For the first time in his tenure at ASU, head coach Todd Graham did not start a single true freshman in his team's season opener.
In fact only one — defensive end JoJo Wicker — even saw the field against Texas A&M.
Now, due to potential need, Graham may have to see another member of his impressive 2015 class burn a redshirt and see some playing time.
Sophomore running back Kalen Ballage is expected to be out "about one or two weeks" with mononucleosis, which could prompt the collegiate debut of Virginia Beach, Virginia, native Jason Lewis Saturday against Cal Poly.
Lewis, who reported late to fall camp due to eligibility issues, has been forced to adapt quickly and now will likely take on an even bigger role in coming weeks.
Listed at 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, Lewis is the lone member of the running back group who compares to Ballage's size (6-foot-3, 230 pounds).
"With our running back group, a lot of people can do different things and (size) puts me in a good role," Lewis said. "I watch (Kalen) a lot. I like the way he does his footwork, the way he carries the ball. He gets low because he's a tall guy like me, so I really watch everything he does so I can see what I'm doing wrong and check him out to see what he's doing because he actually shows me a lot."
While it is uncertain what role Lewis will play in ASU's immediate future, but he said he follows a single-minded approach to each day.
"Just make plays," Lewis said. "Make plays every time I get the ball. Just show why I'm here."
Offensive coordinator Mike Norvell has been impressed with what he's seen in the young running back, who did not join the team for a full practice until the first day of Camp Tontozona.
"He's a true freshman that got to camp a little bit late, but is a guy that I think has got tremendous ability and a guy that's going to have a really bright future," Norvell said. "We've been able to get an extra couple of pass reps in and (he's) continuing to grow as a player, and right now we're still kind of waiting to see how it plays out."
Changing the count
ASU's offense failed to fulfill expectations in its season-opening offense to Texas A&M, as defensive ends Daeshon Hall and Myles Garrett repeatedly beat offensive tackles Evan Goodman and Billy McGehee off the snap and forced pressure on redshirt senior quarterback Mike Bercovici.
Bercovici, however, did manage to make a few plays with his feet, including running for his first career touchdown on a broken play.
"(Mike's) got to be a guy that help us with his feet," said offensive coordinator Mike Norvell. "He's got to force the defense to account for him."
While part of Hall and Garrett's performance (they combined for two-thirds of the Aggies' nine team sacks) was pure dominance over ASU's offensive line, much of it also fell upon the timing Bercovici's cadence and the snap count.
"I think there was some times in the game that they definitely knew how to time us up," Norvell said. "I put our guys in a situation with probably not enough variation in that game. We did have some variation, but we probably got too much in a rhythm on where we were at throughout the course of the game that really let them get off on us."
Norvell admitted that Saturday's loss has increased frustration, but that the team must move on.
"It sucks," Norvell said. "Saturday sucked. But you don't sit there. You try to learn from the experience, and there are some good things that you can take from it."
Defense is a silver lining
Despite a poor showing from the offense, ASU was still within a score with four minutes remaining in the game.
Much of this is due to an experienced defensive front that had quarterbacks Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray under pressure all game and forced three turnovers.
Then, the dam broke. Two scores in the final minutes of the ballooned the final score to 38-17, perhaps unfairly representing the effort of the Sun Devil defense.
"It was a strange game," defensive coordinator Keith Patterson said. "You sit there and you feel you're in the fourth quarter and you feel like you're in complete control and all of a sudden you look up and it's 38-17 and you just go, 'What just happened?'"
ASU's trademark aggressive blitz held well against explosive plays overall until it allowed a 66-yard touchdown off of a bubble screen to wide receiver Christian Kirk.
"We did everything that we set out to improve on in the spring and fall camp — eliminate big plays," Patterson said. "We just let it sneak up on us late in the game."
Patterson said Saturday's strong defensive showing gave him confidence to feel his defense alone can help ASU win games.
"That's where you've got to go win that game on defense," Patterson said. "You've got to try to set up a score, score on defense and that's our responsibility. We've got to get that ball back and get off the field."
Practice Notes:
- ASU head coach Todd Graham and redshirt senior quarterback Mike Bercovici were unavailable to the media Wednesday, as per athletic department policy.
- The following players were in green non-contact jerseys: senior center Nick Kelly (undisclosed injury), redshirt junior left tackle Evan Goodman (undisclosed injury), redshirt sophomore linebacker A.J. Latu (undisclosed injury), redshirt freshman wide receiver Jalen Harvey (broken collarbone), redshirt junior tight end Dan Vear (undisclosed injury), junior wide receiver Cam Smith (knee surgery) and freshman offensive lineman Dillon Faamatau (knee surgery).
- The media were only allowed to watch the opening 11-on-11 team tempo session. The situation was no timeouts, with 56 seconds left. Here's how they lined up:
First-Team Offense
QB: Mike Bercovici
RB: Demario Richard
WR: D.J. Foster, Devin Lucien, Tim White and Ellis Jefferson
TE: Kody Kohl
LT: Sam Jones
LG: Christian Westerman
C: Stephon McCray
RG: Quinn Bailey
RT: Billy McGehee
First-Team Defense
DL: Ami Latu and Tashon Smallwood
"Sam" linebacker: DJ Calhoun and Salamo Fiso
"Spur" linebacker: Laiu Moeakiola
"Will" linebacker: Ismael Murphy-Richardson
"Devilbacker:" Antonio Longino and Ismael Murphy-Richardson
Boundary corner: Lloyd Carrington
Nickel corner: Kweishi Brown
Field corner: Solomon Means
Field safety: Armand Perry
Bandit safety: Jordan Simone
- "PT42" jerseys: redshirt senior safety Jordan Simone, redshirt senior cornerback Lloyd Carrington and redshirt sophomore safety James Johnson.
- ASU athletic director Ray Anderson was at Wednesday's practice.
Related Links:
5 reasons to be optimistic and pessimistic after ASU football's loss to Texas A&M
ASU football backfield shifts responsibilities with Kalen Ballage out
Reach the reporter at fardaya@asu.edu or follow @fardaya15 on Twitter.
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