Blogging with the Devils

SUNDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: The following links do not diminish the fact that, as coach Dennis Erickson said, Arizona State “has a lot of work to do” on offense. However, before Sun Devil fans hit the panic button, here are the headlines from a couple of stories I wrote at this time last year:

ASU gets defensive in scrimmage

ASU offense lacking in scrimmage

Walk-on running back James Morrison breaks into the secondary en route to a 45-yard gain during ASU’s scrimmage at Camp Tontozona on Saturday. (Darryl Webb/Tribune)

The Arizona State football team made a day trip to Camp Tontozona on Saturday for a scrimmage, and many in the estimated crowd of 3,200 seemed resigned to the fact that this was likely the last they will see of the venerable forest facility located near Payson.

John Caldwell has been a regular visitor to Tontozona since 1978, when his son, Bryan, was a freshman defensive lineman during coach Frank Kush’s final full season. Caldwell’s grandson, Kyle, was a defensive end for the Sun Devils from 2003-06.

“There are some things I’ll miss about this place,” Caldwell said on Saturday. “One of the things I won’t was hearing Bryan tell me about having to run up Mount Kush twice a day. One time, he sprained his ankle coming down, and Kush told him, ‘If you think this is going to keep you off the field, you’re mistaken.’

“Ah, times have changed.”

Indeed, they have. There was no time for nostalgia on the field, where ASU’s defense set the tone and receiver T.J. Simpson showed potential during the scrimmage.

The official statistics, as compiled by ASU’s sports information office:

SCORING PLAYS: FG Weber 37, FG Richards 37, FG Weber 42, Herring 4 run, FG Weber 47, Keelan Johnson 27 pass from Elway

RUSHING: Morrison 10 for 67; Bass 6 for 38; Woods 4 for 11; Nance 5 for 8; Szakacsy 2 for 5; Dixon 1 for 0; Herring 4 for minus-5, TD

PASSING: Carpenter 10-of-16 for 113; Sulllivan 8-of-19 for 72, INT; Elway 3-of-7 for 40, TD; Szakacsy 2-of-4 for 37; Stangel 2-of-11 for 5

RECEIVING: K. Williams 6 for 66; Simpson 4 for 49; Keelan Johnson 2 for 31, TD; Taylor 2 for 21; Evans 2 for 17; Knapp 2 for 14; Nance 2 for 12; J. Williams 1 for 22; Pettes 1 for 15; Pickens 1 for 15; Driscoll 1 for 8; Morrison 1 for minus-3

MISSED FIELD GOALS: Richards 47; Weber 52; Weber 37

DEFENSIVE SUPERLATIVES: T. Carr (pass deflection); Davis (interception); Goethel (pass deflection); Guy (sack); Lyons (sack); Magee (sack); Munns (pass deflection); Nolan (pass deflection); Reyes (pass deflection); J. Robinson (sack); Singfield (fumble recovery); Tuitea (pass deflection)

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