ASU Football: Time off brought struggles for OC Hill, DE Matus

(Photo: Travis Whittaker/WCSN)

Herm Edwards spoke for his team Monday.

Evident in the words from redshirt sophomore defensive end Michael Matus, offensive coordinator Zak Hill and junior linebacker Kyle Soelle, the past few weeks for members of Arizona State’s football roster have been difficult. With the Sun Devils’ facility shut down and players and coaches positive with COVID-19 or exposed to it, days since ASU’s Nov. 7 game against USC have felt like deja-vu.

After three weeks off, Edwards’ answers regarding conditioning and football shape echoed even louder after the trio spoke Tuesday.

“I don’t look at the time off as a positive advantage,” Hill said.

“It’s kind of like you’re starting over again. Now we’re jumping back into it. It’s a little bit of an eye-opener for the kids.”

Matus mentioned that his home and surroundings became his gym while ASU had its facility shut down.

“You get two weeks off from football and there’s not a lot of running involved,” he said. “You’ve got to find the time outside on your own, whether it is running around the block or doing some push-ups in the living room to keep that activity up.

“It’s tough.”

Soelle said he didn’t let the layoff get the best of him, and treated the situation with no excuses.

“I went on my runs, stayed active and worked on my stretching,” he said. “Just the same things. I treated it like I was still in the stadium.”

For ASU, conditioning is one thing. But communication with new offensive and defensive schemes still being installed is a different beast. The break represented a setback for both sides of the ball.

“Only having one game under our belt and then missing the next three, you’re going to have that lapse in communication,” Matus said. “That’s really the biggest challenge for us: making sure everyone is sound and is playing the same game.”

Zoom sessions once again took the place of film review, which isn’t ideal for players like Matus.

“I learn a lot better when I can physically go out on the field,” Matus said.

Hill said the same issues are present with his offense, which displayed some early struggles against USC as sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels was off-base with his freshmen wide receivers at times early in the contest.

“It’s tough,” Hill said. “You’re coming off not being together. With the communication, you got to get back into that practice mode.”

Soelle, one of the team’s captains, said he believes ASU will be ready for Saturday’s game against UCLA despite the challenges presented to them.

“It’s always difficult to pick right back up,” he said. “But I feel like the whole team has stayed focused and stayed locked in. We still have season left. We still have games to show what type of team we are. We should pick up where we left off.”