If all goes right, the ASU football team tends to snap the ball on offense with over 15 seconds remaining on the play clock.
That doesn’t give much time for the offensive line to read the defense in front of them.
Throw a redshirt freshman getting his first career start on the road into the mix and it could have been a recipe for a disaster.
Except it wasn’t.
With sophomore Evan Finkenberg out with a knee injury, ASU offensive lineman Tyler Sulka started at right tackle Saturday in Utah for the first time in a Sun Devil uniform.
And even though the results weren’t perfect, he impressed a lot of people with his performance.
“You can see he’s going to be an outstanding football player down the road,” coach Dennis Erickson said. “He made a few mental mistakes but he stepped in and competed.”
The teammate Sulka battled to protect gave him a few words of advice before the game.
“I reminded him nothing changes from practices,” junior quarterback Brock Osweiler said. “Other than the noise, the game is exactly how you practice it. I thought he did a great job Saturday for making his first start on the road.”
The sheer presence of center Garth Gerhart likely helped as well. The redshirt senior suffered a badly sprained ankle against Oregon State a week earlier, but played anyway.
“Garth was a warrior,” Osweiler said. “He fought through the pain to be there for his teammates. That shows the character of him.”
Even though the running game got off to a slow start, the Sun Devils finished with 116 yards on the ground.
The battered offensive line also only allowed two sacks.
“They played well enough to get some things done,” Erickson said. “Their scheme took a lot of the run away but we were able to give Brock some time to throw.”
Family matters
633 miles separate Kalispell, Mont., the hometown of Brock Osweiler, and Rice-Eccles Stadium, the home of the Utah Utes.
So naturally the ASU quarterback had a large contingency of family and friends at the game Saturday.
Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic reported 40 people made the trip to Salt Lake City from Montana.
“I have a very supportive family,” he said. “I’ve had quite a few people at all the games. It’s comforting and it’s nice to have those people supporting you. It’s special and it feels good.”
Fashion battle
With this week’s clash against No. 9 Oregon comes a matchup of two of the best-dressed teams in college football.
The Ducks are known throughout the country for their wacky combinations while the Sun Devils have been debuting their all-new gear throughout the 2011 season.
But no one will know what ASU will wear this Saturday evening until close to game time, not even the players.
“They keep that secret from us,” Osweiler said. “You walk in the locker room and it’s kind of like Christmas every Saturday.”
Reach the reporter at tyler.emerick@asu.edu
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