With our second bye week of the season, we are taking advantage of the opportunity to work on fundamentals in practice, give our younger guys a chance to get in some extra work and allow some of our bumps and bruises to heal. Although we don't have a game this Saturday, we are focused on making this a productive week. The work we put in during the first bye after the Maryland game really helped us in our next two games vs. Colorado State and Arizona State, and we are taking the same attitude this time, as well.
I was really proud of the way our team battled against a veteran Arizona State team. One of our keys was to get out to a quick start and we scored on our first two possessions to open a 10-0 lead. Our defense played very well, picking off two passes, recovering a fumble and forcing three others. Two of those turnovers led directly to scores for us and were clearly keys to our victory. We also held one of the top quarterbacks in the country to 165 yards and seemed to put pressure on him throughout the day. I thought we rallied to the ball, wrapped up our tackles and got our hands on a lot balls in the secondary.
Of course, we can't overlook the play of punter Bryan Anger. It does a lot for you when you have a weapon like that. His punts were critical and affected the way Arizona State had to play, especially that 72-yarder that pinned ASU back on its 4-yard-line in the fourth quarter. It's no wonder he was named Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week. Cameron Jordan also picked up a Pac-10 honor for his play on defense. Not only did he register eight tackles on the day, but he had two sacks, three tackles for loss and forced fumble.
Offensively, Shane Vereen earned our offensive player of the game award. Having to carry a larger load with Jahvid Best out, he had 93 yards on 27 rushes and caught five passes for 51 yards - both team highs. Given the injuries that can occur at any position, it really helps to have depth throughout the roster and Shane proved that he can handle it when necessary.
I also thought Nate Longshore showed good control of the offense and managed the game well. He threw for nearly 200 yards and three touchdowns. As I've said all along, we will need both quarterbacks this season, and we are fortunate to have both Nate and Kevin Riley. Both of them have been supportive of each other all along. Our scout team players of the week for the Arizona State game were Beau Sweeney and Eric Levy on offense, Solomona Aigamaua and Mark Anthony on defense and Nick Rostato on special teams. The big hit honor when to Tracy Slocum. Looking ahead to the Arizona game, we are optimistic that we will get Jahvid Best back from his elbow injury. However, I don't want to rush him into anything and want to make sure he's healthy before having him back on the field. He needs to get his strength back and be able to protect himself when he gets hit. We'll see how he responds in practice next week. We don't want to risk him having a setback.
It's no surprise to me that Arizona is doing so well this year. They have a senior leader at quarterback and a physical offensive line. Their defense has always been solid and is statistically the best in the Pac-10 this year. We will have to be at our best when we take the field. Every week in the Pac-10 presents another challenge, and we are looking forward to another one Saturday night.
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