The Sun Devils went back to work after their upset of Michigan State on Saturday night.
Last practice: Wednesday, September 5
Next practice: Wednesday, September 12
Music
Tuesday’s music had an obvious theme as ASU prepares to head west to take on San Diego State. Famous California rappers 2Pac and Dr. Dre were blasting through the speakers at the Kajikawa practice facility.
Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang (Dr. Dre) California Love (2Pac)
Injury Update
Steven Miller was back at practice as he returns from injury, he participated fully in drills and during 11-on-11s.
Zach Robertson also participated fully with braces on both of his knees.
Trelon Smith was back in action after being suspended from the last two games.
Dasmond Tautalatasi was not seen during the open portion of practice.
The bubble players included John Humphrey, Ty Thomas and Ryan Kelley.
What went on?
There were a few notable attendees of Tuesday’s practice. Vice president of university athletics Ray Anderson was there for about half of the media viewing portion of practice, and there were NFL scouts from the Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons.
The scouts spent the majority of their time watching ASU’s linebackers.
ASU made a change on the offensive line by slotting Roy Hemsley in with the first team at left guard and moving previous starter Alex Loyosa to the same position with the second unit.
The offensive linemen continued to work on one-on-one blocking matchups as well as pass protection and changing assignments mid-play. Offensive line coach Dave Chrestensen implored ASU’s players to “keep your hands inside to maintain our blocks”, and to avoid potential holding penalties.
The special teams worked on kickoff returns with Isaiah Floyd and Ryan Newsome back to return kicks for ASU. Special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum instructed his special team defense to “put some bodies on the ground” and to win in practice in order to win during the game.
Antonio Pierce’s linebacker unit worked on getting off of blocks and tackling players in the open field. The unit has performed well in the early portion of the season, and the defense as a whole hasn’t missed too many tackles.
The tight ends focused primarily on blocking drills, and weren’t with the quarterbacks and wide receivers as they worked on route running and throwing to open receivers.
During 11-on-11 action, the offense pleased offensive coordinator Rob Likens who was notably pleased by the offense’s execution on Tuesday morning.
Quarterback Manny Wilkins made some nice throws to Brandon Aiyuk and Ceejhay French-Love during practice and Eno Benjamin looked strong carrying the ball.
Dillon Sterling-Cole was back working exclusively with the second-team offense and made some nice throws after recently splitting time with Kurt Walding working with the backups.
First-team offense
QB: Manny Wilkins
RB: Eno Benjamin, Isaiah Floyd
WR: N’Keal Harry, Kyle Williams, Frank Darby/Brandon Aiyuk
TE: Tommy Hudson, Ceejhay French-Love
OL: Casey Tucker (LT), Roy Hemsley (LG), Cohl Cabral (C), Steven Miller (RG), Quinn Bailey (RT)
Second-team offense
QB: Dillon Sterling-Cole
RB: A.J. Cater, Trelon Smith
WR: Ryan Newsome, Ryan Jenkins, Terrell Chatman
TE: Jared Bubak
OL: Tyson Rising (LT), Alex Loyosa (LG), Jarrett Bell (C), Cade Cote (RG), Zach Robertson (RT)
First-team defense
DL: Shannon Forman, Renell Wren, Jalen Bates
LB: Merlin Robertson, Koron Crump, Malik Lawal
CB: Chase Lucas, Kobe Williams
Tillman: Jalen Harvey
S: Demonte King, Langston Frederick
Second-team defense
DL: Darius Slade, George Lea, Jordan Hoyt
LB: Kyle Soelle, Khaylan Thomas, Jay Jay Wilson
CB: Dominique Harrison, Terin Adams
Tillman: Jalen Harvey
S: Aashari Croswell, Cam Phillips
For more updates and videos from Tuesday’s practice follow @Alec_Henden on Twitter.