ASU Football: Practice Report (8/15)

Thursday’s practice had a new twist. An extra player was on site in Tempe with former five-star recruit Jack Jones joining the Sun Devils for the season

Next Practice: Friday, August 16

Last Practice: Wednesday, August 14

Injury Update

The bubble squad included Jones, safety Kejuan Markham, wide receiver Geordon Porter, defensive lineman Stephon Wright, quarterback Dillon Sterling-Cole and offensive weapon Paul Lucas.

Not seen at practice included offensive lineman Zach Robertson, linebackers Kyle Soelle and Stanley Lambert.

Defensive lineman Shannon Forman repped the green non-contact jersey.

What Went On

The first 11-on-11 session featured the first team offense against the second team defense and flipped flop with second O versus first D. It had plenty of runs.

On the first run, Eno Benjamin found a massive hole into the four-gap for a big play. Isaiah Floyd, who got the first reps after Benjamin, saw similar success on the left side of the offensive line. Benjamin saw another big lane on what looked to be a counter like run with left guard Alex Losoya making the key block.

The balls finally started flying out of Jayden Daniels and Joey Yellen’s hands. The first two throws from Daniels were slants to Frank Darby and Brandon Aiyuk. Darby dropped his ball, meanwhile Aiyuk made a nice contested catch against Kobe Williams that received praise from his cornerback counterpart.

Darby redeemed himself as well, he broke away from Chase Lucas on an out route, Daniels left the ball in the air a tad too long, allowing Lucas to catch up. But Darby made the catch with Lucas’ arm in the basket. Freshman corner Jordan Clark continues to impress as he had a pass breakup on a ball from Yellen. The other twist of 7-on-7 saw Ethan Long in the shotgun set behind center and Yellen lined up in the slot position.

In the second portion of the full squad practice, Daniels proved once again the reason he won the quarterback job. Darby created enough separation from Lucas that allowed a perfect throw to be thrown and Daniels didn’t miss. Wide receiver Ryan Newsome found space in the backline of the secondary between safeties Cam Phillips and Aashari Crosswell. And of course Daniels fit it through the window.

Aiyuk found space on a slant that Daniels hit him in stride on. The wide receiver put on the afterburners with Crosswell in chase, but he couldn’t catch him. Crosswell, obviously a bit winded, complained where the linebackers’ coverage was.

Yellen’s night had its highs and lows. Multiple throws he made shuffling to his left and his right. The crosser pattern seemed to be his throw of the night. First time around he hit freshman Jordan Kerley who got stoped short of the goal line. While almost falling back to his left, Yellen hit Long, who scored. The play, however, didn’t make everyone happy. Cornerback Timarcus Davis pushed long over in the end zone, that prompted Herm Edwards to stop yelling. Another voice, possibly an offensive player, made the comment ‘that’s chicken sh*t, Timarcus,’ when it occurred.

The defensive also had a good night against Yellen. It appeared that defensive tackle T.J. Pesefea dropped back in coverage and Yellen didn’t see Pesefea in his attempt to tight end Nolan Matthews underneath. Pesefea made the interception with quite the reaction from the defense.

Shortly after, Yellen tried a slant to wide receiver Keith Davis, the ball was high and behind Davis. That allowed safety Alijah Gammage to made a pick as well. On a ball from Daniels, he tossed it long to wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who initially beat Cam Phillips. However, with the help of Evan Fields, him and Phillips sandwiched Pearsall as he tried to make the catch and knock it out of his hands.

“The quarterbacks made some nice throws,” Edwards said. “We forced a lot of third down situations for our football team..How we move the chains on third down are critical.”

For the newcomer Jones, he started practice shadowing his former high school teammate Kobe Williams.

He later returned from the bubble to try and help return punts, a place where he might find more playing time earlier on.

“We added a new player to our football team,” said Edwards on Jones. “..This is a place we felt he would be given an opportunity — not everybody is given a second chance — in this case we felt he deserves a second chance. He had to do a lot of work before he even got here, and to his credit he did.”

First Team Offense

QB: Jayden Daniels

RB: Eno Benjamin, Isaiah Floyd

WR: Brandon Aiyuk, Kyle Williams, Frank Darby, Jordan Kerley

TE: Tommy Hudson/Nolan Matthews

OL: Cohl Cabral (LT), Alex Losoya (LG), Cade Cote (C), Jarrett Bell (RG). Steven Miller (RT)

First Team Defense:

DL: Jermayne Lole, DJ Davidson, George Lea

LB: Khaylan Kearse-Thomas, Merlin Robertson, Darien Butler/Elijah Juarez

CB: Chase Lucas, Kobe Williams

Tillman: Evan Fields

S: Cam Phillips, Aashari Crosswell

Second Team Offense

QB: Joey Yellen

RB: A.J. Carter, Demetrious Flowers

WR: Andre Johnson, Ethan Long, Ricky Pearsall, Ryan Newsome, Keith Davis, John Humphrey

TE: Jared Bubak/Curtis Hodges

OL: LaDarius Henderson (LT), Cody Shear (LG), Dohnovan West (C), Roy Hemsley (RG), Spencer Lovell/Ralph Frias (RT)

Second Team Defense

DL: Michael Matus, Corey Stephens/T.J. Pesefea, Roe Wilkins

LB: Ely Doyle, Case Hatch, Tyler Johnson/Amiri Johnson

CB: Jordan Clark, Timarcus Davis

Tillman: Tyler Whiley

S: Alijah Gammage, Willie Harts