Penalties bog down otherwise solid scrimmage

For an Arizona State team utilizing spring drills to add wrinkles on both sides of the football, Saturday’s scrimmage provided the first opportunity to see how smoothly the changes are coming.

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Though there are areas screaming for attention — the Sun Devils had almost as many penalties (15) as points (17) at Sun Devil Stadium — both units left the field feeling that they have made progress in the two weeks since drills began.

“I think we’re ahead of where I thought we might be on offense,” said coach Dennis Erickson, whose team has completed eight of 15 spring workouts. “We have run the ball well, and our pass protection is better.

“Defensively, we are flying around and playing with confidence. We’re ahead of where I thought we’d be there, too. We have to continue that.”

ASU needs to build cohesion on an offensive line that will have three new starters and is implementing more four-receiver sets and quick drops and throws. A defense that rarely deviated from a base 4-3 formation last season is adding more looks and blitzes.

Quarterback Rudy Carpenter, who was 11-for-15 for 85 yards, directed both touchdown drives, with scoring passes to wide receiver Chris McGaha and tight end Dane Guthrie

“We were pretty vanilla on offense last year. You could tell what we would be doing much of the time,” Carpenter said. “I think to have more things and not be so generic will help us out, getting guys open and keeping defenses honest. That will allow us to dictate to the defense instead of them dictating to us.”

Said safety Rodney Cox, who had an interception: “We’re putting in safety blitzes, cornerback blitzes, a little bit of everything. Now, teams won’t know where we are coming from.”

Erickson said that he needs to look at film to fully evaluate the scrimmage, but no further review is necessary on the penalties.

“Way too many,” Erickson said. “We had pass interference and late hits that kept drives going. That can’t happen. We must have had five false starts.”

Actually, there were eight such penalties, including one by senior guard Paul Fanaika that turned third-and-1 into third-and-6, eliciting a loud reaction from Erickson that could have used a five-second delay for bleeping purposes.

Carpenter said that many of the false starts would not have occurred against an opponent that does not practice regularly against the ASU offense.

“Our defensive guys are cheaters, man,” Carpenter said, smiling. “They are familiar with our snap (cadences), so they get off the ball so fast.”

Other scrimmage notables:

• Running back Shaun DeWitty showed speed and shiftiness on an 18-yard rush and 20-yard gain on a screen pass. DeWitty, a junior who redshirted in 2007, is trying to lose a habit of running upright, which makes him easier to tackle and more susceptible to fumbles.

“Shaun is running a lot lower,” Erickson said. “He needs to get down, and when he does, he breaks tackles. A 235-pounder doing that is impressive. He’s a lot faster than people think.”

• On special teams, Lou Groza Award winner Thomas Weber made 1 of 3 field-goal tries and had a 53-yard attempt blocked by linebacker Chad Lindsey. Weber punted 40 and 41 yards, and Zach Richards had boots of 53 and 44 yards.

• Among those who did not dress for the scrimmage due to injury were wide receiver Nate Kimbrough (hamstring) and three players — tight end Jovon Williams, defensive lineman David Smith and linebacker Oliver Aaron — who have suffered recent concussions.

Running back Keegan Herring (neck) was limited to two carries.