When Troy Nolan first transferred to ASU in 2006, he could only watch because he was redshirting while rehabbing a knee injury.
But when the senior safety leaves ASU after this season, he will depart as one of its best secondary players in recent years.
Nolan’s nose for the football & the end zone set him apart from others. He currently has nine interceptions in his two-year career, and his three interception returns for touchdowns are tied for the most in school history.
“I’ve grown tremendously,” Nolan said. “Just the knowledge of the game and reading [offenses] and learning how to make plays … I wouldn’t trade it for [anything].”
Nolan made an early impact on the field with the Sun Devils. During a September 2007 contest against Colorado, he returned his first career interception to spark a comeback and propel ASU to a 33-14 victory.
That pick-six set the tone for all of 2007, as Nolan finished the year on the All-Pac-10 Second Team after ranking second in the conference in interceptions (six) to go along with 64 tackles and seven pass breakups.
His interception total was the most by any ASU player since Nathan LaDuke had six in 1989.
“[He’s] had a tremendous impact on what’s happened in the last two years on defense,” ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. “Troy has had a great career in the two years that [he’s] played.”
So far in 2008, Nolan has still showed the knack for making the big play.
He notched the first ASU defensive touchdown of the season when he returned an interception 41 yards to the house against Oregon State on Nov. 1. A week later, he scooped up a fumble against UW and took it 44 yards and into the end zone.
Aside from those trips to the end zone, Nolan has racked up 49 tackles, six pass breakups and two more interceptions.
Nolan has already earned his undergraduate degree and wants to pursue a career in the FBI once his football playing days are done.
But while he’s still on the gridiron, Nolan wants to continue to smell the end zone and help ASU earn another postseason berth.
“You can expect to see big things,” he said. “I want to finish off with a bang, get a couple more touchdowns and obviously make it to a bowl game.”
Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu.
