CAMP TONTOZONA - Now it's time to get serious.
After four days of grueling practices, repetitive drills and impromptu sprints, the ASU football team will separate the players from the pretenders at 8:35 a.m. Sunday in its first of two scheduled scrimmages.
The first-string offense will be pitted against the first-string defense for 24 reps. The second-stringers will get just 20 reps because they're down a couple offensive linemen. Like the first team, the third-stringers will get 24 reps.
There will be five different offense vs. defense scenarios and other drills scattered throughout the scrimmage. Special teams segments will feature live kickoffs, field goals and punts.
"You've got a whole bunch of young guys and guys that are trying to find their niche on the team," Sun Devils coach Dirk Koetter said. "It's a chance to show up and make plays."
Koetter said that 75 percent of the offense will have been installed by Sunday's scrimmage, with the other 25 percent being put in place by Friday's camp-ending scrimmage.
Junior wide receiver Matt Miller figures the offense will have a couple fresh looks on Sunday.
"We've got some new routes for the defense," Miller said. "We've been running the same routes. We're going to try to trick it up a little bit and change it up, so they (the defensive backs) don't keep running the routes for us."
Senior quarterback Andrew Walter said the offense and the defense have exchanged blows throughout camp, but senior defensive tackle Jimmy Verdon gives the edge to the defense.
"I feel we've got the offense all the time," Verdon said.
Walter reluctantly wants the offense to step it up a notch.
"It just has to be a lot quicker than what it has been," he said. "We've been doing pretty good, but we have to look a lot better and just be sharp, knowing our assignments and stuff."
Regardless of whether the offense or defense comes out on top, coaches will reward players with the customary trip to the swimming pool and the movie theater in Payson. The team plans to watch The Manchurian Candidate, which was selected by George Wynn, the director of football operations.
"I don't know if Alien vs. Predator is out yet," sophomore defensive end Kyle Caldwell said. "But I wish we could go see that."
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@asu.edu.
