Football is an emotional game and sometimes those emotions boil over.
That was the case on Wednesday at the Verde Dickey Dome, but only for a little bit.
After a play during practice, junior tackle Dan Knapp and freshman defensive end Junior Onyeali got into a skirmish that had to be broken up by coaches and teammates.
Following the altercation, Onyeali left practice. It is not known as to why he left. ASU coach Dennis Erickson acknowledged that the freshman left practice, but wouldn’t delve into any more details.
Good week of practice
Erickson has been extremely pleased with the work that his team has put in this week at practice.
“It was pretty spirited and I think we executed pretty good,” Erickson said. “We get through a lot of things in practice and we run a lot of plays on both sides of the football.”
ASU puts in the meat of their work physically on Tuesday and Wednesday, using Thursday as a final preparation day.
“It has been a good week,” Erickson said. “We’ll finish it off tomorrow. Thursday is always a mental day, we try not to make any mental mistakes, [and] we don’t get out and do a lot physically. I’m happy with where we are at.”
Elder emerges
After a slow fall camp, Eddie Elder showed his playmaking ability in Saturday’s victory over Portland State. Elder had an interception and a sack that resulted in a safety.
His performance appears to have earned him a starting spot. Elder has taken the place of Keelan Johnson with the first team unit this week in practice.
“I wouldn’t say it’s mine,” Elder said. “The people that are behind me are hungry. I have to make sure that I execute my assignments and everything will take care of itself.”
Elder admitted that camp was frustrating for him and that led to some of his struggles compounding.
“A little bit,” Elder said of his frustrating camp. “It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. I just had to stay humble and do what the coaches told me.”
As he showed on Saturday, he is certainly a player that shines more under the lights than in practice. In his high school and junior college days, Elder rarely played any night games, so he said playing his first night game at ASU fired him up.
NAU will challenge
Erickson knows that his team is in for a much more talented team this week than they saw last week. With a lot of mistakes occurring despite the big victory, Erickson knows his team must play better to win.
“This week is going to be a heck of a lot tougher and Northern Arizona is a heck of a football team,” Erickson said. “They have given us and Arizona everything we’ve wanted every year. We are going to have our hands full and we are going to have to play a heck of a lot better this week, no question about it.”
Injury report
ASU freshman running back Deantre Lewis left practice with a migraine headache. Erickson doesn’t expect it to keep Lewis out more than today.
“Deantre had a migraine headache and we sent him home,” Erickson said. “He’s going to be fine, he’ll practice tomorrow.”
Migraines have been made prominent by Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin having reccurring migraines, but Erickson said Lewis hasn’t suffered from them previously.
Wide Receiver Gerrell Robinson went through full practice again and will play Saturday, barring a major setback.
Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu
