ASU Football: Sun Devils keyed in on stymying Spruce and containing Liufau

(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)

Keeping the momentum from its win over UCLA has been the theme at practice this week for Arizona State as it prepares to host Colorado

By extension, that means prepping for one of the most productive wide receivers in the Pac-12.

Colorado senior wideout Nelson Spruce became just the eighth player in Pac-12 history to eclipse 100 receptions in a season (106), and he ranks in the top-6 in program history in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown receptions.

Spruce has already caught 31 passes this year. Senior cornerback Lloyd Carrington is the defensive back tasked with slowing him down, and Carrington has taken note of the Spruce’s possession-style skills.

“He’s (Spruce) a guy, when the ball comes his way, he goes up and gets it,” Carrington said. “He does a great job of running polished routes, and he understands how to adjust routes based on different coverages.”

This season, Carrington has tallied 19 solo tackles, broken up four passes and has regularly lined up on the opposing team’s best receiver as the boundary cornerback.

Facing a dual-threat quarterback

Carrington will also play a big role in containing Colorado’s junior dual-threat quarterback Sefo Liufau, who has racked up 205 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.

With his ability to escape the pocket and extend plays, ASU’s defensive backs will be tasked with covering their assignments longer than usual.

“The main thing is communication,” Carrington said. “Communication is big really within any facet of the game, but also within the defensive backfield. It’s something we come out and work hard on every day, and we set up signals and calls for specific things that may occur during the games, so I feel confident that we’ll be prepared for anything.”

Much of that communication will come from redshirt senior bandit safety Jordan Simone and freshman field safety Kareem Orr.

“Communication is big this week with us,” Orr said. “You got to communicate a lot… Safeties got to stay deep, stay on their hash and just pick balls.”

Orr’s one interception this year came against USC’s redshirt senior Cody Kessler, who hadn’t thrown a pick up to that point all year. Similarly, Orr’s development has become evident week-to-week as sophomore Armand Perry remains out with an ankle injury.

Part of that development for Orr is understanding when to use his athletic abilities to try to make big plays for ASU’s defense.

“I do it (try make big plays) just a little bit,” Orr said. “It got me in trouble last week against UCLA on a slant, but I learned my lesson right there.”

Ready for the blackout

ASU released its jerseys yesterday for its annual “blackout” game. The uniform features a matte-black helmet with an oversized pitchfork on the side.

In last season’s blackout against UCLA, ASU was blown out 62-27.

Graham mentioned last week that he doesn’t particularly pay attention to when his team’s uniform combination is released, but the for the players, that mentality is a little different.

“It’s more for the fans,” Carrington said. “We know the fans enjoy those type of games, but yeah, you look good, it helps you play a little bit player. It all helps out with our mentality just going out onto the field… The uniform is just icing on the cake.”

You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com

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