Check out a slideshow from Thursday's victory over UC Davis!
Speed and athleticism are inherent traits.While certain drills can be done to improve speed, some people are naturally slow, while others are naturally fast.
UC Davis may have executed well in their 48-14 loss to the Sun Devils, but could not match the quick feet of the ASU players.
“We knew going in that they were pretty athletic,” UC Davis coach Bob Biggs said. “That is a good football team. ASU has a lot of athleticism and team speed.”
Biggs hoped his team would play fundamental football against the Sun Devils, but was worried about the athletes on the other side of the field and their ability to get into open space.
Arizona State’s speed was on full display. Junior quarterback Brock Osweiler completed a 47-yard pass to junior running back Cameron Marshall on the first play from scrimmage.
While the individual speed of the Sun Devils was shown on various long rushing and passing plays, the overall team speed was what stood out to the Aggies.
Arizona State had three touchdown drives in the first half, all three of them under a minute and twenty seconds.
It may not be reflected in the score, but the Aggies kept the mistakes to a minimum, made the right reads and played a game they feel they can build upon as they fight for a third straight winning season.
“I thought we came out well offensively,” Biggs said.
Although the players were certainly disappointed in the outcome, they were able to see bright spots in the team’s performance.
“I feel like our defense is doing really good right now,” junior cornerback Jonathan Calhoun said. “We’re never satisfied, but we have a lot to build on to be the best secondary in the conference. That’s our goal.”
Senior running back Josh Reese was equally pleased with his team’s performance, but mentioned that the atmosphere may have contributed to the team’s early struggles.
“The environment was intense,” Reese said. “That’s going to be one of the hardest teams we face. We got the monster out of the way.”
Prior to the game Biggs raved about the maturity and decision making of sophomore quarterback Randy Wright, who completed 16 of his 28 passes for 130 yards.
After the game, Biggs’ praise for his quarterback remained.
“I thought he was very composed,” Biggs said. “He threw balls away that last year he would have taken sacks on, that’s a real positive. He put the ball where it needed to go when he had time. I think Randy’s seeing the field very well.”
Wright’s performance and maturity did not escape the eyes of other his teammates either.
“Randy did well,” Reese said. “He’s very calm and poised. He takes some shots, but he gets right back up. We just need to make sure we are executing our pass protection so that he can do what he needs to do.”
The Aggies will look back on the majority of their 34-point loss with positivity, but they will not reflect proudly upon the play of their special teams, as the Sun Devils averaged an eye-popping 54 yards per return.
“I thought our special teams let us down a little bit,” Biggs said. “Our kick return was good, but obviously we let them have too many yards on kickoffs.”
Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu
