Junior quarterback Brock Osweiler has received a lot of attention this season and deservedly so. However, not a lot has been made of his ability to evenly distribute the ball. The Sun Devils have a lot of talent at wide receiver and are able to use their trio of seniors in various ways.
“Gerell (Robinson) and Mike Willie are both 6’4, 6’5 and very physical where (Aaron) Pflugrad is 5’9 and we use him in different ways,” coach Dennis Erickson said.
Seven games into the season the three are only separated by 10 receptions and one touchdown.
“It’s spread around because Brock does a pretty good job in our offense of throwing the ball where the defense tells him,” Erickson said. “We have three, but we probably have four, you have to put Jamal Miles in that too. We spread the ball around pretty good, probably more than any team in the league.”
Settling down on bye week
For the first time all season, the Sun Devils will not take the field to play a football game on Saturday. The off week comes a bit late in the season, but the players feel it’s at a great time.
“Last year we had two (byes) right away, then we had to play nine games straight,” senior wide receiver Robinson said. “That’s not fun. Where we have it is cool. Kind of a little later in the season, gives us time to recuperate.”
Although Erickson will spend the majority of his weekend working, he will take some time to relax and watch television during the weekend.
“I’ll work most of the time, but I’m going to take Saturday off and watch games,” Erickson said. “That’s what I do. That’s why I got a TV set and that remote. Don’t get to use it much, but I’ll become pretty good with that remote on Saturday. I don’t miss too many games; I watched Arkansas and FIU the other night.”
Similar to their coach, the players will relax, but they are in the middle of a season and will not lose focus.
“Everybody’s doing a little bit of something, but our focus is here,” Robinson said. “We will come back Sunday ready to go to work.”
Bolden’s comeback still uncertain
Just as he has done all week, senior cornerback Omar Bolden participated in practice Thursday. The corner participated in seven on seven drills amongst others, but there is still no timeline on his return.
“That’s the trainer’s and Omar’s decision,” Erickson said. “It’s good to see him out there. He’ll be back sometime during the season whether it’s one game or one quarter. It will be nice to have him back.”
Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu
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