During Arizona State’s first practice back from Camp Tontozona, the Sun Devils’ offense looked very sloppy, and there were a lot of penalties on both sides of the ball.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!However, defensively, the team continued to show passion and was very animated.
The offense, on the other hand, as coach Kenny Dillingham said, lacked having passion.
“On offense, we got to have more passion,” Dillingham said. “Like if you don’t have passion, if it doesn’t piss you off if you don’t have a good day, if you don’t win a period, if you don’t do it right. If it doesn’t frustrate you, something is wrong. You’ve got to learn how to channel that passion … and go compete. Defensively we have the passion, golly, we have the passion. Now we’ve got to be able to channel that passion when adversity hits and lock back in.”
Running back DeCarlos Brooks articulated what he can do to help the offense have passion.
“Just be a leader at the end of the day, just having that passion,” Brooks said. “Because I feel like everybody has that passion that’s on the opposite side, we just need to bring it out someway, somehow. The defense, obviously, they have a lot passion. We have that same energy, but we just need to show that at practice and that’s going to translate into the game.”
With just over two weeks until the first game against Southern Utah on Aug. 31, Dillingham knows the offense needs to change its ways.
“You’ve got to compete,” Dillingham said of the offense. “They’re losing the competition. They’re out here practicing. There’s a difference between practicing and going through the motions and competing. We’re out here right now at times, just practicing.”
The defense definitely won today’s practice and made a number of highlight plays. However, quarterback Jaden Rashada once again got a lot of reps, most with the first team, because of Drew Pyne’s injury that occurred during Saturday’s scrimmage.
“He made a few checks that were freaking awesome for a true freshman to make at this stage in his career, and it fired me up,” Dillingham said.
Jaden Rashada getting first-team reps in tempo drill today @BurnCitySports pic.twitter.com/Q2UKBrGXVB
— Brendan Mau (@brendan_mau) August 14, 2023
As for Pyne’s injury status, Dillingham said the team still doesn’t know the exact time he’ll be back and that’s it’s difficult to gauge with quarterbacks as compared to other positions.
Dillingham has been impressed with Pyne even with him not practicing.
“I think Drew’s done a great job, being a leader and being back there and calling out calls and going through reads,” Dillingham said.
ASU QB Drew Pyne, DB Montana Warren suffer injuries at Camp T
The QB competition
As Dillingham alluded to on Saturday, the QB competition is up in the air now.
“(This is) a curveball, to say the least,” Dillingham said. “So, I don’t know. That’s the best way (to put it). Before I kind of had a plan, I think that plan has potentially been derailed a little bit. So we will see how we progress and go from there.”
Before Pyne’s injury, Rashada would get select reps with the first team, while Pyne and Trenton Bourguet would split most of the time with them.
Now, only Bourguet and Rashada are getting reps with the first and second team, while no other quarterbacks, like BYU transfer Jacob Conover, are seeing any playing time in the team drills.
The race for the starting job looked to be very close between Bourguet and Pyne before his injury, but now it could be between Bourguet and Rashada depending on the severity of Pyne’s injury.
Rashada, the ultra-talented freshman and future QB of the team, and Bourguet, a senior leader and the team’s returning starter, could seemingly battle it out for the job over the next week or so. Dillingham said before fall camp that he wanted to make a decision at least a week before the first game (would mean he would announce it by or on next Thursday).
#ArizonaState coach Kenny Dillingham on update on quarterback: Drew Pyne, Trenton Bourguet, Jaden Rashada all still competing. They will name the starter when one clearly separates from the pack, will at least be announced a week before first game.
— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) July 21, 2023
See the full interviews below:
Kenny Dillingham after Sloppy Day of Practice on Offense Needing Passion, Drew Pyne Status, More
ASU RB DeCarlos Brooks on Returning Home, Stepping up as Leader, Wanting to be More Consistent
WATCH: Camp T Saturday Scrimmage Recap by Burn City Sports College Insider Brendan Mau
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Brendan Mau is a college sports insider and general assignment reporter for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
