ASU football's rallying cry in 2016 is "Rise Up."
From the tone set at the team's media day session Saturday afternoon, it appears the Sun Devils are set on doing just that, nearly eight months after ASU capped a disappointing 6-7 season with a loss to West Virginia in the Cactus Bowl.
But there is unbridled optimism resonating from head coach Todd Graham and Co. coming out of fall camp, and for good reason.
Despite redshirt freshman Bryce Perkins suffering a neck injury in practice that eliminated him from the quarterback competition, the healthy rivalry between redshirt sophomore Manny Wilkins and redshirt freshman Brady White has been lauded by players and coaches on both sides of the ball, including the two signal callers.
Wilkins was working with the first team offense in a scrimmage closed to the media, in which Coach Todd Graham said he took 50 snaps, while the second team with White had 45 and the third, with true freshman Dillon Sterling-Cole under center, took 30. From this point forward, Graham said only the first and second teams will operate in scrimmages as the Sept. 3 season opener against NAU nears.
"It was a fairly balanced and even scrimmage," Graham said. "We were working on a lot of game day communications and things with our staff.”
White and Wilkins have both acknowledged that their mutual bond and professional relationship has strengthened in the offseason.
“Manny’s like an older brother to me," White said. "We’ve gotten a lot closer in the past year. We’re going to learn from each other’s mistakes and help each other get better. This summer we watched a ton of film together every day."
White said that the dynamic between quarterbacks will set the tone and act as a barometer of team chemistry.
"I think the relationship in that QB room is gonna kind of be how the team is," White said. "If you have guys that are not close or are selfish, I don’t that’s a good team and that’s not very healthy. I think me and Manny have a good relationship, and no matter who wins, I’m going to support them.”
As far as junior running back Demario Richard is concerned, count him among Sterling-Cole's fans. Count him as the primary cheerleader and protector of Wilkins and White, too.
“He’s got a cannon on him — he can throw the ball," Richard said of Sterling-Cole. "Once he learns the playbook and the system, there probably will be another quarterback competition.”
In the meantime, Richard is hell-bent on knocking over defenders who come anywhere near Wilkins or White.
"Somebody’s gotta do the dirty work," Richard said. "Not all backs can sit there and block a 250-pound linebacker."
Richard said his pass-blocking method is analogous to a boxing match.
"My technique is, be patient – don’t get hit first, it’s like a fight," Richard said. "If he swings and misses, that’s your opportunity. If he swings and hits, you’ve got to fight back, but if you hit first, it’s likely you’re going to win. As soon he gets in striking range, once you strike, it should be over with. You can check the body language of a defender, he can be sitting in his stance and staring at you out of the corner of his eye, so I can just tell the offensive line to switch the protection. You’ve just got trust your offensive linemen."
No player takes this responsibility more seriously than Richard, who said he may see time on kickoff returns and already has extensive special teams experience.
"If you’re a starting running back and a personal protector on the punt team, you can tell he’s really serious about what he does," Richard said. "A lot of running backs can’t block, some people just aren’t built to block. From six-and-a-half years old to 19, my dad always made sure pass-blocking was a key for me, just like the left-tackle, you’re the eyes in the back of his head.”
Under new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, Richard is confident he and junior running back Kalen Ballage and an explosive new class of receivers can turn some heads in the Pac-12, and across the country.
“Brady and Manny can run a practice without Coach Lindsey right now," Richard said. "They know the whole script, and if they did a separate practice without the defense, Coach Lindsey can sit up in the booth by himself and he’ll know. I’m comfortable with whoever wins the job, I’m cheering for all of them. Whoever wins, they deserve it, because they’ve been working their tails off this year.”
PATs
Brady White on ball security and coming from behind...
“We’re both doing well, and we want to take care of the ball, you cannot turn the ball over if you want to win. You could be down 14-0 or 21-0, we had that last year against USC. We got jumped on pretty quickly. How are we going to respond to that? Russell Wilson does a really good job with that... I think Wilson is a very positive, glass half-full kind of guy. That’s huge as a quarterback.”
Manny Wilkins on his facial hair...
“I’m just in camp mode, man. I shampoo and condition it.”
Demario Richard on the offensive line...
“We know what (offensive line coach Chris Thomsen) has been building in that offensive lineman room, we trust his process and what he’s breeding in there. Nobody expected Cohl Cabral to come in and do what he did as a freshman, and he’s coming in and making an impact. He’s doing something right… Christian Westerman, Jamil Douglas, what else do I have to say? He’s breeding monsters in that room.”
Freshman wide receiver Jack Smith on his father, ASU baseball head coach Tracy Smith...
"I’ve been around his (College World Series teams at Indiana) and his bad teams, and one thing that I’ve always picked up from him is to stay even-keel and trust the process, and that’s how I’m attacking this."
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
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