Arizona State Sun Devils College Football Pregame Quote, 11/06/2023

On if strength and conditioning has factored into the number of injuries this season:

No, Coach Joe has been here before I got here. We haven’t had these extreme amount of injuries so it doesn’t have to do with that. In terms of practicing harder yeah, we do practice harder. We don’t even practice close to where we will practice here in 2 to 3 years from now. We’re still not even at that level yet. We’re actually going to practice harder here as we get better and more depth. I don’t believe any of that has to do with it, some fluke things happen. We’re not getting muscular issues, we’re getting elbows popping out of their joints, we’re getting real problems. It’s unfortunate but it is what it is and, you know, our guys are battling through it and they’re tough and they’re fighting and they want the guys who want to fight with them alongside of them when we take the field on Saturdays.

On if it being his first year with a new staff has factored into the injuries:

I think when it rains, it pours. We got injured at certain positions so early that now you have guys who probably shouldn’t be playing significant minutes or battling through normal wear and tear like, oh my ankle is a little twisted, but I’m fine. I can play 20 snaps.I feel fine. Now those guys are playing 70 snaps instead of 15. Or hey, this week you’re the rotation guy and you’re the eighth o-lineman instead of the starter. I think when it rains, it pours when you have so many guys lose at one position. Now, those other guys at that position are getting more work than they would normally have to or should by default, and that then slowly wears on them. Unless you get people back, there’s just, there’s not really a solution to the problem, unfortunately.

On the personnel issues and injury updates:

Prince (Dorbah), we don’t know yet. We’ll find out this afternoon how he’s feeling. We have to get an MRI result back and we usually get those back today. I would say he’s day-to-day. He won’t practice this week. Maybe he can play on game day, but we’ll find out from there. Unfortunately, (Michael) Matus will be out for the season and he tore his ACL which is sad, one of the leaders of the team. I mean, that kid embodies Sun Devil Football. He’s battled. He sends an unbelievable text to the guys, Saturday night after the game just about leave it all on the field and you never know when your last play is and he’s just an unbelievable person. Not just player but person, he’s going to be successful in life. Really sad to see, his career come to an end here, but his attitude is positive. Colt Garvin, will be… There’s a lot. So I’m not gonna go into every guy that would take too long. But we’ve got a few and like I said, it when it rains, of course, because guys are playing more than they should and they’re battling through things. It’s unfortunate, but like I told the guys today, and I’ve said it all year ‚Äì nobody cares, like nobody cares. It doesn’t matter. It is a process-driven job that I have but it’s a results-driven hobby for everybody else. You can’t get lost in the results when the only thing that really matters in terms of how to fix the results is the process, but everybody has the right to be frustrated with the results. That’s why this is one of the greatest games of all time because people get to watch it and have fun and complain and yell, that’s the greatest part about sports. Sports are process-driven when you’re in it and if you get wrapped up in the results, you’ll never get the process, right? So that’s what I’m worried about is the process. If we do the process right, we continue to grow and continue to grow. We’ve gotten a lot better this year and we’re going to continue to get better and continue to fight.

On QB Trenton Bourget’s status:

I’m not gonna comment on Trenton right now. He’s day-to-day, so we’ll find that one out just kind of as, as the week progresses. if we were to play today, he would not play.

On traveling to UCLA for the last time before they move to the Big Ten:

I don’t, but I’m sure there are other people that do, but I’ve never been infatuated by things or people. I just never have, so that type of stuff doesn’t do anything for me, but I know for some people that’s gonna be a really cool moment. It’s a really iconic place. It’s the last time we’ll potentially play them on the road in, in their home. So this is definitely a significant game just for the history of ASU here when looking back on, on everything that’s a significant game, but in terms of the place and the moment, it’s just not who I am.

On the relationship with recruiting UCLA QB Dante Moore and as a person:

Yeah, he’s an unbelievable player. He’s an unbelievable person, hard worker, tough, smart, accurate. I mean, pick any other adjective that’s positive in the dictionary and I believe that about that kid. I think he’s just an unbelievable person who’s done, I can’t say enough positive about that kid. I go through a good relationship. Unfortunately, I can’t really talk to him anymore due to NCAA rules, which is unfortunate just because he is a great kid and we built a really strong bond. I wish him nothing but the best, in his entire career and he’s unbelievable.

On the difficulty of playing a fourth-string QB vs a tough defense:

The game is about matchups at the end of the day and the most important matchups are up front. That’s why when you think about the highest paid guys in the NFL, it’s defensive ends, offensive line and quarterback, right? Why? Because that’s the number one correlation to winning those positions. If you can’t run the ball, if you can’t protect the quarterback, if you can’t impact the quarterback or if you can, on the contrary, then you’re going to win a ton of football games. So, we definitely have to be unique and creative with how we utilize guys. I felt like I could have done a better job. I didn’t, you know, prepare well enough for Trenton going down so early in the game. And in that scenario, just because I felt like we would struggle if that would happen. So, preparing for a situation that you’d struggle in is, how much time do you invest in that versus ok, let’s go win this football game, guns are blazing. I could have done a better job preparing and putting together a plan for SCAT and some other guys back there to try to move the ball instead of just kind of throwing one together on the sideline, probably should have just kind of had a better plan there, moving forward. It’s a challenge, but we’re gonna adapt and change and continue to adapt and change and maybe every few weeks or that will work and we’ll spark plug it. Then people kind of figure out what we’re doing and what the weakness is of it a little bit and we’ll have to keep changing.

On UCLA being similar to Utah’s defense:

I think this is the best defensive front I’ve faced in two years in my opinion. I think going back the last two years, I think from a talent perspective, this front seven could be the most talented, the most disruptive. In my last two years here, they’re super talented, super good and that’s not a knock on Utah. Utah is unbelievable. There’s sound but the UCLA team is very, very, very talented.

On stopping the run against UCLA, what adjustments need to be made:

Yeah, just run fits. I mean, there were a few times we were getting on the same level, we became a one level defense and our third level fitter was getting too tight so we couldn’t see the picture open up. When you don’t see the picture open up, that’s when you get two in a gap because a good running back will set you up and then bounce it or trap you. You see similarly to what (Elijhah) Badger did two weeks ago, Washington State on the goal line versus safety spun down on the speed sweep. If you guys can envision that, that’s what a good rusher will do if you don’t have layers to a defense. So I think we just got to be a little bit more sound. It was the first time we’ve really faced a team that was running the zone read all year, nobody really ran their quarterback. They didn’t really do that with him in weeks past, with that quarterback, so that kind of was a wrinkle for them. They did a nice job hitting some explosives off the zone read game with him and we’re gonna have to prepare for that this week. Coach Kelly and what they do offensively, there is a creative run game and a lot of quarterback driven read games.

On learning from Saturday’s loss:

I think there’s a combination. I think every position is a little bit different in terms of what you can take away from the game. What I took away from the game was, I showed the guys, listen, that team we just played, we lost that game in March, we lost that game in April. That’s not a game that you win, in your week of prep. That’s a game where you find out what your nine months of prep puts you in position to do. I said that’s my fault, because I didn’t do a good enough job the last 9 to 10 months putting us in position to win a football game like that. Those games are not scheme based, those games are purely culture based, effort based, program based. I haven’t done a good enough job in the last nine months to get us to that point to compete versus a team like that. So that’s what I told the guys that games on me, I got to do better. Watch it, and let’s go back to being the team just like Utah did two weeks ago when they had a result they didn’t like and they responded with their best game of the year. That’s what good teams do, good cultures do. Now, let us go respond with our best game of the year this week, flush it and go be the defense that played versus Washington and the offense that played versus Washington State and let’s try to put it together.

On UCLA’s quarterback situation:

They’re all three somewhat similar players, all have a little bit different skill set, but they don’t drastically change what they did in the past. So for coach Kelly, you just know there’s gonna be something you’ve never seen. You know, we kind of have a similar mindset in terms of showing pictures that you’ve never seen before. So he’s going to show something that we’ve never seen specifically in the run game formation and motions that you can’t prepare for. Are you sound enough that it’s possible to prepare for it? You can just be sound with your scheme and your kids should know the fits and should know the adjustments based on hats and depth counts. I think that’s the real challenge this week is, are we to stage defensively to stop the run based off of something we may have never prepared for, some of the stuff is almost impossible to prepare for because he’s never done it before. I think that’s what makes him a really good football coach is that ability to change it and change it. The key is being so sound, defensively, chase your gap and make your gap sound. If you get spooked by it all that’s when creases happen.

On what the offseason looks like for the program:

I definitely think O-line, we’re gonna be very aggressive in the portal for sure. Defensive line, we’re gonna have to grab some people, losing Dashaun (Mallory), probably linebacker, you know, get some depth there with Tre (Brown) leaving, we lose a few corners. So I think it’s kind of our wide out room, I feel really confident. I mean, we have, you know, we just got Jordyn (Tyson) back, but we also have Jake (Smith). We’ve been without two of our best wideouts all year that we took in the portal that we knew one wasn’t going to play and the other was 50/50 with the NCAA, but we knew they were really good players and for the future we wanted to put them on our roster. So next year we actually get to reap that benefit. So I would say tho those positions for sure, but I mean you’re gonna get/bring in the best talents you can bring in. If that means we become a 14 person team, I highly doubt it, but you’re gonna bring in the best players. O-line is definitely priority, A, B, C, D, probably E and F too.

On the confidence to get the roster where it needs to be:

One-hundred percent. I feel confident with the roster that we have now. I really do. If we could reload for some reason not be as banged up as we would get, I feel great about the roster that we would have. Its just unfortunate with the situation. So I definitely think adding a few more pieces to the roster, getting people back healthy, when in reality when you signed seven offensive lineman and get back eight healthy guys, you signed 13. Which sounds absurd but really that is what you’re adding to the roster in terms of guys who play on gameday. Because you’re adding an entire new front. So I think yes, I feel very confident that we’re going to be able to bring in more Prince Dorbah’s and Clayton Smiths’ and Deshaun Mallory’s.

On putting his players in the best position to succeed:

I think we have got to have more relief at times for the offensive line. So that relief for two weeks, two-and a half weeks was speed sweeps. We gave some relief but people get paid to coach too. And you can trick people, right and they’re going to figure out what you’re doing. And they’re going to take away what your strength is. It’s what every good coach does. So we have to continue to adapt to change what we’re doing and help our guys who maybe shouldn’t be in a one-on-one. Credit to LG Sean Na’a by the way. Everybody around the program, everybody should be so proud of that kid. He’s a true freshman who’s practices all year at guard and gets moved to left tackle on the plane to Utah, on the road in a hostile environment. To go against the best, if not a top-3 defensive end in the nation. And the dude battled. He never quit, he never wavered. Yeah he got beat a few times, but anyone is going to get beat versus that guy. But that kid battled, credit to Sean and everybody should be super proud of him. His future here is so bright and just couldn’t be proud of a kid to step in and not even flinch like that, it says a lot about the kid and how he was raised.

On Isala Glass’ departure and shuffling the Offensive Line:

Not much. To be honest. I think for us, its the same for us last week. If anything now we know that Sean needs to play there so we can get practice and reps there. And we know that going into the gameplan. Who’s going to play there and that obviously has an effect with putting together a plan. It’s who’s going to be in what spot. Knowing that who our five, six, seven are going into the game. I think that’s going to be a good benefit for us.

On the offensive challenges and how its helped him grow as a play caller:

It really challenges you to be creative. And step out of your comfort zone a little bit. That’s what we’re doing again this week is trying to be creative and step out of our comfort. Sometimes you got to get more complicated to have success. Sometimes you have to simplify to have success. And it just depends on where you stand. So I think we’re in a little bit of a crossroads of where we’re complicated and we had some success against Washington State and it was great. And then we didn’t have success last week, It caught up to us. So what’s the next turn along this winding road of navigating the situation. I think our guys will respond and like I told them today. Let’s go out there and score some points, let’s go out there and stop them and let’s go and win a football game. Like it’s not like we’re far away from scoring whatever we did against Washington State, holding Washington to not that many and let’s just get back to that football team and let’s go respond, lets go compete.

On where he feels the team is at culturally at this point in the season:

I think they’re growing together. I think they’re starting to set the standard of the program of terms of we’re all in. You see Jordan Clark jogging off the field still yelling for his teammates to compete with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. When you’re leaders act like that, it just shows that you’re heading in the right direction. Now we’re going to have to continue, since last week showed if we want to beat teams that have an elite culture. That happens 12 months out of the year. It doesn’t happen on game week. I think it shows our guys the practices, the grit, that goes into a spring ball. Spring ball was mild in my opinion. It was significant, solid intensity but it was still mild. And I think that’s where in the offseason, strength and conditioning, and when we hit spring ball and fall camp, those practices have to be on another level as we progress. And I think our guys are starting to understand the why. I think they’re starting to understand the why of those situations.