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Football: Freshman QB's presence still felt

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Chad Christensen

Although the view of the game has changed for ASU's Chad Christensen, his positive outlook and passion for football has not.

After starting the first four games of the season, the redshirt freshman quarterback was forced to concede his starting job to sophomore Andrew Walter. Despite relinquishing such a high-profile position, Christensen knew the change was in the best interest of the team. He has taken the demotion far better than anyone could have expected.

"It's a little bit different going from being the starter to the backup," Christensen said. "Andrew's been doing a great job, and my role is to take each practice to get better."

The simple fact is that numbers don't lie. In four starts, Christensen has thrown for 302 yards and three touchdowns. Walter has thrown for 807 yards in five appearances with an eye-popping 12-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

Christensen was sacked 11 times for losses totaling 76 yards. Walter has been sacked only twice. Sun Devil quarterbacks coach Mark Helfrich called the situation dynamic.

"(Christensen) is mentally getting into the rhythm of the game and is learning because, at any given time, he could be in there taking the snaps," Helfrich said. "He's continuing to compete, and we'd expect nothing less."

Christensen has made the switch in stride and has not let it affect his psyche.

"(The confidence) might have taken a little dip," he said. "We're just trying to move forward."

Christensen's best outing of the season came in ASU's home opener against Eastern Washington. Christensen completed 12 of 21 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns during a game in which Sun Devil tailbacks dominated.

While Christensen has not been all that accurate, he has yet to throw an interception. He has continued to learn by playing in every game.

"Each day at practice we're learning new things, trying to correct bad habits," Christensen said.

The relationship between the two gunslingers is holding strong. The pair has shown improvement throughout the course of the season.

"I'm kind of in the same position Andrew was in at the beginning of the year, so I'm trying to help prepare him," Christensen said. "When I come off the field or he comes off, we ask each other what kind of coverage we're seeing out there or what's going on. That way if I go in there, we won't miss a beat."

Reach the reporter at damien.tippett@asu.edu.

Tune in to SDTV-Channel 2 before this weekends's game to watch the Sun Devil Football Pre-Game Show for analysis, picks and video clips. The Show airs at 6 p.m. on Friday and Noon,

4:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Click here to go to the preview of the game.


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