Brice Schwab is pretty easy to spot at an ASU football practice.
Simply put, he’s a big guy. A very big guy.
But the 6-foot-7, 345-pound junior college transfer hopes to be known for more than his physical stature on the ASU offensive line.
And as the gem of the 2010 recruiting class, Schwab already feels he has plenty to prove.
“I feel tons of pressure,” Schwab said. “I watch film constantly, trying to get better. It’s a learning process, and people have to realize that. There’s a lot to playing offensive line — it’s one of the hardest positions to play. I feel like I’m getting better every day, and that’s all that really matters.”
Schwab, who switched his commitment from USC to ASU late in the recruiting season after former Trojan coach Pete Carroll bolted for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, played his high school football at Moniteau Junior/Senior High School in West Sunbury, Pa., but said he “didn’t fit into [his] body” until he moved on to Palomar College in San Marcos, Calif.
At Palomar, he was a two-time first-time All-Southern Conference selection while starting at right tackle, and the No. 9 junior college prospect in the nation, according to Rivals.com.
“[In] junior college, I went up against Division I athletes week in and week out. It kind of prepared [me] technically, physically [and] mentally. You felt you were ready for Division I football, and I kind of had a mindset I was going to start no matter where I [went]. I have that mindset right now.”
Schwab was immediately slotted into the first-team line for the first day of ASU spring practice, but he will shift over to the ever-important left tackle spot for the Sun Devils.
But even though he’s expected to have an immediate impact in maroon and gold, Schwab has not settled into his starting spot just yet.
“I look at it as I have to prove [myself] every day or it’s going to be taken away,” he said. “It puts a target on my back to where someone’s always pushing me, especially on the defensive line.”
Schwab is just the newest addition to an ASU offensive line that has been much-maligned in recent years but is poised to improve in 2010. The unit, which has suffered numerous injuries over the past three seasons, ranked near the bottom of the nation in sacks allowed in 2007 (117th, 55), 2008 (109th, 34) and 2009 (79th, 27) while also being partly responsible for a rushing offense that ranked 113th in the nation in 2008 (89 yards per game) and 93rd in 2009 (119.2 yards per game).
“I see them — they’re pissed off about the way they were last year,” Schwab said. “They’re trying to get back to [being] the ‘hogs,’ trying to get back to where they were. I’m excited to be into it, because I feed off of it.”
ASU coach Dennis Erickson also said the added depth, which includes five other new incoming recruits and redshirt freshmen Evan Finkenberg and Kody Koebensky, combined with experience of the line’s veterans should benefit the Sun Devils in the fall.
The Sun Devils return two starters from a year ago in senior left guard Jon Hargis and junior center Garth Gerhart and have will also welcome back sophomore Zack Schlink, who was a highly-touted recruit but has struggled with injuries during his entire ASU career and did not play at all in 2009.
“I like where they’re progressing,” Erickson said. “There are guys that have been there that are getting bigger and stronger and faster. We’ve got some depth, [and] we’ve got some guys that can play.”
Facing a vaunted ASU defense that ranked 13th in the nation in total defense every day in practice doesn’t hurt, either.
“It makes you better every day,” Schwab said. “If you can block them, you can block anyone, and we’re close.”
Short and sweet
ASU’s practice was shortened Thursday to give players additional rest before Saturday’s second scrimmage of the spring.
“We’ve got to try to get something out of Saturday,” Erickson said. “Last Saturday our legs were dead, so we just cut [Thursday’s practice] back probably a half an hour or so. We got the things [done] that we needed to get done.”
The scrimmage will peg the Sun Devils’ first-team offense against the first-team defense, and so on. Each possession will start on the 35-yard line and will consist of 12 to 13 plays. Field goals will also be mixed in throughout the day.
Erickson said the scrimmage will help the coaching staff gauge the progress of the team much more than any traditional practice can.
“We’ve just got to have a good, solid scrimmage before we can evaluate where we’re at [and] evaluate players,” he said. “You can’t do it out here [on the practice field].”
Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu
