The ASU defense was a big unknown coming into this season.  Unlike the other side of the ball where a lot of the assistants stayed on to run the same offense, the defense retained only one coach and brought in Dave Wommack as the new DC.  The defense last year was a huge disappointment.  In Roberts’ first 8 years the defense consistently ranked as one of the top 2 or 3 in the conference.  Last year they were near the bottom.  The promise was made (as most incoming defensive coaches promise) that the scheme would be more aggressive in an effort to get the ball back in the hands of the offense.  The defense would maybe give up more big plays but would yield more turnovers and three and outs.

So far, the results have been positive.  ASU statistically ranks in the top 10 for sacks and similarly in TFL.  While Illinois and VT passed effectively, neither was able to run the ball as well as expected with their excellent running games.  The turnovers have not materialized as promised, although the CBs did intercept a couple of passes against VT in the second half.  The major concern has been the CBs giving up big plays when playing man coverage if the front seven don’t get pressure.  Holding VT to 3 points in the second half and holding Memphis to around 160 yards total were encouraging signs.

Defensive Line-  The defensive line is deep.  As many as 11 players see significant playing time and rotate often.

At DT, the starters are senior Dorvus Woods (92), an All-Conference selection, and Greg McCall (79) a senior run stopper.  ASU will play as many as 6 guys at DT including sophomore Ryan Carrethers (65), sophomore Amos Draper (97) who was a freshman All-American, junior Ronnell Wright (90) and senior Alfonso Simmons (95).  There isn’t a lot of dropoff from one to the next in this unit.

The DEs are almost all seniors.  The starters are senior Brandon Joiner (99) and senior Justin Robertson (47).  Both are around 250 lb. guys who can rush the passer. Joiner signed with Texas A&M out of HS before transferring to a Juco and is impressive.  Coming off the bench are a couple of 6’5” guys in senior Jeremy Gibson (96) and junior Tim Starson (91) of Ft. Smith.  Senior Elroy Brown (52) of Osceola already has 2 sacks on the year.

Linebackers-  This group is lead by senior Demario Davis (23), a 6’3”/230 All-Conference player.  Davis is probably the leader of the defense.  Najel Byrd (34), a senior from Helena starts at the other LB position.  Coming off the bench are junior Nathan Herrold (40) who has been very impressive coming off knee surgery, junior Nick Nelms (53) and RS FR Qushaun Lee (48) who had an excellent outing against VT.  Sophomore LaAngelo Albright (41) may also see some time. All six range from 225 to 235 lbs. and are a solid unit.

Defensive Backs-  This unit is much deeper at safety as has been the case at ASU for several years.  The CBs are not quite as deep and have had issues with tackling on the edges against the AQ schools this season.

At safety, senior Kelcie McCray (21) is an All-Conference player who has drawn attention from NFL scouts.  Senior AJ Hills (13) is a little lighter and is primarily a pass defender.  The real surprise of this group has been junior nickel back Don Jones (5), a former RB and Alabama track champion who has shown a real ability to play around the line of scrimmage. Seniors Graham Bates (37), son of Bill Bates, and Jaquan Kilcrease (4) will also see playing time.  Junior nickel back Tausean Holmes (24) is out with an injury, and the freshmen – including Kyle Coleman of Pine Bluff (son of Monte Coleman) – are not likely to play much.

One side of the field is held down very well by senior CB Darron Edwards (1).  Edwards is a talented Db who had D1 offers to play basketball or football out of HS but played two years of JC in Kansas.  On the other side senior Darryl Feemster (29) is likely to start.  Feemster has struggled some this year compared to last year but has good cover skills.  Chaz Scales (25) is a smaller, speedy CB who is usually the first off the bench.  Senior Jonathan Victorian (33) and junior Cole Lorrigan (20) are likely to see action while true freshman Artez Brown (10) of Newport will likely be limited to kickoff returns.

Summary-  The front seven of the defense is deep enough that they sometimes rotate like you might see during a hockey match.   The DBs are a solid unit as well but still have some work to do.  ASU will likely start 11 seniors on defense and bring several more seniors and juniors off the bench.  They are adjusting to a new staff and scheme so they are susceptible to a breakdown mentally in my opinion but registering 10 sacks and even more TFLs in three games against teams from the Big Ten, ACC and CUSA is a promising sign.

Again, judging from the limited footage I’ve found and the box scores, it appears that UCA has struggled to run the ball, and – given the size advantage of ASU’s front seven – that may continue this week.  Coach Conque is very good at spotting weaknesses in a defense and creating confusion with his offensive schemes.  I think that will allow UCA’s talented skill players to move the ball and score some points.  I don’t know how much the loss of Nathan Dick will impact that ability or whether Coach Conque will work out the kinks in the running game before and during the game or if he will air it out like VT and Illinois did when the running game wasn’t effective.

Anyone who has watched UCA the last several years knows that offense is where they make their living.  Controlling the line of scrimmage will be the key as it is in most games but especially against a senior laden defense that should stay fresh throughout the game.

This is a part one of a guest post by ASU alum and fan, Crump1. Part two will post Thursday afternoon.

ASU runs a “no-huddle” offense with a lot of different looks.  Coach Freeze prefers to go at a pace similar to what you see from Oregon but in his first year he doesn’t quite have the depth at some spots to run that pace the entire game.  This is a big departure from the previous coach.  Another departure seems to be Freeze’s willingness to keep trying to put points on the board regardless of the amount of time on the clock.  He’s more of a high risk/ high reward type of coach.

Offensive Line-  This group had to replace 4 starters from last year but returns 6th year senior Tom Castilaw (73) who is a Rimington award nominee at center.  Delano Moore (70) is a big tackle with a lot of talent but playing as a starter for the first time as a senior.  The other tackle, Zack McKnight, is an athletic Juco transfer who redshirted last year.  The guards are senior Alex Kautai who is a former DL in his first year as a starter and Cliff Mitchell, a junior who played a lot last year but is a first year starter as well. You will likely see the second team guys play some as well.  Thirteen OL played against Illinois in the first game.  There are some guys in that unit that are probably more talented than some of the starters but they lack the experience.

As a unit, this group is progressing but it’s hard to make a judgment just yet.  Against two ranked opponents including one of the best defenses in the nation at VT, they could not open holes for the running game but gave the QB time to throw for more than 200 yds. in both games.  Against Memphis they dominated allowing the RBs to run wild and the QBs to complete almost every pass for a total of more than 600 yds. of offense.

Quarterbacks-  Definitely the strength of the offense but with the injury to Phillip Butterfield depth is a huge issue.  Junior starter Ryan Aplin (16) threw for nearly 3000 yards last year and ran for 500.  He is either the best or second best QB in the conference depending on which publication you read.  He has a lot more weaponsthis year and is off to a good start throwing for 290 against Illinois, 205 against VT (they held ECU to 115 yds. total) and 274 and 3 TDs against Memphis in just over a half.  Aplin is 6’1” and athletic but he is very patient in the pocket. Andre Smith (18) is the backup who was recruited as a QB but moved to H-Back/TE prior to moving back to QB this year when Butterfield was injured.  Stephen Hogan (14) of Greenwood is a true freshman who will hopefully be able to keep his redshirt but he is the third QB.

Running Backs-  This is an interesting group.  Senior Derek Lawson (22) holds the rushing record for Arkansas HS players in a season and was the go to guy last season.  He isn’t blazing fast but he is a solid runner and is excellent in pass protection.  Senior Jermaine Robertson (43) is a bruiser with good speed.  He is around 240 lbs. and is a short yardage and red zone threat.  Both guys probably fit the previous offense better but are capable backs.  The youngsters are Frankie Jackson (6) and Sirgregory Thornton (27).  Frankie is a freshman out of Baton Rouge who had offers from a lot of schools including UCA.  He redshirted last year but has been the feature back in his first season.  He ran for over 100 yds. against a bad Memphis defense but had little luck against the ranked teams.  Thornton was injured on the first series against Illinois and has played sparingly since but should be good for this weekend.  Thornton was highly recruited out of Memphis.

You basically have two seniors who are hard runners between the tackles and two young guys who are bigger home run threats.

Wide Receivers-  This group is without question the most talented group ASU has ever had but Freeze needs more depth going forward.  They are the #1 WR corps in the conference but they are somewhat banged up.  Senior Dwayne Frampton (9) is a 5’9” slot guy who caught 69 passes last year.  He also returns punts.  Junior Allen Muse (17) is an athletic 6’4” guy who caught 42 passes a year ago but has not played since the first game of the year.  Junior Taylor Stockemer (2) of Van Buren is another 6’4” guy who probably has the best hands on the team and is speedier than most.  He caught 34 passes last year despite a lot of nagging injuries.  Josh Jarboe (3) is a former 4 star Oklahoma signee who had some trouble and came to ASU from Juco.  He is 6’3” and has 4.4 speed and burned Memphis for 163 yds. in just over a half. Other guys you will see include Carlos McCants (1), Rod Hall (86) Julian Jones (7), Earl Lucas (83) and perhaps RJ Fleming (82) who has been injured but is an exciting slot WR and kick returner.

Tight Ends/HB-  Another group in transition.  Kedric Murry (85) is a junior who is more of a big blocking TE with decent hands like Coach Roberts preferred.  Anthony Kincy (84) in a new Juco who is more of a receiving threat.  Andre Smith usually play a lot at this position but his move to QB limits his availability.  Kenneth Rains (87), a RS FR out of Hot Springs has seen some action as well.

Summary-  The strengths of the offense are the QB and WRs.  If allowed to get in a rhythm those units are very capable at putting up a lot of points and yards.  The OL is still a work in progress but seems to be at least adequate and the RBs are talented but share a lot of carries. I’ve watched UCA highlights but I don’t have a great deal of knowledge of their personnel.  It appears that the UCA defense is a little undersized and struggles to stop a good running attack, although I know LT’s young QB put up some numbers in a shootout.  I suspect we may see more running by ASU on Saturday but the question to me is whether UCA puts 8 in the box leaving their DBs isolated against ASU’s WRs in order to stop the run and pressure the QB or will UCA play a lot of nickel to slow down the passing game.