More than 5,000 Sun Devil fans went to the final day of Camp Tontozona Saturday to watch the ASU football team scrimmage, but those hoping to watch defensive domination left disappointed.
Coach Todd Graham put it best when he said the offense is “way ahead” of the defense as they “kicked (the defense’s) butt.”
“We’re not the defending Super Bowl champs and that’s kind of the way we acted and I was very disappointed in that,” Graham said. “We did not play very well defensively at all.”
The secondary in particular was shredded, allowing 322 receiving yards including an electric 78-yard touchdown to redshirt senior Alonzo Agwuenu.
“A lot of errors in the secondary that we haven’t had,” Graham said. “Our secondary did not play very good.”
Meanwhile, the rushing defense wasn’t much better allowing 285 yards on the ground as senior running back Marion Grice led all rushers with 11 carries for 53 yards including a 15-yard touchdown scamper.
Redshirt freshman running back Terrell Davis also looked impressive racking up 41 yards rushing on just two carries.
While the running backs may get the credit, Graham said their success was due to the big blockers up front.
“I thought the offensive line was the shining group of the scrimmage,” Graham said. “They flat got after it and dominated the line of scrimmage.”
In 2012, the Sun Devils ranked No. 10 in the Pac-12 in rush defense, allowing 182.8 yards per game. It seems the rushing defense will continue to be a point of concern as this season begins.
Redshirt junior cornerback Lloyd Carrington said if the defense improves its mental discipline it could be more successful.
“The main thing (is) we got to get better mentally,” Carrington said. “As far as mentally tough and then just as far as the run defense. Got to get better at that.”
Injuries suffered by RB Foster and S Ball
Coach Graham said one of his goals was to make it through the scrimmage 100 percent healthy.
That didn’t go exactly as planned because sophomore running back D.J. Foster suffered a minor left ankle injury and freshman safety Marcus Ball injured his right shoulder.
Foster was well on his way to being the most valuable player of the scrimmage before being pulled from behind and falling awkwardly. He totaled 36 rushing yards on two carries and 41 receiving yards on two receptions.
Fortunately, for Foster, he was helped off the field and began jogging up and down the sidelines as the scrimmage went on.
“He’s fine,” Graham said of Foster. “He’s a tough kid.”
Ball, who took most of the first team field safety reps at Camp Tontozona, wasn’t quite so lucky with his right shoulder injury and Graham said he would be out of contention for “a little bit.”
Ball’s injury opens the door for redshirt freshman defensive back Laiu Moeakiola and freshman defensive back James Johnson. Both players took reps at field safety during the scrimmage.
Redshirt junior defensive back Damarious Randall could also compete for the field safety spot, but Randall hasn’t participated in practice yet due to a groin injury.
Reach the reporter at ejsmith7@asu.edu or follow him on twitter @EricSmith_SP
