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By JOHNNY SOTO
Cronkite News
TEMPE – With time running out before Pac-12 play gets underway, Arizona State will be looking to make a statement against the New Mexico Lobos on Friday night.
“This is the last week before we start conference play so it’s important that we get everything hitting on all cylinders,” ASU head coach Todd Graham said.
Despite beating Cal Poly by a score of 35-21 last week, the Sun Devils know that they can and should play better as a whole.
“We obviously have not played to our potential and we have to get that going and that’s everybody doing their job and doing it to the best of their ability,” Graham said.
In ASU’s season opener against Texas A&M, the offensive line struggled with its job of protecting quarterback Mike Bercovici, giving up nine sacks too go along with the Aggies 14 tackles for loss.
Arizona State did a better job of protecting Bercovici in week two, as the quarterback was only sacked once all game.
“Week by week we are just getting better, stronger, faster, and our mentality is what has been the best up until this point from our team’s perspective,” Bercovici said.
THE INJURY BUG: Graham said part of the problem for the offensive line is simply that before this week, the starters had not practiced together in a long time because of nagging injuries to several players.
Injuries and illness have plagued the Sun Devils all over the field as running back Kalen Ballage (mononucleosis), defensive back Armand Perry (ankle), wide receiver Fredrick Gammage (hamstring) running back De’Chavon “Gump” Hayes (hamstring), and defensive tackle Villami Latu (ankle) have all missed practice throughout the week.
Graham said that Hayes is a “question mark” heading into Friday’s game, and hinted that he might know more on his status on Thursday.
“I’m thinking on coming out of retirement, I really am. I would like to play some more,” said Graham jokingly on who would start in place of Perry at free safety on Friday.
Graham then went on to say that free safety is a two-way race between freshmen Kareem Orr and sophomore Chad Adams. Graham also said the he still needs to look at more film on both Orr and Adams before he can make a final decision.
DEPTH A STRENGTH: Even though the Sun Devils are missing some key players on offense, Bercovici believes that the depth on the roster will help the team going forward. He said that D.J. Foster, Demario Richard, Ellis Jefferson and Tim White are all capable of carrying the load to march the offense down the field and score touchdowns.
“It’s my job as a quarterback to make sure that we put ourselves in a good position making sure that everybody is set, no penalties, and that’s how we will start rolling,” Bercovici said.
OFFENSE READY TO EXPLODE: Throughout the first two game of the season, the Sun Devils haven’t really had that explosive play to change the dynamic of the game and both Graham and Bercovici are aware of that but plan to make adjustments accordingly.
“We should be a lot more explosive than what we are. We have had a lot of things that have disrupted things,” Graham said.
“ It can be everything, something as a missed tackle, you have to give credit to the defenses,” Bercovici said. “They have been doing a good job against us. Obviously as a quarterback I take responsibility because I can control the entire field,” Bercovici said.
