In a year of transition at a multitude of positions, spring practice proved crucial to the development of this ASU football team — every drill providing a limited opportunity to see what the future holds for a Sun Devil team looking to improve on a disappointing 6-7 record in the 2015-16 season.
"This spring definitely went well," redshirt junior tight end Raymond Epps said. "I felt that our team transitioned, we have a new identity, and we're looking a lot better."
On Wednesday, ASU held its final official practice of the spring, warming up to "Ran Off on Da Plug Twice" by Plies followed by "Last Resort" by Papa Roach.
With stretching completed, the Sun Devils ran off to the tackle circuit before moving into individual work and special teams drills. Plies has a line in the aforementioned song that says "everything on me brand new," but there was nothing particularly new for ASU at Wednesday's practice — including the combination of Tillman and all-white uniforms, which the Sun Devils wore at practice on April 1.
If there was one thing that stood out from the portion of practice available to the media, it was the performance of senior punter Matt Haack, who sailed an impressive coffin-corner punt inside the five-yard line during special teams work.
Head coach Todd Graham said spring ball will officially end on Saturday with "a regular practice" that functions as a fan appreciation event for season ticket holders. The event will be held at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium in Tempe due to ongoing renovations at Sun Devil Stadium. Unlike a spring game, this event is not open to the public.
"There will be a lot of interactive stuff with our fans that are there," Graham said. "It will be very much controlled — no tackling or anything like that."
Graham said there were explosive plays and turnovers aplenty in the scrimmage portion of Wednesday's practice, which was closed to the media.
"Tim White went both ways and handled it pretty well, Kalen (Ballage) had a big run," Graham said. "Defense had some takeaways, (and) we had three interceptions. I liked that."
Ballage, along with fellow junior running back Demario Richard, have been leading by example all spring and continuing to make big plays despite a depleted offensive line.
When asked about the adjustment to losing four of five starters up front, Ballage said it was "different" rather than tough.
"Last year I was used to Vi (Teofilo) and Christian Westerman," Ballage said. "It's just different. Everybody plays different and you get a feel for what's going on."
Season ticket holders will get a feel for this ASU football team this Saturday before they disperse for summer workouts, and the Sun Devils will open their season against Northern Arizona on Saturday, Sept. 3 in Tempe.
Related links:
Amid uncertainties, ASU football confident about playmakers
ASU football's offensive line finding its stride
Reach the reporter at rclarke6@asu.edu or follow @RClarkeASU on Twitter.
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