ASU Football: Notes and Quotes from Herm Edwards and Donnie Henderson from Monday

Players had Labor Day off, but coach Herm Edwards and defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson still made their weekly podium appearances Monday. Here is what they had to say leading up to the premier non-conference matchup of the season against no. 12 Oklahoma State.

Injury Updates

Edwards started the conference with unfortunate news that offensive lineman Joey Ramos will miss the rest of the season with a high-ankle injury that he suffered in the win over NAU. Des Holmes, who did not play in the season-opener, is questionable. This solidifies Chris Martinez as the starting right guard, and Holmes will fill in at right tackle upon his return.

In the defensive backfield, corner back Timarcus Davis will return against Oklahoma State. Ed Woods, who had been filling in for Davis, is out. Safety Jordan Clark will be a game-time decision.

Macen Williams and Keon Markham can also play outside corner with Woods’s absence.

Herm Edwards

On Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders:

“The quarterback is very good. Watching him on tape, it’s kind of fun to watch. He can make the unannounced plays, he can extend plays...he does a good job with the cadence. You can see that on the tape against Central Michigan. He got them to jump offsides a couple times.”

On coach Mike Cavanaugh and the offensive line amid injuries:

“(Cavanaugh) has done a nice job of really moving guys around and playing duel-positions, right? That showed up for us. We’ve got a good crew.”

On the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams:

“It didn’t surprise me. There are more than 32 college football teams...Why wouldn’t you do that. There’s a lot in that. That’s why you see these teams looking at (other) conferences...TV is a powerful, powerful tool.”

Donnie Henderson

On pressures vs. sacks:

“You can hit the quarterback eight, nine, ten times (without a sack) and that’s just as good.”

On the defensive game plan and execution against NAU:

“We were pretty simple and vanilla. We didn’t do a lot of things, obviously. The communication was pretty good. We didn’t have a lot of mental mistakes as far as communication. It’s more technique stuff. So if we keep cleaning up those technique errors, then I think we will have a lot better chance of winning.”

On the talent leap from NAU to OSU:

“The tempo, for me, I think is going to be the difference. We need to understand that...Let’s be honest, we played a pretty good game last week, and I’ll leave it at that. We’re going to play somebody that you’ll be able to measure yourself after that game.”