Onto to bowl season, the Arizona State Sun Devils returned to the practice field for their first practice in preparation for the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl against the Florida State Seminoles.
Next Practice: Tuesday, December 17
Injury Update
In non-injuries offensive stars Eno Benjamin and Brandon Aiyuk have determined that they will miss the Sun Bowl as the pair prepare for the upcoming draft.
Joey Yellen was absent from practice and it created speculation to his location. That was answered a few hours later when on Twitter he announced he was entering the transfer portal.
In actual injury news, linebacker Khaylan Kearse-Thomas and safety Evan Fields were in green non-contact jerseys.
Freshman safety Connor Soelle worked with trainers to the side in the bubble.
What Went On
It was the first glimpse of an offense without Aiyuk and/or Benjamin. The bodies in the backfield were the most interesting of them all. Wide receiver Kyle Williams who has taken carries down the stretch of the season looked to fill the role alongside running back A.J. Carter.
In terms of wide receiver, Frank Darby had his spot and so did Williams when not in the backfield. Geordon Porter filled in for Aiyuk’s starting role presented. Ricky Pearsall, Andre Johnson, Brandon Pierce, Jordan Kerley, Ryan Newsome, Kieth Davis also all rotated with the second team led by Ethan Long.
The first part of the offense was entirely runs, makes sense being that the normal workhorse back will need to be filled in for with a lot of inexperienced players setup in the backfield. The Sun Devils used a lot of heavy sets, using Case Hatch at fullback again or two tight end looks.
Daniels first passes because the first 20 or so plays were all runs, were mostly underneath to the running backs and tight ends; Tommy Hudson, Nolan Matthews and Curtis Hodges. He started throwing the ball deeper down field but also tossed two interceptions, one by Chase Lucas and the other by Kejuan Markham.
The most fun play of the day came on a ball down the sideline for Darby, who made quite the adjustment to make the catch in tight coverage against Lucas. The trash talk and jokes came from the defensive sideline as the ref said Darby would’ve been called for offensive pass interference.
Seen depth chart:
FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE
QB: Jayden Daniels
RB: A.J. Carter
FB: Case Hatch
WR: Frank Darby, Kyle Williams, Geordon Porter
TE: Tommy Hudson
OL: LT LaDarius Henderson, LG Alex Losoya, C Cohl Cabral, RG Dohnovan West, RT Steven Miller/Roy Hemsley
SECOND-TEAM OFFENSE
QB: Ethan Long
RB: Demetrious Flowers, Kyle Williams, Ryan Newsome
WR: Ricky Pearsall, Andre Johnson, Brandon Pierce, Jordan Kerley, Ryan Newsome, Kieth Davis
TE: Curtis Hodges, Nolan Matthews
OL: LT Spencer Lovell, LG Jarrett Bell, C Cody Shear, RG Ben Scott, RT Ralph Frias
FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE
DL: Roe Wilkins, D.J. Davidson, Jermayne Lole
LB: Merlin Robertson, Darien Butler, Khaylan Kearse-Thomas
CB: Chase Lucas, Kobe Williams
Tillman: Evan Fields
SAF: Aashari Crosswell, Cam Phillips
SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE
DL: Stephon Wright, T.J. Pesefea, Shannon Forman
LB: Tyler Johnson, Elijah Juarez, Kyle Soelle
CB: Jack Jones, Timarcus Davis
Tillman: Darien Cornay
SAF: Willie Harts, Kejuan Markham