Two of the hottest topics regarding the ASU football team heading into the 2009 season have been the stout defense and senior quarterback Danny Sullivan.
That held true after the Sun Devils’ second scrimmage Saturday morning at Sun Devil Stadium, as the defense allowed just two touchdowns, and ASU coach Dennis Erickson confirmed that Sullivan will take the first snap when ASU kicks off its regular season against Idaho State on Sept. 5.
“Danny’s the starting quarterback,” Erickson said. “He has been ever since the end of spring. I don’t feel like I have to make an announcement every day that Danny Sullivan is the quarterback.”
Sullivan said the announcement comes as no surprise to him, but that he is happy that Erickson made a public confirmation.
“I’ve known for a little bit, but for him to come out and say it now kind of spreads the word out there,” Sullivan said. “It feels good, and a little weight is lifted off my shoulders.”
Sullivan completed 11 of his 26 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown Saturday.
But the Sun Devil defense held the offense in check for the majority of the morning, as ASU’s ninth drive was the first one that resulted in points.
“Defensively, we started extremely fast with that first group,” Erickson said. “I talked about that yesterday — starting fast in a football game — and we did on defense. Obviously, we didn’t on offense, but I thought that as the scrimmage went along, there were some awfully good things on offense.”
The ASU first-team offense went three-and-out on its first two drives before a 20-yard run by senior running back Dimitri Nance moved the chains for the Sun Devils for the first time.
A 79-yard punt return for a touchdown by senior Kyle Williams after the seventh series finally got the Sun Devils in the end zone, and the offense got on the board two possessions later when junior kicker Thomas Weber drilled a 25-yard field goal.
“That’s the game of football when you go against your own team,” Sullivan said. “Some days, [the] defense will get you, [and] some days offense will be better. You just learn to deal with it, look at your own personal mistakes and successes and take them in stride.”
Because of an elbow injury to sophomore backup quarterback Samson Szakacsy, true freshman quarterback Brock Osweiler took the reins under center for the second-team offense and completed five of his 11 passes for 117 yards. He was also the Sun Devils’ second-leading rusher (six carries, 22 yards) and got into the end zone on a quarterback sneak play.
“Sometimes I’m trying to stay in the pocket and make something happen, but other times my natural instincts kick in and I try to get some yards [up] field,” Osweiler said. “It’s something I just have to see on film, because the game’s so fast that it’s all kind of a blur sometimes and you’re not seeing exactly what’s going on.”
Sophomore wide receiver Gerell Robinson was Sullivan and Osweiler’s favorite receiving target from a group that was missing senior Chris McGaha because of a hamstring injury.
Robinson fumbled after a 35-yard catch, but he made up for the error by finishing the scrimmage with 116 receiving yards and a touchdown where he spun through defenders to get into the end zone.
“[Erickson] was on me pretty tough [about the fumble],” Robinson said. “I made sure I wouldn’t do it again. [I] just [needed to] tuck the ball away and keep moving.”
ASU spread the rushing load around, as Nance, true freshman Cameron Marshall, redshirt freshman James Morrison, senior Shaun DeWitty, sophomore Ryan Bass and senior Jarrell Woods all received between four and seven carries.
Marshall finished with a scrimmage-high 23 yards on six carries, but he fumbled on the morning’s final play.
“They made a lot of progress,” Erickson said of the running backs. “If we were to start tomorrow, it would kind of be a [coin] flip right now.”
Other key players that sat out Saturday’s scrimmage included sophomore center Garth Gerhart (turf toe), senior cornerback Terell Carr (back) and sophomore linebacker Shelly Lyons (knee). Sophomore linebacker Brandon Magee left the scrimmage early with a sprained left ankle, but Erickson said, “It’s not anything serious.”
“We’re cautious with guys with two weeks left,” Erickson said. “You’ve got to get things done, but then you want to have your group out there [for the season opener].”
ASU will not practice Monday because of the start of fall classes. The Sun Devils will scrimmage Wednesday and then will play a mock game Friday night at Sun Devil Stadium.
Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu.
