(Photo via Brendan O’Keeffe/WCSN)
When the unexpected happens, the results can be unexpected.
In Arizona State Football’s 45-38 upset win over the No. 21 ranked Washington Huskies, the unexpected is exactly what happened. In the second quarter, redshirt junior quarterback Emory Jones scrambled out of the pocket and met with junior safety Asa Turner, who hit Jones as he slid to end the play. The incident removed both players, as Turner was ejected for targeting and Jones left with an injury.
When Jones went down, redshirt junior quarterback Trenton Bourgeut was put into the game, a decision that took him little time to process.
“I saw him scrambling (then) take that slide,” Bourguet said. “And then he got hit and at first, I thought, ‘he’s gonna pop up.’ And as soon as probably a half second later, I took the headset off, got the helmet on, took some snaps with (redshirt junior offensive linemen) Ben (Bray) and got my arm ready.”
At the time of the hit, Bourguet was doing his usual activities – wearing a headset and being another coach on the sideline. Bourguet’s dedication to his preparation allows him to be a player-coach and always ready to go, which is an asset for any team.
“I’ve seen it in practice for the last couple of years,” interim head coach Shaun Aguano said. “I’ve always mentioned to him that he has to be prepared. He’s not the tallest, he’s not the fastest, he doesn’t have the strongest arm, but he has the traits of a great quarterback because he knows how to anticipate, he knows how to rally around his guys and his guys rally around him. So, I see that leadership in him. And I always said once you have an opportunity – and it’s playing right off of me – and when you get that opportunity, make sure you take advantage of it. Now it’s going to be a battle.”
“As a backup quarterback, you got to be prepared,” Bourguet said. “It’s kind of different because growing up I’ve always been that guy, starting since a freshman in high school and breaking records. … I’ve always known what I’m capable of. God has a great plan, and four years ago, I was the fifth-string walk-on, and just trusted God’s plan. Just put my head down every week and just prepare for this moment.”
Bourguet’s story must be noted to comprehend how big of a moment Saturday was for him. The Arizona native was a walk-on in 2019, slotting him as a backup for multiple quarterbacks. Now, only three years removed from that walk-on year, Bourguet found himself in the shotgun, down a touchdown to an AP top-25 team.
“Honestly, my whole life my mom has always asked me, ‘are you getting nervous? Are you getting nervous,’ Bourguet said. “And today, I wasn’t really nervous. I felt prepared and comfortable. I get more nervous when I’m watching somebody else play because I have no control over, you know, the factor and doing anything like that.”
Bourguet is an Arizona native, something Aguano has emphasized since taking over the helm. When looking at the two, it’s easy to see the glaring similarity they share, family being the center of their life, thus exemplifying the “ohana” mentality Aguano has preached.
“I want to make sure that I let everyone know he’s an Arizona kid that has come in and won one of our biggest games,” Aguano said. “We can win with Arizona kids, and I’m gonna go back to recruiting part. I want to keep Arizona kids here. And he just amplified that for us.”
Bourguet’s roots are in Tucson, which seemed like he would be an Arizona Wildcat, but ASU offered something too important to him – family history.
“It’s awesome. My grandpa came here; both my parents graduated from ASU,” Bourguet said. “I’m from Tucson, so everybody thought I’d go to the school down south, but to get a win like this was pretty awesome. Hopefully, it’s the first of many. And you know, it’s awesome. We got to celebrate today. But tomorrow, we got to watch film. I have mistakes to fix, and hopefully, coming off the bye week, we can get another victory.”
While Bourguet was a backup for most of his collegiate career, a quarterback battle emerged in 2022, presenting an opportunity for him to win the job. However, Bourguet suffered a stress fracture in his foot during the 2021 season but pushed back his surgery until after spring ball. He didn’t feel fully healthy during fall camp, which is when the quarterback battle was at its highest moment.
“I was in a boot the whole time outside of football, which nobody really knew about,” Bourguet said. “So just trying to play through that was kind of tough. Battling for the starting job, but also, really being limited being on one foot. Got surgery, but my foot feels 100 percent. I’m just glad that I’m 100 percent, and I just gotta thank God for that.”
Bourguet certainly appeared to be fully healthy on Saturday, throwing for 182 yards, three touchdowns and completing 15 of his 21 passes.
When watching Bourguet, it can be easy to be surprised at his comfortability and poise in the pocket. After all, he did inherit a 10-3 deficit in the middle of the second quarter against an AP top-25 opponent. Combine that with only six appearances, with most of those reps taking place during the final moments of a game, and at first glance, it appeared the Sun Devils’ season just worsened.
But the players felt differently when Bourguet went into the huddle.
“I can speak for myself, and I think I speak for the rest of the entire roster,” said redshirt junior defensive back Jordan Clark, who played against Bourguet in 7-on-7 football. “We have the utmost confidence in 16. When 16 went into the game it wasn’t, ‘Oh we hanging our heads,’ it wasn’t, ‘oh (defense) we need to pick it up.’ It was ‘all right let’s go, let’s get it.’ He’s more than equipped. He works hard; he’s in his playbook all the time. It’s having a coach on the field whenever 16 is out there. We were really confident.”
But even with minimal in-game reps, Bourguet’s life revolves around football, which helped him as the game progressed.
“I think he kind of just took over,” redshirt junior Ben Scott said. “In practice, he gets reps with the ones every once in a while. So this is nothing new to him. He knows the offense better than damn near anyone. So he’s cool as a cucumber. I think he reads more than some of the coaches in the box up there.”
The first person to greet Bourguet after his performance was his brother, Coben Bourguet, who is a redshirt freshman wide receiver for ASU.
When the two met on the field, the moment became unearthly.
“It felt like a movie,” Trenton said. “To have him be on the sideline with me, and to bow our heads and pray to God and thank Him for everything that he’s done for us in our entire lives. To just share that moment with him is something truly special. And I mean, it’s really hard to describe.”
