ASU offensive coordinator Mike Norvell called two superb games to start the season.
The offensive play-caller still nitpicked his mistakes after each game.
“I went back and tried to be extremely hard on myself making sure that I’m giving these guys the best opportunity to be successful,” Norvell said.
While it’s easier to notice mistakes after a loss, the offense has to trust the scheme.
Norvell still does. And Graham’s faith in Norvell hasn’t changed after the 24-20 loss to Missouri Saturday.
“Coach (Norvell) calls the plays, that’s what his job is,” Graham said. “I think when you have someone with total trust and belief, like I do with (defensive coordinator) coach (Paul) Randolph and coach Norvell, you let them do their job.”
Taking a similar stance as Graham, Norvell believes everything from missed assignments to lack of execution falls on the coaches.
That includes the offense’s failure to score in the fourth quarter right on the goal line.
Norvell inserted redshirt freshman quarterback Michael Eubank in the game on second-and-goal from the 1-yard line, despite redshirt sophomore Taylor Kelly throwing 6-for-6 for 101 yards in the fourth quarter at the moment.
Eubank rushed for no gain in the team’s very successful jumbo formation. He lost two yards on the next play before Kelly returned on fourth down. ASU turned over on downs with an incomplete pass to junior wide receiver Kevin Ozier.
Norvell said there was a miscommunication on the third down play. It was supposed to be a handoff to junior running back Marion Grice on that down.
“That’s something we’ve got to get cleaned up as coaches and players and get better from it,” Norvell said.
The two-quarterback system wasn’t as effective against the Tigers. Norvell said switching to Eubank is a “feel” that depends on the flow of the game. ASU has often switched to Eubank in the goal line with the jumbo formation.
“We had a set thing that we wanted to do and we worked on,” Norvell said. “It came up a few inches short.”
Norvell still has faith in Eubank and Kelly — both very young quarterbacks with practically no experience before the season. He wants to give his offense the best chance to win when he puts together the game plan. Norvell feels the team has to get back to the fundamentals.
“There’s not any question in my mind of what we’re doing,” Norvell said. “I think we’re doing the right thing. I think we’re working to put our guys in the right position. We just got to trust that and get better.”
Norvell said the staff also has to do a better job getting the team up and ready to play. He took the blame for the slow offensive start in the first half. Norvell said the staff has to prepare the team better to avoid a sluggish start. ASU came out flat in the first half and turned the ball over three times on offense.
“I’m not a big fan of saying you learn from losing — I hate losing,” Norvell said. “You do learn from experience and I think that was an experience our guys will learn from. They’re going to grow from.”
Reach the reporter at mtesfats@asu.edu
