ASU Football: Defense ready for challenge against A&M

(Photo: Allyson Cummings/WCSN)

Arizona State continued its preparations for its tilt against Texas A&M with what head coach Todd Graham called a “base down” day for the Sun Devils.

As usual, the 15 minutes open to the media consisted of stretching, ball security drills and a quick offensive series. Crowd noise continued to be pumped in throughout practice, but Graham reiterates the artificial sound won’t come close to what his team will face in Houston.

Sun Devils Preparing to handle Texas A&M’s offense

With Arizona-native sophomore Kyle Allen manning the offense under center for a second season, expectations are the Aggies will be even more explosive than a year ago.

The Aggies have playmakers across the field, including receivers sophomore Speedy Noil and junior Josh Reynolds who caught 13 touchdowns last season.

For the Sun Devils, containing the Aggie offense is fundamental.

“We got to tackle in space really well against these guys,” Graham said. “And we got to be vertically sound.”

Given the loud, A&M-heavy crowd, everybody across the defense seems to understand the importance of communication in this game, and redshirt junior linebacker Laiu Moekiola feels his group is ready to do that.

“Overall, I think the confidence really for us is just what we do off the field,” Moekiola said. “Just watching film together and just communicating differently, so when we got on that field, we just react rather than think.”

Moeakiola was one ASU’s most important and smartest defensive players last season as he locked down the spur position. Averaging 5.5 tackles per game a season ago, 6-foot-1 Moeakiola says his team’s success will come down to a basic principle.

“Keeping it simple,” he said. “Try to do too much (and) that’s when everything falls apart.”

Going back to Texas

ASU has strong Texas-ties across the board, including Graham and Moeakiola. Eight players who are expected to play on the first or second string played in Texas before coming to Tempe which shows the program’s success and emphasis of recruiting in the state.

“Going to Texas is something you got to be careful (about),” Graham said. “It’s very competitive, but if you get them out of there, you’re going to get quality players. They know what it takes to win.”

The opener against A&M in Houston not only serves as a launching pad for the Sun Devils this season, but also serves well in getting the attention of Texan prep stars who might consider leaving the state.

For the players, playing in their home state is reasonably exciting, but that excitement also carries some logistic problems.

“I’m struggling right now to get tickets,” Moeakiola said. “That’s the hardest part. I don’t want to tell family they can’t come to the game, but hopefully some guys that are loving and caring enough to give me their tickets.”

Nonetheless, despite the struggles of finding tickets for family and friends, Moeakiola said this is a business trip more than anything. With that in mind, nothing quite beats going back to where he comes from.

“I try to keep it cool and collected,” he said. “But it’s exciting to go back.”

Practice Notes

– ASU released its media guide containing its depth chart, but the portion of practice open to the media showed some slight differences.

– Sophomore DJ Calhoun is listed as the starter at WILL, but sophomore Christian Sam took most of the reps in the one series we saw. Calhoun came on the field when ASU went into its nickel package.

– Redshirt junior Edmond Boateng took the first-team reps in the portion media saw today ahead of true freshman JoJo Wicker. Graham has said he wanted to keep the competition level high at the position despite Wicker getting the majority of first-team reps throughout fall camp.

– Scouts from the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens were in attendance.
You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post