CAMP TONTOZONA, Ariz. -- ASU football aced its off-the-field accomplishments at the annual Camp Tontozona scrimmage Saturday, playing in front of a camp-record 6,100 fans.
But how did they do on the field?
Here's the official State Press report card for each of ASU's position groups from Saturday's scrimmage:
Quarterbacks
Grade: C
This position was average, at best, during Saturday's session. The total position group was responsible for each of the four turnovers while failing to run or throw for a single score.
The unofficial stats, according to Sun Devil Athletics:
Redshirt senior Mike Bercovici — 10-for-17, 151 yards, one interception
Freshman Bryce Perkins — 5-for-14, 5 yards (likely an error) with an interception
Freshman Brady White — 5-for-12, 98 yards
Redshirt freshman Manny Wilkins — 3-for-10, 10 yards, one interception
Bercovici was the most impressive of the three, making a pair of solid throws to redshirt junior Tim White (53 yards) and redshirt sophomore Ellis Jefferson (24 yards). One of the biggest questions entering Saturday was who would play behind him, which head coach Todd Graham said didn't narrow itself down.
Perkins made a few plays on the run, but constantly overthrew receivers after emerging as a slight favorite to win the backup job during the week.
White never actually turned over the ball, but put the ball on the turf four separate times during play Saturday. The most notable came on fourth and goal from the 1-yard line in which his botched snap ended his best drive of the day. He did have one of the nicest throws of the day, finding Jefferson for 49 yards down the left sideline and also had a 45-yard touchdown pass to Raymond Epps called back due to a penalty.
Wilkins struggled with ball security, throwing a pick-six while also fumbling in the red zone while scrambling. He never gained much of a rhythm, and left with an apparent right arm injury.
Running backs
Grade: A+
The running game was the main storyline from Saturday's scrimmage, with every player at the position outside of presumed starter Demario Richard and freshman Nick Ralston tallying at least one score.
The unofficial stats:
Sophomore Demario Richard – four rushes, 37 yards
Sophomore Kalen Ballage – 10 rushes, 74 yards, two touchdowns
Sophomore Jacom Brimhall – six rushes, 68 yards, one touchdown
Redshirt junior De'Chavon "Gump" Hayes – three rushes, 39 yards, one touchdown
Freshman Nick Ralston – 13 rushes, 29 yards
Freshman Jason Lewis – nine rushes, 89 yards, one touchdown
Richard was held out for precautionary reasons for most of the scrimmage, but looked great while breaking a 23-yard run during the first-team offense's opening drive.
Ballage was the star of the afternoon, tallying a pair of touchdowns down by the goal line while also bouncing off of more than a few tacklers (notably redshirt senior linebacker Antonio Longino). Graham told reporters that he can describe Ballage in one word — special.
Brimhall also received a shoutout from Graham, with his big contribution coming when he broke a 58-yard touchdown run while crossing fields and going down the right sideline.
"Gump" fulfilled his Friday guarantee, scoring the opening touchdown of the scrimmage and using his speed to good effect while lining up both in the slot and alongside Ballage in the "20" running back set.
Ralston was solid in between the tackles, also contributing off of screens and bringing a physical element to the run game. He nearly scored a touchdown in the Brady White drive mentioned above, but was ruled down inches short of the goal line.
Lewis had a quiet day in a relatively small amount of touches before breaking the big one, coming off of the left side and spinning away from a Carlos Mendoza tackle before streaking down the left sideline for the score.
Wide receivers
Grade: B
They were good, but not great. No player caught more than two passes, and with senior wide receiver D.J. Foster being held out for most of the scrimmage only Jefferson stood out (two catches, 73 yards). Tim White (two catches, 59 yards) showed a glimpse of being a deep threat in getting behind the defense as well, connecting with Bercovici for 53 yards.
Tight Ends
Grade: C+
The tight end group was slightly above average following a largely average week of camp. ASU opened with some two tight end sets with redshirt junior Kody Kohl and redshirt sophomore Raymond Epps, but neither really managed to accomplish much. Epps had a 45-yard touchdown catch wiped away by a penalty, Kohl's block set up Brimhall's touchdown run and freshman Tommy Hudson caught a pass for a first down.
Offensive Line
Grade: B-
Another case of good, but not great. The offensive line was great in run blocking and typically gave Bercovici a solid pocket to throw from, but the second string saw Perkins, White and Wilkins almost constantly on the run.
Defensive Line
Grade: B
Some previously unknown figures starred along the defensive line (freshman Jalen Bates had two sacks), and the rest of the unit looked solid for the most part with few standouts. Redshirt senior Demetrius Cherry had two pass breakups, and tipped pass at the line of scrimmage led to redshirt sophomore linebacker Marcus Ball's interception.
Linebackers
Grade: A-
ASU has plenty of depth in its linebacking corps, and it definitely showed Saturday. Redshirt sophomore Marcus Ball and sophomore Christian Sam have been the true stars of Camp Tontozona all week, and the trend continued into Saturday. Ball had an interception and Sam forced a fumble, but even then both wound up taking a mix of first- and second-team reps.
Third-teamer Khaylan Thomas even got into the mix, returning a Wilkins interception for a touchdown.
Expect this to be a position group where a lot of names are in the mix to do productive things.
Defensive backs
Grade: B
The quarterbacks did not necessarily look great Saturday, and while this is in part due to their play and the job done by the pass rush, the secondary did a solid job in coverage Saturday. Redshirt seniors Lloyd Carrington and Jordan Simone were solid (though both did get burned a couple times), and the standout play came towards the end of the first half when freshman Kareem Orr leaped to intercept Perkins' pass and force the turnover.
Special teams
Grade: Incomplete
We didn't get a chance to see much from this unit today. Junior kicker Zane Gonzalez did hit a 58-yard field goal during the TV timeout and Matt Haack did a solid job punting the football, but the return game didn't get a chance to show much and some of the newcomers didn't get a chance to try much.
Reach the reporter at fardaya@asu.edu or follow @fardaya15 on Twitter.
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