Advertisement
football Edit

Tuesday a skill heavy session for Sun Devils

Tuesday morning's practice in the Dickey Dome was an in between day for Arizona State, as they spent extra time in position work before their first scheduled live scrimmage tomorrow, set for approximately 40 plays. Although it was the day after the Sun Devils' first two-a-day, they still supplied us with some interesting and noteworthy sights and sounds around practice.
Tuesday was the first day punting was taken outside and practiced on the Kajikawa practice field. Previously, returners were unable to get some action due to junior punter Josh Hubner's kicks continually skyrocketing to the ceiling. Now the coaches had the opportunity to better see his ability of range as well as give the returners some reps. Unfortunately for them, the overcast morning weather did not last long and the players came back in the dome, hiding from the blazing Arizona sun.
Advertisement
Junior linebacker Vontaze Burfict decided to show off a little of his own punting skills during practice Tuesday morning, as he's been occasionally prone to do throughout his career. After a ball was knocked his way between drills, Burfict picked it up and decided to kick it to the other sideline. It was quite a distance for him, however he fell a little short of his preferred destination. Teammates around him began talking about how far they could kick the ball, however none had the guts to make an attempt.
Senior wide receiver Gerell Robinson went soaring high into the air to catch a pass during 7-on-7's Tuesday morning. However, the ball glazed just across the tips of his fingers and landed perfectly into the hands of senior safety Clint Floyd. Passes getting tipped and resulting into turnovers were often seen throughout camp last year as ASU installed a new offenses, however Tuesday's lapse was the first such occurrence during all of fall camp. It took a full week's worth of practices for it to happen.
If you closed your eyes just for one minute -- or much longer in the case of one observer who took an extended nap for much of the session -- you would have missed junior safety Keelan Johnson come up deep from the opposite side of the defensive backfield to make a great tackle on the field sideline. Junior receiver Rashad Ross's wheel route was cut short by Johnson's surprise attack, resulting in no gain for the play. It was an example of the explosiveness Johnson possesses that has could make him a playmaking safety if he becomes more consistent.
The red tackling dummies situated across the practice field are often push around by 300 pound men, tackled by high speed linebackers, and go though a lot of wear and tear throughout the sessions. However, it is not often you see them get the best of another player. During a drill, senior safety Matthew Tucker played 1-on-1 against one of the dummies and did an acrobatic front flip completely over it. Luckily, Tucker was not injured, however, it appeared as though the dummy finally took out some retaliation of its own.
Vice President of Athletics Lisa Love was in attendance for the first time checking out the progress of the team during their second week of camp.
Advertisement