In 2008, there was no kicker in the NCAA that was better than Thomas Weber.
However, since then, it hasn’t been an easy go for the senior. Weber battled an injury in 2009 and was poised to break back out in 2010 and make a big impact for the Sun Devils.
That hasn’t been the case. Weber is just 9-of-14 on the season and has made just two field goals of over 40 yards.
“I can’t tell,” ASU coach Dennis Erickson said of what is causing Weber’s struggles. “He is the only one that knows that. He’s missed some kicks, let’s face it, he’s missed some kicks. I look for him to jump back the last half of the season and kick like he has.”
Winning the Lou Groza Award as a freshman might have placed too big of expectations on Weber’s shoulders.
“Normally he was automatic; maybe our expectations were too high,” Erickson said. “He knows he has to kick better; I’m not telling you anything he hasn’t said himself.”
Linebacker shuffle
Coming into the season, Erickson knew he had depth at the linebacker position and at the midway point of the year, not much has been done to change that.
During the bye week, Erickson is taking a look at different combinations at linebacker to make a determination of who the starters will be against California.
“I feel pretty good [on] the two-deep,” Erickson said. “We have six guys and I thought going into the season that was how it was going to be and they have played well and are interchangeable depending on how they play.”
One of the surprises at the position has been junior Colin Parker, who is third on the team with 27 tackles and is fresh off of a 10-tackle performance last week against Washington.
Parker may have put himself in position to start coming out of the bye.
“Colin has jumped out,” Erickson said. “We won’t know that until next week, but they are all going to alternate in there anyway. There is a chance, sure.”
Scrimmage to close week
ASU will close its week of practice on Thursday with a scrimmage. During the bye week, the scout team has practiced with the rest of the team for the first time since the season started.
The scrimmage will give the scout team a chance to play live, instead of helping the rest of the team prepare for their opponent. Because they have been running opponents’ schemes all year, they aren’t fully familiar with what ASU is running.
“They don’t know very much about what is going on,” Erickson said. “We are going to have to keep it pretty simple tomorrow. It is more for them to have some fun as opposed to them doing what they have been doing the past few weeks.”
Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu
