ASU Football: Arizona Players to Watch

Whether ASU turned out to be 5-5 or 10-0 at this point in the season, the Territorial Cup would be the most anticipated game of the year, solely for the rise in emotion it’s guaranteed to provide. The 2015 Sun Devils have been a disappointment, there is no denying that, but the team from across the state hasn’t quite met expectations either.

Arizona is 6-5 on the season, despite returning their freshman phenom quarterback from a season ago in Anu Solomon, as well as junior linebacker Scooby Wright III, who was recognized as the national defensive player of the year with three separate rewards. While they were only expected to finish fourth out of six Pac-12 South teams in the preseason poll, Utah was projected to finish fifth. In other words, the division was loaded this season.

Which is exactly why despite their mediocre record and making a few games competitive when they shouldn’t have been, their ups and downs have nearly paralleled ASU’s, and the simultaneous letdowns have almost made this game even more intriguing.

With Solomon questionable for the game due to a concussion, his next man up has seen the field in as many games as he has, but their contrasting play styles have kept teams on their toes all season long.

Jerrard Randall, senior quarterback, #8

Randall’s legs and Solomon’s arm have been playing off of each other all season long, but with Solomon questionable he may need to carry most of the offensive load from under center.

The senior quarterback has 680 rushing yards on the season on 74 attempts and five touchdowns. In terms of yardage per game, he is the ninth best rusher in the Pac-12. Pair him up with sophomore running back Nick Wilson and senior running back Jared Baker, that’s 2,087 yards on the ground this season.

This will be the third time in conference play that ASU will face a dual threat quarterback with impressive production from the tailbacks as well. In both games ASU managed to for the most part shut down the run game of the quarterbacks, but at points let the running backs loose. Utah’s senior running back Devontae Booker recorded 121 yards against ASU, and Oregon’s sophomore running back Royce Freeman tallied 115 yards and two touchdowns.

Where the problem presents itself for ASU is making the Wildcats throw the ball, because their top four receivers have at least 500 receiving yards apiece. They also each have at least four touchdowns, but no more than five.

This is what makes Solomon’s status all the more important, because if he is playing the passing game is much more likely to be effective, but if the air attack is placed all on Randall’s shoulders then he could be in for a much more interesting afternoon.

Cayleb Jones, junior wide receiver, #1

If there was an X-factor in this game for Arizona, it would be Cayleb Jones. With so much weight expected to be on the running game with Solomon questionable, ASU will likely force Randall to throw much like they did with Utah’s Travis Wilson.

Jones despite being in the sixth best passing offense in the conference finds himself in the 11 spot in terms of receptions per game, and eighth in reception yards per game, and leads his team in both of those categories.

While obviously his role could be diminished with how much Arizona could run the ball, he would be the one to break the game open in expanding to the passing game and adding another dimension the ASU defense has to keep track of.

 

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