PAYSON - It was a good day for the offense, if you count moving the ball between the 20-yard lines. If it's touchdowns you were looking for, it was not the best showing for the Arizona State football team. The Sun Devils wrapped up their four-day stay at Camp Tontozona northeast of Payson with the annual scrimmage on Saturday, Aug 15. The scoring consisted of five field goals, three by senior Carston Kieffer and two by sixth-year senior Carson Smith. That was it. "Defense destroyed the offense in the red-zone area," head coach Kenny Dillingham said. "The offense moved the ball really well, really efficiently. Just couldn't score when they got around the red zone. Opportunities where they could have created explosive plays, the defense got it done." All four quarterbacks saw playing time, with junior Cutter Boley and sixth-year senior Mikey Keene drawing the majority of snaps. It appears they are the two leading candidates for the starting spot.
"I play loose," Boley said. "I feel good about what I have shown here in fall camp, and I'm going to continue to get better every day. I want to continue to make plays and make the little ones too. Want to be able to march the ball up and down the field and operate at a high volume. I feel like I have been doing that, but I have a lot more room to grow." Several starters were held out, including wide receiver Omarion Miller, perhaps the athlete with the most big-play potential. It all appears to be workload management rather than injury situations. Here are takeaways from the scrimmage: Failure to convert in the red zone This was an issue last season, and despite a new cast of characters this season, it sure looked like one again. There were two great red-zone opportunities, the first coming early, with Keene at quarterback. It was a first-and-10 and Cardae Mack ran it in for an apparent touchdown, only to have that called back by a holding penalty. Then on the next play, Keene lofted a ball in the corner of the end zone intended for Jalen Moss. True freshman Daquwan Dunn leaped in front of Moss for the interception. A second turnover came later, with the Sun Devils at the 15 with a first down and Boley at quarterback and senior Makua Pule at center. Freshman Julian Hugo pounced on a fumble caused by an errant snap. Boley was 8-for-9 passing on that drive, completing his first eight attempts. There was also a false start penalty in the red zone on a drive, in which the team was held to a field goal. Two kickers could see time Kieffer went 3-for-3, but he was used on shorter attempts while Carson Smith went 2-for-3. His miss was from 45 yards out. Kieffer is a returning veteran, while Smith transferred in from Austin Peay. The only miss of the day came on the first attempt. The two kickers then combined to make the next five. Freshmen stood out Dunn, nicknamed "Bull," has been one of the standouts so far in fall camp and that showed again with the interception. He also had a pass breakup near the end zone that prevented a touchdown. Another is Hugo, who recorded a sack in addition to the fumble recovery.
Boley can scramble Boley is an imposing figure at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds. ASU enthusiasts saw the value in a quarterback who can get out and extend a play like Sam Leavitt, who did so often and successfully the past two years. Boley may not be quite as agile, but he showed good judgment as to when to roll out and go and when to throw the ball away. Freshman Jake Fette is the most athletic of the four when it comes to that. Cam Dyer is the fourth quarterback. Defense looked solid Sure, there was a lot of offense in the middle of the field, but the defense buckled down when needed. As expected, linebacker Owen Long led the effort, but there were other contributors. It wasn't just the big-name players. Other standouts included junior defensive backs Kyan McDonald and sophomore Xavier Skowron, the latter of whom missed some time in the spring. True freshman Zeth Thues, who was a Liberty High standout, made a shoestring tackle of Grayson Rigdon, who likely would have gone the distance had Thues not gotten a hand on him. Hugo, Jalen Thompson, Clayton Smith, and Albert Smith had sacks. What to know: Arizona State AD still eyes sponsor, 'can't wait' for London game This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What we learned from Arizona State football's Camp T scrimmage