There's much more to ASU football redshirt senior quarterback Mike Bercovici than his arm strength and charisma.
Bercovici was the holder for place kicker Zane Gonzalez last season, a critical special teams position that required significant mutual trust.
He also has become more comfortable outside the pocket and can find an open running lane when protection breaks down.
But fans should get accustomed to seeing Bercovici utilize his kicking leg in 2015 to "pooch punt," something that was integrated heavily into ASU's scheme with former quarterback Taylor Kelly.
Usually when the Sun Devil offense is near midfield, the quarterback will take a fourth down snap in the shotgun, only to punt the ball away.
The play isn't necessarily flashy or deceptive. That's by design — most teams that study the Sun Devils know it is coming.
But defenses must account for the fact that the quarterback is still on the field, and thus it forces the return coverage to play it safe and take away the treat of a surprise pass or run play, instead of going all out for a block.
Kelly did so with success last season, with seven of his nine punts being downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line and averaged 36.8 yards per punt.
Doing so also elevated him to near cult status with Sun Devil fans, some of whom would contend that his leg was arguably more of a strength than his arm in regard to field position.
A reminder: Kelly won the 2013 Pac-12 South title for ASU, its first in school history. Kelly also holds the Sun Devil record for career total offense, yet may also be remembered as much for his leg as his arm.
Bercovici was not seen punting during the entirety of fall camp, which led to a surprise when the signal-caller lined up and punted within the 20-yard line against Cal Poly on Saturday.
"I don't know if you guys get to be in here for that," Bercovici joked. "Manny (Wilkins) is the specialty punter, but we have a competition on Thursdays. Coach Norvell, myself, Manny, Brady (White) and Bryce (Perkins). I think I got the trophy for practice kicks.
"It's an important aspect to our kicking game, so I do take pride in that."
Bercovici punted four times last season, with two being downed inside the 20-yard line. He performed above-average in his first punt of this season, with his 38-yard pooch punt exceeding his 35-yard average from 2014.
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Reach the reporter at fardaya@asu.edu or follow @fardaya15 on Twitter.
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