An unprecedented amount of NFL teams will be in attendance Thursday night as Arizona State kicks off its season against Southern Utah. With veterans across both sides of the ball, the 12 organizations making their way to Sun Devil Stadium are on their way to see the Sun Devils’ elder statesmen make some statements.

Few of the Sun Devils have more to prove – and need more great tape to put out for teams at the next level – than graduate student defensive end Travez Moore. Before arriving in the desert, Moore spent three years at LSU after a short stint in junior college, but limited playing time and production left him in need of a show-out season in Tempe as he heads into this fall.

In his three years as a Tiger, Moore saw playing time in just eight games, accumulating seven tackles and 1.5 sacks.

­Moore carries himself with a joy similar to that of former ASU wide receiver Frank Darby. During practices, the jovial defensive end flashes the physical tools which made him one of the top JUCO defensive ends while maintaining a playful demeanor as well.

“­­My first sack in (Sun Devil Stadium) I know I’ll have some kind of dance move,” said Moore, who’s notorious for his dance moves during practices. “I don’t know yet, but I know it’ll be something.”

But the upbeat personality and positive vibes exuded by Moore don’t take away from him honestly evaluating his level of play. As he reflected on the spring, Moore is candid about his disappointment in his performance.

“I saw social media. I watch Twitter. People said I had a good spring. I did not have a good spring,” said Moore in an honest evaluation of his play. “From the first day until the last, I did not have a good spring ball… I had a sack (in the spring game), but if I had trusted my technique, I could have had more.”

“Travez has grown leaps and bounds since the spring as a football player,” said defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez. “Travez is such a natural athlete that I think he’s been allowed to freelance and be loose in his technique. That’s not the way things go with me and how we do things here. It was a hard transition, and you saw glimpses of it at the end of the spring. The growth from then to now has been exponential.”

That poor performance in the spring has been wiped away by a coming-of-age heading into this season.

“Going into fall camp, the off-season I was working on using my technique,” Moore said. “Coach Rod was telling me to use my hands and my feet. That’s why fall camp was so easy for me.”

In conversations this fall, Moore expressed a belief that he will showcase his skills early and often. Those plans begin with high personal expectations for his first game action as a Sun Devil.

“We’re just ready to play. Coach Rob has been stressing to us to bring the juice and bring the energy,” said Moore of the mentality heading into Week 1 and goal to secure a sack against Southern Utah. “That’s what we’re going to need on Thursday. The stadium is going to be loud, and the fans are going to be there, so we’ve got to be amped up and bring the energy.”

Rodriguez’s ability to connect with his players has strengthened the Arizona State defensive line, but Moore believes it’s the communication shared on the defensive side of the ball can help the Sun Devils be one of the best units in the Pac-12.

“We’re like brothers. We talk a lot, we hang out a lot outside of football,” said Moore of the defensive line. “That’s how I know that we’re going to be ready for the season because we can communicate. Our sideline knows how to talk to each other, so I feel like that meshes our communication and our friendships.”

The growth that could soon be on display for the 6-foot-4 Bastrop, La., native comes from work with Rodriguez as well as a questioning spirit with other Sun Devil defensive ends. Moore’s playful personality has lent itself to some friendly competition between members of ASU’s defensive line.

“He’s really fast. He definitely brings a new element to the defensive line,” said redshirt junior defensive end Michael Matus, who said friendly bets between him and Moore have spurred on competition during preseason practices. “It definitely inspires competition, and that’s really great for the room.”

“I’m trying to learn as much from (Matus and Tyler Johnson) as I can,” said Moore. “I’m taking their techniques and putting it into my own mix. I look at how they use their power rush, and that’s something I’m trying to emulate with my rush. I’m more of a speed guy, but I’m trying to mix in some power rushing, too.”

After arriving from an SEC powerhouse, Moore said he’s set his sights on discrediting the narrative against Pac-12 defenses nationally. For ASU to do that, he said they’ll have to pick up where they left off last year when the Sun Devils forced more than three turnovers per game.

“I always hear a lot of talk from people saying, ‘the Pac-12 doesn’t have defense,’” explained Moore. “I hear that a lot. But our defense is aggressive. We’re fast, and y’all are going to see it on Thursday. I think it’s misrepresented.

“We are going to show you all this Thursday, we’re going to show you all this season. Our defense, I feel like we’re going to be number one in the nation.”

Moore told reporters that he spent his Saturday night watching all of the Thunderbirds’ season-opening 31-point loss against San Jose State.

“I watched the whole thing from beginning to end,” Moore said of the Week 0 contest. San Jose State was able to dominate Southern Utah despite only mustering one sack. “They want to set the tone running the ball, so we’ve got to stop the run. But we can have some fun on third down, you know?”

Preparation for gameday comes in a different form for Moore than it does for some teammates. The LSU transfer said he’ll be up early Thursday morning with an alarm set at 5 a.m. in anticipation of the opener. Ahead of game-time, he’ll turn on his playlist, which ranges from Future to Nirvana to Elton John.

“Tiny dancer by Elton John (is my favorite),” said Moore, who said his pregame playlist is curated in an attempt to relax himself before games. “I know that’s probably not the ideal gameday song, but it just calms my nerves. I listen to my hype songs, and then I cool down before I get out there.”

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