(Photo: Tyler Strachan/WCSN)
Taylor Kelly will take the field at Sun Devil Stadium for the last time ever on Saturday, as the senior quarterback’s time at Arizona State is coming to a close. Two years after he wrestled the starting job away from Michael Eubank and Mike Bercovici, Kelly is wrapping up an ASU career that was one of the most prolific in the history of the university.
“I’m just cherishing every opportunity I have out on this field and it’s crazy to think it’s here,” Kelly said of Senior Day. “It’s my last Wednesday to prepare for Sun Devil Stadium.”
With just 386 more yards of passing and/or rushing, Kelly will become the third quarterback in ASU history to accumulate more than 10,000 yards of total offense. He also sits just one touchdown behind Andrew Walter on the list of career touchdowns responsible for, and with two more would eclipse Walter’s total of 85 touchdowns.
Still, with so many statistics, wins and accomplishments during his career at ASU, the things Kelly says he will remember most are the moments that came off the field.
“Just being with my teammates, going out in the community, serving kids, I love that type of stuff,” Kelly said. “Our locker room after games, my roommates, I cherish those moments that I have. It’s going to be a relationship I have for the rest of my life.”
Both Kelly and his roommate, Jamil Douglas, will attempt to play professionally in the NFL in 2015, although Douglas has received much more buzz from draft experts. Kelly doesn’t doubt his chances at making it at the next level, though.
“I love this game and I want to take my career on to [the NFL] and see where I can take it,” Kelly said. “I’ll just see where it takes me after that.”
Prepping for Leach’s passing attack
ASU defensive coordinator Keith Patterson summarized the Washington State offense led by head coach Mike Leach in five words on Wednesday.
“They throw it a lot.”
Patterson isn’t kidding. The Cougars average 64.6 pass attempts per game and run the ball 20.1 times per game. No other team in the nation averages more than 50 pass attempts and no other team averages fewer than 25 rush attempts.
“That’s the thing, they throw to set up the run and they basically just run to try and keep you honest,” Patterson said. “What tends to happen is that you can’t fall asleep and play pass every down.
“It’s very impressive how many yards they throw for in games, but it’s the system. The quarterbacks are so in tune with the receivers.”
Washington State’s senior quarterback Connor Halliday owns the record for most pass attempts in a game (89) and snagged the record for single-game passing yardage (734) as well. However, he broke his leg on the first day of November in a game against USC and his career with the Cougars is effectively over.
Stepping in for the senior is freshman Luke Falk, who has been entirely competent in his impression of Halliday’s prolific passing attack. He racked up 346 yards passing on 38-of-57 attempts after taking over against USC, and was 44-of-61 passing in a win over Oregon State with 471 yards and five touchdowns.
With such an unorthodox offense on the way, Patterson thinks the best way to attack the Cougars offense is to dial back the blitz some.
“There’s no doubt it’s a different kind of game plan than what you’ve seen over the course of the last few weeks,” Patterson said. “You can’t sit there and defend the whole time either. You still have to stay true to who you are and what’s made you successful, but on the same hand, you’ve got to be smart on how you go about doing it.”
Practice Notes
– D.J Calhoun did some work with the Devil-backers on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Patterson said it’s a package that he believes will find some success against Washington State. With a team that runs so little, it’s less of a risk to put an undersized pass rusher on the line and Calhoun offers the team an edge rusher who can also drop back in to coverage.
– Jaelen Strong wore a green jersey on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. There were no updates on his availability for Saturday.
– Laiu Moeakiola, Jordan Simone and James Johnson all worked in defensive walkthrough, but all three wore gold jerseys that designate limited contact.
– Nick Kelly wore a maroon jersey and took the majority of the reps at center, although he was spelled a few times by Stephon McCray. Head coach Todd Graham said on Monday that Kelly played against Oregon State despite a few injuries and that he’s been playing through a few dings.
