Arizona State football still has a couple position battles as opener nears

Last season the Arizona State Sun Devils had very few question marks heading into their opener. They had 20 returning starters and there was little drama when it came to starting positions.

But this season with very few veterans back coach Herm Edwards was pretty much starting from scratch when it came to narrowing in on a starting group on each side of the ball. Thursday's season opener against Northern Arizona is just days away and there seems to be no clear cut decision on a couple of positions.

“I think the thing that you lose sight of is we lost some guys due to the way college football is looked at now," Edwards said. "You have the portal, guys have access to leave and be eligible and we had 11 guys sign NFL contracts. A lot of those guys were starters. So guys that played behind them now got an opportunity and so that presents a little bit of weight on their shoulder too, ‘This is who I’m replacing, you know, can I play up to his capabilities? Can I play like him?’ So that’s the fun of it."

The highest profile position up for grabs in fall camp was that of the quarterback and Edwards dubbed Florida transfer Emory Jones the starter as most expected.

The spots still being debated are that of placekicker and left tackle. Kicking was a sore spot for the Sun Devils last year with neither of the two athletes managing a field goal of longer than 40 years. Red-shirt freshman Jace Feely has shown considerable improvement since he joined the program last year. He is being challenged by true freshman Carter Brown, a Texas native who was one of the top high school kickers in the country a year ago.

ASU had a third kicker in local product Robert Liss, a transfer from Colorado State, but he is out with an injury right now.

"He has put a lot of work in," Edwards said of Feely. "That kicking room’s different. It’s just different. You say a little bit to them and don’t mess them up, you know, just put them in a spot where they can make it and say, ‘Okay, that a boy.’ But, it’s just (that) they’re different and it’s not like, they don’t play a series of plays. They got to wait, kick the ball off and then you punt the ball and then if you kick a field goal or point after, you got to wait. You don’t know when you’re going to get that turn, so they’re sitting there and they’re pacing. It’s a hard job. They get one shot, they don’t get three plays at it, but it’s been competitive.”

Special teams coach Shawn Slocum hedged when asked who had the edge late last week.

"No one says you have to use just one," he said. "It might be we use them both, see how it goes and then go with the hot hand. Both of them have the distance we're looking for. It's a matter of being consistent," he said.

Brown said it has taken some time to make the transition to college.

"The guys are great. Our room is great," he said. "I think out room is one of the best in the country and I've been working on some things and trying to get things just right. It's been a few little things with technique that coach Slocum has pointed out that I've been trying to fix to try and hit a more consistent and straight kick."

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When it comes to the lesser publicized roles on special teams there have been some changes from last season. Punter Eddie Czaplicki has taken over kickoff duties from the graduated Logan Tyler and he's also serving as holder on place kicks.

Sophomore Gage King had been pegged as long snapper but he's had some physical issues in camp so red-shirt freshman John Ferlmann, a local out of Boulder Creek, has been practicing there.

Meanwhile, the tackle spot is between Queen Creek product Isaia Glass and Northern State (S.D.) transfer Emmit Bohle. Bohle has missed the last handful of practices and Edwards was a bit cryptic when asked what ailment has been the issue.

The rest of the line looks set with Ben Scott and center, San Diego State transfer Chris Martinez at right guard, LaDarius Henderson at left guard and Penn State transfer Des Holmes at right tackle. Yet another Division I transfer, Joey Ramos from Iowa State, will be in the mix for playing time too.

Glass, who played in six games last year in a reserve capacity as a true freshman, sees the unit gelling.

"I think everyone felt like coming into fall camp, kind of curious how we were going to work together with all the new guys but I think by now after fall camp we're all starting to click. We're all starting to mesh. We're communicating a lot better. I think the guys really like being around each other and we're on the same page."

Offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh likes having the luxury of seven players who are good enough to start.

“You hope that somebody separates," he said of the battle at left tackle. "Same thing goes on the right side eventually you hope two of those guys would pull away. Now they're all good enough to play. I’ve never done that but I’m kinda excited about it, to have the ability to keep some fresh bodies in there. They’re smart guys, they’re tough, they’re athletic. So there’s those seven guys that are, you know, I don’t know, I think they can all play.”

Reach the reporter at Michelle.Gardner@gannett.com or 602 444-4783.  Follow her on Twitter @MGardnerSports.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU football still has a couple position battles as opener nears