ASU Football: Front seven ready for battle with Aztecs young offensive line

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

As injuries mounted, and inexperienced youngsters were forced into action last fall, Arizona State’s run defense faltered down the stretch, becoming one the key factors in the Sun Devils’ six-game losing streak to end 2016.

An offseason of healing and development has the Sun Devils’ front seven in a strong position to bounce back this year. Saturday night’s game against San Diego State will give the group a chance to prove just how far they have come.

SDSU is one of the premier rushing teams in the country. Since the arrival of head coach Rocky Long in 2011, the Aztecs have remade their offensive identity around moving the ball on the ground.

“San Diego State’s number one formation is ‘22’, (with) two tight ends, two backs,” defensive coordinator Phil Bennett said during the preseason. “Who in the world in college football has done that and won as many games as Rocky (Long) has.”

The school ran for over 260 yards per game last season, making them the sixth most productive rushing unit in the country. While feature running back Donnel Pumphrey has moved on to the NFL—he was a fourth round pick in last spring’s draft—senior Rashaad Penny came out of the gates strong against UC-Davis, running for nearly 200 yards in the Aztec’s opener last Saturday.

In 2016, Penny ran for 1018 yards and 11 touchdowns, despite getting only 135 attempts. His 7.5 yards per carry was far and away the best on the team, and ranked 11th in the country among qualified rushers.

“He’s an explosive back,” senior defensive lineman Alani Latu said. “He is a big, stocky guy, a downhill runner, and we are excited to see the challenge. Seeing the ‘22’ personnel they have, we’ll be ready for them.”

While Penny is a proven returner, most of the guys blocking for him aren’t. Four of the Aztecs’ five offensive line starters are new this season. if you just look at their classes, SDSU’s line looks more like a junior varsity squad than a nationally top-10 ranked rushing unit.

For ASU’s defensive veterans up front, years of experience should show on Saturday night.

“Watching last year’s film of their offensive line, there is a big difference,” defensive tackle JoJo Wicker said. “Their offensive line this year is way young. We have a veteran defensive line. I’m not saying (we’re) going to be good, but it will be a challenge.”

Of the four new faces being broken into SDSU’s front five, left tackle Tyler Roemer and center Keith Ismael are redshirt freshmen. Guard Daishawn Dixon is the most seasoned player on the line’s left side, and he is just a redshirt sophomore. Right guard Antonio Rosales is a proven and dependable senior, but is flanked by JUCO transfer Ryan Pope, a player who was a backup and special teamer last season.

In their week one win over New Mexico State, ASU’s front seven did well containing one of the nation’s top running backs, Larry Rose. The Aggies All-American candidate ran for just 60 yards on 13 carries.

But, there were troubling moments as well. NMSU’s Jason Huntley had a 50-yard touchdown run early in fourth quarter, one that sparked NMSU’s comeback effort. Overall, ASU allowed the Aggies to gain 5 yards a carry, helping NMSU sustain drives and hang around despite the gulf of class between the two programs.

A more consistent performance will be needed in the week two meeting with San Diego State. The Aztecs have not been held to less than 170 rushing yards in a regular season game since September of 2015. Last year, they eclipsed the 290-yard mark a half dozen times on the ground.

In the Sun Devils’ season opener, head coach Todd Graham and defensive coordinator Phil Bennett made the rare decision to not substitute defensive starters. Not until the third quarter did ASU’s defense see a personnel alteration.

“(NMSU) is a fast-tempo team, so (the coaches) didn’t want to risk getting substitution penalties. I guess they wanted to keep the dependables in,” Latu said regarding last week’s defensive strategy of not substituting. “We have dependable players, but (NMSU) started coming back and it was going back and forth, so they just wanted to stay safe and keep us in.”

Continuing the unusual trend will be a challenge against a team like SDSU. The Aztecs ran the ball 45 times a game last season, wearing down opposing defenses with a physical strategy on almost every snap. Though Long’s squad is plugging in new names on the offensive line, they have shown no indications of going away from their roots on the ground.

Not that that style bothers ASU any.

“When they tell us it’s a run game, everybody starts to get excited,” Latu said. “We start strapping it up, and come a little harder. I feel like we’ll be solid this week. Last week you could tell we were a little gassed, but in practice we are running more reps so we can get that conditioning.”

They might be physical, and possess raw talent, but most of the Aztecs young collection up front will have never faced a defensive front quite like ASU’s before.

As Latu said after watching film of this week’s opponents, “We see some advantages we can attack.”

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