Two years ago he was the seventh string quarterback for ASU.
Now, entering his junior season, the confident and amiable Brock Osweiler is preparing to make his first start at Sun Devil stadium.
“I find it exciting,” Osweiler said. “It’s been a long journey … I’m just excited for the opportunity. A lot of great quarterbacks have played in that stadium; it’s an honor to be part of that group now.”
Although he has yet to start a game in front of the home fans, the junior quarterback does not feel the pressure to succeed.
“I don’t really notice the pressure,” Osweiler said. “Going and playing football is just secondhand nature at this point.”
Head coach Dennis Erickson is confident in Osweiler’s abilities and cannot wait to see how they will translate on the field.
“He hasn’t started, but I’m extremely confident in how he’s going to execute,” Erickson said. “People say you can’t tell a lot of things until the game, but in that position you can, particularly when a guy has played and proven himself in two football games.”
While Erickson acknowledged Osweiler only has limited experience, he added that the little playing time has provided the quarterback with the confidence necessary for success.
Injuries continue to plague secondary
Just when junior cornerback Deveron Carr returns from injury, the secondary takes another hit.
Freshman cornerback Devan Spann will have shoulder surgery and will likely miss the entire season, Erickson said Tuesday.
“We’re going to go ahead and get surgery because we’ve had four or five of those same injuries,” Erickson said. “It’s going to continue to go out. There’s no reason for him to play and he probably won’t play because it’s going to go out again. He’ll have surgery in the next two or three weeks.”
ASUs secondary now consists of Carr, sophomores Osahon Irabor and Alden Darby, and freshman Rashad Wadood.
The three veteran corners have combined for 12 career starts, but have much more experience than that, as both Darby and Irabor played in all 12 games last season. Due to the playing experience of the three returning members of the secondary, Erickson is confident in the depth at that position and does not feel the loss of Spann is insurmountable.
“We have three corners that are proven,” Erickson said. “It’s not any different depth than we’ve ever had here, maybe even better.”
Erickson on penalties and turnovers
Football games are decided in numerous forms and fashions, but turnovers and penalties often play a big role in the outcome of any given game.
“The biggest thing that we want to do — which was a killer for us a year ago as we all know — is the turnovers and the penalties,” Erickson said. “Those are stats that everybody sees. For us to win games, we’ve got to cut down on the turnovers, we’ve got to cut down on the stupid penalties and that starts on Thursday.”
Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu
