Erickson has squad staying warm
August 11th, 2008, 8:09 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Dan Zeiger
Only five of Arizona State’s first 22 football practices are scheduled to take place inside the team’s new indoor facility. (Laura Segall/For the Tribune)
As the Arizona State football team sweated through practice on Monday — the heat and humidity made for steamy conditions, even in the morning — a player on the sideline looked longingly at the team’s indoor practice facility, which was unoccupied.
“Look at that thing, an oasis just 50 yards away,” the player said. “Right now, it’s an $8-million umbrella.”
Going indoors would have been a welcome opportunity for an ASU team that practiced four times in a 40-hour span, with three of the workouts outside, during the weekend. However, it is obvious that coach Dennis Erickson is not going to use the $8.4-million, 103,000-square-foot facility to baby his players.
Monday afternoon’s practice was ASU’s 10th of camp. Only two have been scheduled indoors, and Erickson said that the team “will practice outside as much as possible” even after school starts.
“Everybody has brought it up with coach Erickson,” quarterback Rudy Carpenter said. “We all want to get out of the heat. But I think he wants us to stay out in the hot weather and get us all used to playing in it.”
Travis Smith
During the morning practice, good karma caught up with reserve cornerback Travis Smith, whose several sets of pushups during camp have signified missed interception opportunities. His goose egg was an embarrassing distinction among the cornerback unit that is keeping track of each other’s pick total.
On Monday, Smith’s redemption came on back-to-back-to-back plays during 11-on-11 work. The sequence began when the junior stepped in front of a pass from backup quarterback Danny Sullivan, ending his shutout and eliciting yells and laughs among the cornerbacks watching from the sideline.
“He got one. He’s on the board,” Omar Bolden said. “That’s a confidence booster.”
But it was just the start for Smith. On the next play, he had a shot at another interception, but dropped the ball. More pushups. More hollering from his fellow cornerbacks.
Smith lined up again, and when a short screen pass went through the hands of receiver T.J. Simpson, he plucked the ball out of the air. There would be no opportunity for Smith to press his luck, as he was taken out of the drill after the play.
“I’ve had to do 10 pushups every time I dropped a pick,” Smith said. “Not anymore.
“(On Sunday), we started keeping track of the interceptions, to see who will have the most by the end of camp. I think Omar is up on me by one.”
Shameless plug department: I and my made-for-radio face will be appearing on ESPNNews’ “The Hot List” at about 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday to discuss Arizona State’s football fortunes.
Lastly, former ASU coach Bruce Snyder, who is battling cancer, got a pleasant surprise in the mail from his most celebrated Sun Devil player.
One of the most famous Snyder stories is of his 1992 trip to recruit quarterback Jake Plummer. Snyder arrived in Boise, Idaho, to a winter wonderland, and the snow ruined his dress shoes.
Recently, Snyder received a package in the mail, with two pairs of nice shoes inside. The enclosed card read:
Coach,
I think I owe you these.
Jake