This Losing Streak will Cost a Sun Devil His Job, but Who?
Dennis Erickson said after Saturday night’s loss to Georgia that positions would be up for grabs this week. Who could be on their way out of the starting lineup and who could be on their way in?
(Photo courtesy East Valley Tribune)
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One statement from Saturday night’s loss to Georgia resounded with us, and we’re not talking about team captain Troy Nolan pointing out that the Sun Devils “have no identity right now.”
Instead, it was this statement from head coach Dennis Erickson: “We’ll practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday like it’s spring ball. We’ve got to put some positions up for grabs. We’ve got to get better.”
That’s no small task. Erickson and his coaches have already spent weeks of spring practice and preseason camp dissecting the roster and coming back with a school-record 10 true freshmen on the varsity. (To see who they are, just add defensive end Jamaar Jarrett to our previous list.)
So where will these battles for playing time take place? Here’s our guess at three spots up for grabs.
Running back
Keegan Herring is expected to return for the Cal game and Erickson keeps mentioning junior Jarrell Woods and heralded freshman Ryan Bass. Meanwhile, Dimitri Nance is averaging 51 yards per game. After Saturday’s loss, Erickson said, “we need to find some way to get some explosion in the running game.” And we couldn’t agree more. If we were overlooking Herring’s importance to the team prior to this season, we shouldn’t be now.
Defensive back
Everyone is frustrated with Omar Bolden’s play of late. His pass interference calls handed Stanford a touchdown, UNLV beat him man-to-man on several occasions including once in the end zone, and Georgia’s A.J. Green absolutely torched him after he talked smack following a big play early in the game. But Bolden isn’t going anywhere. Instead, look for junior college transfers Pierre “the hammer” Singfield and Terell Carr, who supplanted Singfield this week, to continue their battle for the starting spot opposite Bolden.
Linebacker
This year’s team sorely lacks the chaos created by Robert James’ speed, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see competition at one of ASU’s deepest positions. Incumbents Mike Nixon, Gerald Munns and Travis Goethel have all performed well. But Morris Wooten was reinstated for the Georgia game and led the team in tackles, and true freshmen Brandon Magee and Shelly Lyons aren’t on the varsity to ride the bench.
What’s Your Take, Sun Devils?
We want to know what position you think is most in need of a change. Let us know in the comments below.
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I don’t think we’ll be seeing much more of Nance, and that’s fine by me. With the week off there’s plenty of time for backups to step up in practice. I expect many will, and it will be a particularly motivated team against Cal.
The main Sun Devil I want to see saying sayonara is offensive coordinator Rich Olson. He runs an unimaginative offense, doesn’t adjust when teams throw something new at us, had our red zone offense in the tank for 2 years running…there’s a reason the folks at his last couple of jobs (Miami and the Crudinals) were glad to see him out the door.
As long as Chris McGaha doesn’t go anywhere I’m alright!
How about the freakin’ offensive line? I thought that unit was totally manhandled by Georgia. I hate to say it, but inserting Herring for Nance isn’t going to cure the running game unless the blocking improves. Dimitri Nance is a good running back. But pretty much the whole front five is new/inexperienced. It didn’t show too much against NAU/Stanford, but it will the rest of the season unless players step up. Didn’t Erickson say himself the right tackle spot was up for grabs? At the very least. There was talk of Matt Hustad going in the lineup to take the spot? Maybe Tom Njunge? Possibly true freshman Zach Schlink subbing in at guard too? Make no mistake, changes are coming here, if anywhere.