Football is tough on the body — players constantly take a pounding and have very little time to rest as there is always another game to prepare for.
However, the Sun Devils have a bye week and will use the spare time to rest their bodies for the final five regular season games.
“We’re beat up a little bit like most are right now,” coach Dennis Erickson said. “It’s good for us to get a look at our freshman some and have a chance to get the injuries taken care of, plus get our legs back.”
Junior quarterback Brock Osweiler is also thankful for the bye, and said this is a key week for some of the backups to get increased practice time.
“You need breaks throughout the football season,” Osweiler said. “This week’s a big mental week for us. As far as the starters, we’re going in, we’re watching film, we’re breaking down things. As far as practice goes, a lot of those reps are going to the backups, which allows our bodies to heal up a little bit.”
Kastl earns teammates’ respect
There are a lot of key pieces to a successful football team.
Necessary are a strong quarterback skilled lineman, talented wide receivers, playmakers on defense, the list goes on and on. When a team succeeds at a high level, all of those areas are noted and referenced frequently.
But a position that is often overlooked, perhaps even forgot about is the long snapper. It’s a necessary, yet unglorified position on every team.
ASU routinely benefits from the stellar play of senior long snapper Cameron Kastl. The Phoenix native is in just his second season of action for the Sun Devils. He joined the ASU football program prior to the 2008 season, then served as a member of the scout team for the 2008-09 seasons.
He’s now in the midst of his second full campaign as the Sun Devils’ go-to snapper. While he doesn’t catch touchdown passes or make game saving tackles, Kastl’s abilities are instrumental in helping ASU complete field goal attempts and execute punts.
He can be regularly spotted snapping to junior punter and holder Josh Hubner on the sidelines during practice, and trots onto the field with ASU’s special teams unit.
Some, however, feel that Kastl and his craft are far too underappreciated.
“I think a lot of people don’t give long snappers enough credit,” Hubner said. He puts the ball in a square one foot by one foot. He definitely helps out. I think that the importance of a long snapper is definitely underestimated a lot.”
Injury Updates
Sophomore defensive end Junior Onyeali, who has been sidelined with a knee injury is close to returning and is expected to play against Colorado.
“Watching him today, he looks pretty close to full speed,” Erickson said. “I don’t know how much he’ll play but we’ll monitor it.”
Senior cornerback Omar Bolden has missed the entire season after tearing his ACL, but the corner was in shoulder pads on Tuesday and may attempt to return to the football field prior to the end of the season.
“He’s getting some individual stuff in,” Erickson said of Bolden. “He did some one-on-ones. We just kind of see how his knee feels after doing that stuff. It’s about the mental things too. Getting confidence in it.”
No timetable has been set for Bolden’s return.
Sophomore left tackle Evan Finkenberg has been out with a knee injury suffered during the Oregon State game, but should be returning to the offensive line soon. It is unclear if he will be ready for the game against Colorado, but Erickson expects him back for the trip to UCLA.
Reach the reporters at william.boor@asu.edu and greg.dillard@asu.edu Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
