would be at Stanford. He said he wouldn’t penalize a player for being injured when giving reasoning for sticking with graduate transfer Emory Jones, who was pulled out of the Washington contest due to a concussion. That was then; this is now. After a brutal offensive performance on the farm on Saturday afternoon, the starting job is wide open. And this time, it’s not due to injury.

Jones was 14-25 for 227 yards and a touchdown at Stanford. Eight of those completions and 117 of those yards came in the first half. After quarterback play clearly hindered the Sun Devils down the stretch in this Pac-12 matchup, Aguano announced Monday that backup and sophomore Trenton Bourguet would be given every opportunity to take over the starting job at practice this week.

“Going forward, it’s an open competition,” Aguano explained. “A true open competition for both of those guys. There is no true starter at this time.”

It may take all week for Aguano to determine who he’s most comfortable with under center for this Saturday’s game at Colorado. He has emphasized that there is no agenda regarding the decision and that he is “going to pick the best guy who is going to go and get us that win.” The timeframe of Aguano’s decision is still unknown. The competition could have him and the offensive staff designating the starter just one day prior to kickoff.

“The kids trust both of them. Now, who is going to be confident to win the job?” Aguano stated. “I may not name a starter until Friday when I am comfortable with the guy that we are going with.”

Immediately following the Stanford loss, Aguano indicated that he would have to review the game film and only then assess the quarterback position. Jones was able to find success early in that game, especially when targeting sophomore wide receiver Elijhah Badger. He found Badger six times for 118 yards, including a 39-yard score. As Badger’s production went down, so did Jones’s. Only Bryan Thompson (3) and Giovanni Sanders (2) joined Badger with multiple receptions. After taking a more in-depth examination of the film, Aguano thought the bad outweighed the good for the Florida transfer.

“There were some good things that he did; there was some decision-making that was questionable, I thought,” Aguano reflected. “There was some inconsistency in the second half a little bit. Overall I thought he did okay.”

“Okay” likely won’t suffice this week if Jones wants to be the one running the offense in Boulder on Saturday.

The play calling down the stretch was another element of ASU’s agonizing loss that came under heavy scrutiny from both media and fans. A third-down run, pass attempts in front of the sticks on third down, and an inability to exploit a porous Stanford run defense on early downs were just some of the shortcomings of Glenn Thomas on Saturday. While Aguano didn’t say that Thomas would relinquish his play-calling duties, he did more than imply that his fingerprints will be present on the offense as a whole in an increased capacity this week.

“I will definitely be involved with the offense going forward,” Aguano noted. “In regards to play calling and everything else.”

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In each of ASU’s losses prior to this week’s, defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson has had to answer for a subpar performance from his unit. Even in the upset win over Washington, an embattled Sun Devil defense still allowed 38 points. This week, it yielded just 15 points and kept Stanford out of the end zone. The performance should have been enough to win the ballgame.

The Arizona State front four got home four times (and once from Ed Woods at cornerback). Henderson noted that the Cardinal offense was limited to just one explosive play on the ground, and holding its signal-caller Tanner Mckee and his weapons to 320 yards through the air certainly registers as a success. The recipe for such a performance wasn’t a complicated one, according to Henderson.

“We just played base defense,” he said. “We just stuck to the game plan.”

The defensive backs deserve their accolades as much as the front seven. The physicality displayed by that group left a positive lasting impression on Henderson.

“(Defensive backs) Coach Fletcher talked to the DBs all week about how physical they were going to have to be,” Henderson commented. “With those big receivers, I thought as a group they went out and performed well.”

The depth of the defensive backs room has been tested more than any other ASU position group this season. Injuries, suspensions, and even mid-season departures from the team have made the cornerback and safety reps a revolving door. This has, of course, been a challenge to concur for Henderson and Fletcher, but Henderson says the adversity has brought out the toughness of those players in that room.

“When people go down, you have to get somebody up; you know the old cliche,” Henderson remarked. “I was thrilled to see how they played as a group against those bigger receivers. This group that started this week, they went out and performed, so I was really happy.

Junior Jordan Clark picked up his second interception in as many games on Saturday, jumping the route and plucking a McKee pass out of the air with an incredible diving grab. Henderson said this turnover, unlike the pick six he notched on a deflection against Washington, was the product of meticulous film study and preparation at practice.

“He had been calling that route out all week. All week long,” Henderson recalled with a proud grin. “They ran it either shook and went inside or shook and went outside. We practiced it all week long, and he jumped the route.”

The season is more than halfway done, yet Henderson is still hopeful that his unit can reach its ceiling. The no-touchdown, four-sack, bend but don’t break showing this weekend was a significant step in the right direction. As Henderson and members of his defense have preached all year long, the success of their unit moving forward will be dependent on their ability to play cohesively.

“I hope we understand that we can play that kind of good defense as a unit,” Henderson explained. “I really hope that going forward; this catapults us into knowing that we can be a really good defense if we do our jobs and have faith and have confidence. Those were the things that showed up against Stanford.”

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