ASU football plays a game on Saturday night.
It's about time.
With five days left before kickoff in Houston, several questions still face the Sun Devils.
The wait until kickoff
ASU begins their 2015 season exactly one month after beginning fall camp on Aug. 5. While the wait for the game has been painstaking for the media and fans, head coach Todd Graham said he's enjoyed his team's fall camp thus far.
"I think it's been really fast," Graham said. "It hasn't been really long to me. It's been really fast and I'm really excited. This is going to be the best atmosphere I think on the road that we've probably played in. A big-time atmosphere."
Graham looks forward to the challenge of opening against a marquee opponent, saying ASU "chose" to play the Aggies.
Texas A&M's Garrett presents a challenge
The Sun Devils replaced their two starting tackles from last season with redshirt junior Evan Goodman and redshirt senior Billy McGehee.
Their first task? Handling the Aggies' star defensive end, Myles Garrett.
ASU will have a hard time stopping the sophomore, who Graham spoke highly of.
"He'll be the best (defensive end on film)," Graham said. "You won't play any better. He's arguably the best pass rusher in (the SEC) and would have to be the best in the country that I've seen on film.
"We've got to do things to neutralize that the best you can. In every great player, you're always going to make plays, you just got to neutralize the best you can and focus on what we do — being fundamentally sound."
Redshirt senior quarterback Mike Bercovici expressed his confidence in his two new tackles entering the season opener.
"What Evan Goodman and Billy McGehee have been able to do starting from spring and moving on to fall camp has been amazing," Bercovici said. "They're the two most athletic tackles that I've ever seen since I've been here."
Battling Texas A&M's rebuilt defense
The Aggies had one of the worst defenses in the conference last season, leading them to hire former LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis to the same position.
Naturally, the Sun Devils have been watching as much, if not more, LSU footage as Texas A&M footage, and Bercovici likes what he sees.
"(Chavis) is obviously a very confident defensive coordinator," Bercovici said. "They do a lot of the same things (as ASU). We see tendencies and what we see is they're a very big man team that we're excited about. It comes down to matchups. It comes down to winning 1-on-1s and that could be at left tackle, that could be at right slot receiver, it could be the running back in space."
Coach Graham goes back home
He may not be coach Eric Taylor of the fictional Dillon Panthers in "Friday Night Lights," but Graham knows Texas high school football.
The former player and former Allen High School head coach was born and raised in the state of Texas, and will have a welcome homecoming from his family during this week's trip to Houston.
"I'm a native Texan, and proud of it," Graham said. "Going back there and competing, that's the reason why we took the game. If you look at our future schedule, we'll be going back there quite a bit. It also has to do with our job here. We have quite a few kids from the state of Texas here, and we're going to recruit there so it helps to play there."
Eyes in the sky
Graham said that two new coaches will be up in the booth during the 2015 season. One will be there to observe replay and determine whether they want officials to check on a play or spot, while the other will work on time management during the final two minutes of a half or a game.
Recruiting
Texas A&M features several prized recruits out of the state of Arizona, including each of the last two top prospects in sophomore Kyle Allen and freshman Christian Kirk.
Graham said that a win Saturday would not serve as revenge after losing out on the two.
"I hope that they each wound up where they supposed to end up, and that doesn't have to be in one spot," he said.
Recruiting hometown players does come with added benefits, however.
"When D.J. Foster runs out of that tunnel, it's pretty special to be D.J. Foster," Graham said. "You only have one hometown, and we have a big-time program right here in this town. He could have run out of the tunnel at Notre Dame. It wouldn't have been the same."
Bercovici takes the reigns
Mike Bercovici waited his turn. When he lost out the starting job in 2012 to Taylor Kelly, he kept battling but watched from the sidelines as Kelly led the Sun Devils to 26 wins and a Pac-12 South title.
Graham thinks Bercovici would have transferred. Some fans still argue that he should have transferred.
"Just being honest with you, I thought he'd probably transfer," Graham said. "Just being honest with you. He was such a talented player, but you know, obviously we didn't want him to (transfer). That just speaks volumes about his character."
Now, Bercovici enters his time, with Texas A&M being firmly his program.
“Everything Taylor (Kelly) did, he’s done that and expanded upon it,” Graham said.
Now, the experienced quarterback is on the other end of the spectrum, highlighting each of the three quarterbacks listed behind him and that are battling for the backup job:
On redshirt freshman Manny Wilkins: "I'm obviously extremely close with Manny Wilkins. He's been here the longest, and what he can do with his feet is so natural when plays break down. That's what makes him unique. He's a kid that's still learning. He's still learning the basic part of football and that's what makes him such a great football player."
On freshman Brady White: "Brady came here during the spring and our heads were turning with how much he knew from the offense. Someone that comes in for two weeks isn't supposed to know what he knew. He's obviously got an incredible arm, got an incredible feel for moving in the pocket and he's going to be a pretty dynamic quarterback.
On freshman Bryce Perkins: "What Bryce did this fall camp was unlike any freshman quarterback that I've ever seen come through here. His detail-oriented approach every single day when you come out to practice. If coach Norvell made a change in his stance, the next day you wouldn't have to ask him to change his stance."
Practice notes:
- Practice was outdoors Monday, and the media were allowed to watch the first 11-on-11 session of the day.
Here's how they lined up:
First-Team Offense
QB: Mike Bercovici
RB: Demario Richard
WR: D.J. Foster, De'Chavon Hayes and Devin Lucien
TE: Kody Kohl
LT: Evan Goodman
LG: Christian Westerman
C: Nick Kelly
RG: Stephon McCray
RT: Billy McGehee
First-Team Defense
DL: Ami Latu, Demetrius Cherry and Edmond Boateng
"Will" linebacker: Christian Sam
"Devilbacker:" Antonio Longino
"Sam" linebacker: Salamo Fiso
"Spur" linebacker: Laiu Moeakiola
Field corner: Kweishi Brown
Boundary corner: Lloyd Carrington
Bandit safety: Jordan Simone
Field safety: Armand Perry
Second-Team Offense
QB: Manny Wilkins
RB: Jacom Brimhall
WR: Ellis Jefferson, Gary Chambers and Fred Gammage
TE: Raymond Epps
LT: Zach Robertson
LG: Scout team
C: Nick Kelly
RG: Connor Humphreys
RT: Quinn Bailey
Second-Team Defense
DL: Rennell Wren, Tashon Smallwood and JoJo Wicker
"Will" linebacker: DJ Calhoun
"Devilbacker:" A.J. Latu
"Sam" linebacker: Chans Cox
"Spur" linebacker: Marcus Ball
Boundary corner: Solomon Means
Field corner: Kareen Orr
Bandit safety: James Johnson
Field safety: Chad Adams
- "PT42" jerseys: redshirt senior safety Jordan Simone, redshirt senior cornerback Lloyd Carrington and redshirt sophomore safety James Johnson.
Reach the reporter at fardaya@asu.edu or follow @fardaya15 on Twitter.
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