McFoy tries to make up for lost time
March 29th, 2008, 3:15 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Dan Zeiger
ASU linebacker Ryan McFoy (2) tackles UCLA’s Matthew Slater on a kickoff return last season. McFoy played primarily on special teams in 2007.
In his search to fill the void left by the departure of Robert James, Arizona State’s most athletic linebacker the last two seasons, coach Dennis Erickson is turning first to two players of a similar mold.
Junior Ryan McFoy, who struggled to learn the nuances of the linebacker position after moving from safety last year, and redshirt freshman Oliver Aaron, who some feel could break out as soon as this fall, have gotten most of the first-team snaps at weak-side LB during spring drills.
McFoy is 6-feet-2 and 214 pounds; Aaron is 6-0, 200. Both possess the speed that Erickson and defensive coordinator Craig Bray crave from the position.
“We’re trying to find the right guy,” Erickson said after Saturday’s practice, in which Aaron received much of the first-string work.
For McFoy, spring practice has been a reward for what he considers a lost 2007 season.
He made an immediate impact at safety as a freshman, starting eight games and making two interceptions, one for a touchdown. Upon moving to LB, McFoy was slow to pick up the necessary reads and gap assignments and spent most of last year on special teams.
“It was frustrating, but I took it as a learning experience,” McFoy said. “Last season was pretty much a redshirt for me. I was learning a position.”
Before the Holiday Bowl in December, Erickson noted that McFoy, with the help of a lot of playbook and film study, was finally starting to get it.
“I was surprised it took as long as it did,” McFoy said. “I don’t have everything down pat, but I have a better concept of things now.”
Saturday’s workout concluded with a scrimmage situation in which the running backs shone brightest.
Dimitri Nance had a nifty run of about 40 yards in which he went off right tackle, juked cornerback Omar Bolden and sprinted back up the middle. Jarrell Woods raced 60 yards to the end zone on a draw play against the third-team defense.
On the same series as Nance’s run, Shaun DeWitty lost a fumble near the goal line. The book on DeWitty, who redshirted last season, is that he is too upright while running, leaving him more susceptible to having the ball knocked away.
“He’s got to get down, although he is down a lot more than where he was two years ago,” Erickson said. ”Obviously, we can’t drop the ball. We just can’t do it. But even Ryan Torain dropped it a couple of times (last spring), so it happens.”
Players sit in the shade prior to the Sun Devils’ intrasquad scrimmage at Camp Tontozona last year. (Darryl Webb/Tribune)
Erickson wants to determine how the team will utilize Camp Tontozona this year by the end of the spring. ASU’s indoor football practice facility is slated for completion on Aug. 1, meaning that it should be available for the start of preseason drills.
It has been long suggested that once the school built an indoor facility, Camp Tontozona — a university-owned recreation area where Frank Kush first brought the Sun Devils in 1960 — would become obsolete.
Erickson reiterated that ASU would spend some time at Tontozona, even if only for the Saturday scrimmage that is popular among fans.
“We’ll be up there, whether it’s for a scrimmage or the amount of time we usually spend (typically a week),” Erickson said. “We’re trying to make plans both ways right now. We have to wait and see.”
