Tag: Arizona State Football

Arizona State injuries, lack of offensive line depth dominate headlines heading into USC game

Arizona State has four offensive linemen out for this game. A fifth, Cade Briggs, will be a game-time decision. Drew Pyne won’t be in a position to thrive.

The Arizona State Sun Devils will start Drew Pyne at quarterback against USC. When Pyne played the Trojans last year as a member of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, he completed 23 of 26 passes. One big key: He had a strong offensive line.

Pyne will not have a strong offensive line on Saturday night in Tempe.

Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, ASU will be missing at least four offensive linemen who have started games for the Sun Devils, with a fifth — Cade Briggs — being a game-time decision. These are not the third-stringers on the depth chart. These are players who were expected to play for much if not all of the 2023 season.

Here’s more from Thamel:

“ASU is down to nine healthy scholarship offensive linemen, which has limited how it can practice. The Sun Devils are without linemen Ben Coleman, Max Iheanachor, Isaia Glass and Emmit Bohle, all of whom have started or were expected to start. ASU has just 82 scholarships available as it is down three because of self-imposed NCAA sanctions from former coach Herm Edwards’ tenure, further impacting depth.”

ASU has 10 projected (preseason) or actual starters out for this game.

Catch all of Ducks Wire’s Pac-12 team previews for the 2023 season:

Arizona — Arizona State — California — Colorado — Oregon State  — Stanford — UCLA — USC — Utah — Washington — Washington State

Drew Pyne (leg injury) will start at QB for Arizona State against USC

Pyne was injured last week, but is healthy enough to play. ASU coach Kenny Dillingham said he will start. Pyne faced USC last year with Notre Dame.

Drew Pyne, the former Notre Dame quarterback who played well against USC last November with the Fighting Irish, transferred to Arizona State in the offseason. He will now get the chance to start another game versus the Trojans.

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham said that Pyne will start this game. Pyne suffered a leg injury last week against Fresno State. He had been dealing with a hamstring injury for the past month. He suffered that injury in August preseason camp. Over the course of the week, Pyne’s leg injury healed enough to give Dillingham confidence that Pyne can start.

Dillingham could be reacting to the prospect of having to start fourth-string quarterback Jacob Conover. It will be interesting to see how mobile and functional Pyne is in the first few possessions of the game. If he physically struggles, Conover would be next in line to replace him.

ASU has Jaden Rashada, the Day 1 starter, out with an injury. Second-string quarterback Trenton Bourguet, who started last week against Fresno State, is also out.

Catch all of Ducks Wire’s Pac-12 team previews for the 2023 season:

Arizona — Arizona State — California — Colorado — Oregon State  — Stanford — UCLA — USC — Utah — Washington — Washington State

Arizona State game gives USC coaching staff one more week to manage workloads

Arizona State’s injuries give USC’s coaches another week in which to focus on player development without overextending the starters.

The first road conference game of a college football season is usually a time when a team and coaching staff tighten up the rotations and reduce the amount of playing time for the backups. However, USC’s road opener against Arizona State does not figure to have the degree of difficulty one would normally associate with such a situation.

As we have told you earlier this week, Arizona State is badly undermanned heading into this game. The Sun Devils have been crushed by injuries, particularly along their offensive line. They got shut out at home by Fresno State this past Saturday, if that offers any indication of how functional this offense is. Five offensive linemen being hurt this early in a season — and all at the same time — is naturally destructive for any team in any context, but for ASU, it’s especially bad because this program is in a full-on rebuild in the first year of new coach Kenny Dillingham’s tenure.

If Arizona State had Alabama-level depth, these injuries would have an impact, but not nearly as expansive as what we’re seeing right now. USC is favored by 35 points for a reason. ASU is a skeletal team with very few bodies available.

As such, this is going to be — or at least, it ought to be — another “preseason” game in which the USC coaches can once again manage snap counts, reducing the workload on the starters. Remember: USC plays nine straight weekends. The team needs to be fresh for Notre Dame on October 14, then Utah on October 21. The roster has to have enough fuel in the tank for the loaded back end of the schedule. ASU being crushed by injuries affords USC one more valuable week in which to manage its resources and not overextend its best players. Staying healthy and fresh is something USC really needs to achieve, even if the Trojans don’t play their best.

Catch all of Ducks Wire’s Pac-12 team previews for the 2023 season:

Arizona — Arizona State — California — Colorado — Oregon State  — Stanford — UCLA — USC — Utah — Washington — Washington State

Former Southern California native will suit up for ASU against USC in Week 4

Arizona State is desperately looking for big contributions on offense. This is one possible source.

Southern California native and Serra High School product Melquan Stovall will try to shine this weekend against the USC Trojans. He is one of the players to watch this weekend in the Pac-12 matchup.

Stovall, one of the Sun Devils’ wide receivers, is a 5-foot-10 speedster who transferred from Colorado State. He had previously played at Nevada.

Stovall played for three years at Nevada. In his career he recorded 108 catches for 1,064 yards in his time with the Wolf Pack.

Though he was a starter after transferring to Colorado State to start the season, Stovall elected to sit out after three games in order to redshirt and transfer. He had 13 catches for 106 yards.

He was the No. 214 wide receiver in the class and No. 1,835 overall prospect. The SoCal native did not get any scholarship offers from the Pac-12, where he aspired to play until the Sun Devils gave him the opportunity five years removed from high school.

Juniors Elijhah Badger and Xavier Guillory are the top two wideouts on the Arizona State team. As the ASU offense tries to get going, look for Stovall to play a big role as their slot receiver moving forward.

Catch all of Ducks Wire’s Pac-12 team previews for the 2023 season:

Arizona — Arizona State — California — Colorado — Oregon State  — Stanford — UCLA — USC — Utah — Washington — Washington State

Former BYU linebacker, now with Arizona State, becomes a focus for USC

A Romney is in the news … for football reasons related to USC’s next game. @DonJamesSports has more.

Tate Romney, who spent just one season in the program after this LDS Mission for two years, was a highly-touted three recruit. He signed with BYU as part of the 2020 signing class. Tate is the younger brother of BYU wide receiver Gunner Romney and former BYU quarterback Baylor Romney.

During his senior year of high school ball at Chandler High, Romney racked up 115 tackles, seven sacks, and six pass deflections. When Arizona State plays USC this Saturday, ASU’s starter at quarterback could be Romney’s high school teammate Jacob Conover. They both attended BYU together before transferring to the Sun Devils.

Romney has racked up 15 tackles in three starts for ASU against Southern Utah, Oklahoma State and Fresno State.

The Sun Devils’ defense has been a bright spot for ASU this season. If the Devils want to have any chance versus USC and Caleb Williams — arguably the best offense in the country — they need stops and turnovers. It starts with Romney and the four transfers up front for the Sun Devils on Saturday.

Catch all of Ducks Wire’s Pac-12 team previews for the 2023 season:

Arizona — Arizona State — California — Colorado — Oregon State  — Stanford — UCLA — USC — Utah — Washington — Washington State

Trojans Wire joins YouTube show to discuss Arizona State game

How banged up is Arizona State? We discussed that aspect of USC’s game vs the Sun Devils with @Tim_Prangley and @MarkRogersTV at the @VoiceOfCFB.

The USC Trojans return to the gridiron this coming Saturday, following a week off which gave the team more time to study film and absorb more knowledge. The Trojans will see how much they have evolved when they play the Arizona State Sun Devils in their first road game of the 2023 college football season.

USC is beginning a nine-week stretch of games without any interruptions. The Trojans will play each Saturday through November 18. This makes it important for the coaching staff to continue to rotate players in and out of the lineup and not overextend the starters. Players will need to be physically fresh for the biggest games on the schedule. They can’t have too many miles on the odometer heading into the game against Notre Dame on October 14 in South Bend.

The Arizona State game is a chance for a lot of guys to get some playing time with no one shouldering too big a workload.

We talked more about this game with Tim Prangley and Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football:

Catch all of Ducks Wire’s Pac-12 team previews for the 2023 season:

Arizona — Arizona State — California — Colorado — Oregon State  — Stanford — UCLA — USC — Utah — Washington — Washington State

Arizona State enters USC game under the worst possible set of circumstances

It truly could not be any worse for ASU as the Sun Devils prepare to face a rested USC team in Week 4. Let’s lay out the details.

Human beings, including people who write about sports, can slide into exaggeration very easily. A specific event or occurrence can easily become “the worst” or “the best” or “the most important” thing in a heartbeat, when of course that’s not even close to being true. However, when we say Arizona State is in the worst possible shape heading into its game against USC on September 23, that’s no exaggeration. Not at all. The Sun Devils truly could not be in a worse set of circumstances than what they’re facing right now.

Unconvinced? We will make sure to spell it all out for you:

Former four-star QB Jacob Conover could start for Arizona State vs USC

Arizona State doesn’t have a lot of good choices. This is probably the healthiest one.

As of Sunday night it was unknown whom Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham will have available to play against USC on Saturday night. For many, it might not matter in a game where USC will be a heavy favorite.

However, it certainly matters to the players who would love the opportunity to play against Caleb Williams and the rest of the Trojans. Jacob Conover, Drew Pyne and Trenton Bourguet are the three quarterbacks who played for Arizona State this past Saturday night. They all struggled. They combined for 17-37 passing, generating 188 yards, five interceptions and two fumbles, leading an offense that was shut out at home for the first time since 1988. ASU lost 29-0 to the Fresno State Bulldogs.

Arizona State QB Jaden Rashada out against USC

ASU’s Day 1 starting QB this season won’t face USC.

Arizona State is beaten up as it prepares to face USC this coming Saturday, September 23.

ASU starting quarterback Jaden Rashada missed Saturday’s contest with Fresno State. He missed the game due to “something that has been lingering since high school that he re-aggravated” versus Oklahoma State in Week 2. He will mis four to six weeks with the injury, head coach Kenny Dillingham said after the Fresno State game.

Backup Trenton Bourguet took over the reins and was hurt on just the second possession of the night with a foot injury.

Then Notre Dame grad transfer Drew Pyne was also injured. He left the game with a different muscle injury in the same leg in which he hurt his hamstring.

After Arizona State’s first three quarterbacks on the depth chart went down, fourth-stringer Jacob Conover stepped in. He could start next week for the Sun Devils against USC.

Bourguet, Pyne and Conover combined for 188 yards on an abysmal 17-for-37 passing rate and didn’t score a single point against Fresno State, losing 29-0.

Offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin and head coach Kenny Dillingham will have their work cut out next week against one of the best offenses in the nation when the Sun Devils host the USC Trojans on Saturday night.

Catch all of Ducks Wire’s Pac-12 team previews for the 2023 season:

Arizona — Arizona State — California — Colorado — Oregon State  — Stanford — UCLA — USC — Utah — Washington — Washington State

USC’s next opponent, Arizona State, gets shut out by Fresno State

USC hasn’t been challenged yet this season. Arizona State doesn’t figure to change that.

The USC Trojans face the Arizona State Sun Devils next Saturday, September 23, in Tempe. The Trojans can’t beat Notre Dame or Utah this Saturday. They have to play the team in front of them. Yet, one has to think the Trojans are spending their off week looking at Notre Dame film and Utah film, not just Arizona State film. It’s not as though the Sun Devils are going to exhaust every last resource the Trojans have.

The Sun Devils are themselves exhausted and very shorthanded.

It showed in their most recent game on Saturday night against Fresno State.

ASU, surprisingly just a three-point underdog despite missing at least five offensive linemen, played like a team which should have been a 33-point underdog. The Sun Devils committed eight turnovers. Three different ASU quarterbacks threw interceptions in this game, including former Notre Dame quarterback Drew Pyne, who played well for the Irish last year at USC but has far fewer resources around him now in Tempe under first-year head coach Kenny Dillingham.

Final score: Fresno State 29, ASU 0.

Arizona State’s leading passer was quarterback Jacob Conover, who threw for 89 yards and two interceptions.

You get the idea. We’ll have more on Arizona State’s dire situation as the week continues.

Catch all of Ducks Wire’s Pac-12 team previews for the 2023 season:

Arizona — Arizona State — California — Colorado — Oregon State  — Stanford — UCLA — USC — Utah — Washington — Washington State