ASU Football: “A true open competition” at Quarterback

(Photo: Rebecca Striffler/WCSN)

There hasn’t been much sunshine in the Valley of the Sun, especially with many controversies following Arizona State Football like a dark rainy cloud.

The heavy weather followed the Sun Devils to Palo Alto, Cailf. where the program suffered a disappointing 15-14 loss to the Stanford Cardinal. The loss seemingly prompted interim head coach Shaun Aguano to consider who will be manning the offense for his program’s next game.

“There’s some good things that he did,” Aguano said. “There’s some decision-making that was questionable, I thought. There was some inconsistency, I thought, in the second half a little bit. Overall, I thought he did okay. Going forward, and you’ll see it out there too, it’s an open competition. A true open competition for both of those guys.”

The quarterback position has been a hot topic for ASU since February when former four-star quarterback Jayden Daniels entered the transfer portal. Redshirt junior quarterback Paul Tyson transferred to Tempe before spring practices, creating a quarterback battle with redshirt junior quarterback Trenton Bourguet. But as the weather grew hotter and dryer, so did the competition. Redshirt junior quarterback Emory Jones transferred to ASU after spring practices, heating up the race and creating a cut-and-dried situation.

The expectation of Jones starting under center had merit to it, as Jones started in 12 games at Florida, making him the only quarterback who had starting reps on ASU’s roster. The expectation became a reality when then-head coach Herm Edwards announced Jones as the starting quarterback.

“The starting quarterback going into opening day will be Emory Jones,” Edwards said on Aug. 18. “We’ve got nine practices left, so as we close in on the opening game of the season, obviously a lot of things get honed in on your opponent, offensively and defensively, and we’re kind of getting into that mode.”

Since then, the Sun Devils are led by interim head coach Shaun Aguano, who has changed aspects of the program in his short time at the helm, reinstating traditions lost to the previous regime and vouching for more positional competition.

The attention turned to the quarterback position during ASU’s bout against then-No. 21 Washington. Jones scrambled for a first down on a second-quarter play but was hit as he slid, putting him into concussion protocol. Bourguet replaced Jones, leading the Sun Devils to a 45-38 upset.

Aguano was adamant in his philosophy of not removing a player due to injury, which added speculation to the situation. On Saturday, Aguano stayed true to his belief, sending Jones onto the field against Stanford.

“I just thought from a decision-making standpoint, there’s things open that we didn’t get to,” Aguano said. “They did try to tighten up a little bit on [redshirt sophomore wide receiver] Elijhah [Badger]. They brought a little bit more pressure, just with their interior guys a little bit. But overall, they didn’t change schematically. And so, we should have been able to take advantage of that, and not scoring in the second half is absolutely unacceptable.”

The Cardinal’s adjustment hindered Jones’ play and decision-making, which allowed the competition to seep through the cracks. Combine that with Bourguet’s performance against Washington, and it’s easy to see how the battle has reemerged.

The quarterback battle will be the Sun Devils’ big theme this week, but Aguano wants to continue stacking days and creating themes for the entire team.

“I put it up every Sunday,” Aguano said about each week’s theme. “So last week was stacking days. We got 18 percent better. This week, if we go four practices, we get 22 percent better. Last week was to dominate the game. That was one of our stacking themes. When it came to games, I changed that in regard to us still trying to get it together. This one it is, ‘win by all costs.’ And so when we talk about stacking those days, we still go about that mantra.”