Defensive line is crucial for Devils

Take a trip through Arizona State football history — from Curley Culp to Junior Ah You to The Crunch Bunch to Jim Jeffcoat to Derrick Rodgers — and it is hard to find a great team that did not possess a stellar defensive line.

For an even more difficult assignment, find the last national champion with an ordinary defensive front. In that trip back a while, one would pass a couple of Miami (Fla.) title teams coached by Dennis Erickson.

“You cannot win without a great defensive front, and that’s what it’s all about for us,” said Erickson, who is in his second season as ASU coach. “That’s how we’ll recruit. That’s the name of the game as far as teams I’ve been with over the years.”

The Sun Devils are often said to be halfway there in the task of building a dominant front four. Ends Dexter Davis and Luis Vasquez could be the best pair in the Pac-10, and reserves Jamarr Robinson and James Brooks — if spring drills are of any indication — are expected to provide depth.

The tackle spots provide less clarity. Returning starter David Smith has been reliable, but the spot next to him remains unclaimed, and ASU is looking for a playmaker to fill it.

“We have a lot of new guys who have come in ready to work and contribute,” said Davis, a junior who had a team-high 10½ sacks last season.

“Coach Erickson knows that we need to step up big for us to have the success we want. Defense wins championships, and it starts up front. We’re going to take our game to the next level.”

Early in camp, most eyes are on Lawrence Guy, a 6-foot-5, 270-pounder who was rated as one of the top linemen in the country at Western High in Las Vegas. Able to line up at end or tackle, Guy had 30½ sacks in three high-school seasons and has the speed (with a 40-yard dash time of 4.8 seconds) to go with his size.

Through ASU’s first three practices, Guy has played exclusively at end, the position he prefers.

“I’m going to try my hardest to live up to the expectations,” Guy said. “I won’t back down until I get to that level that people are talking about. I don’t see it as pressure. It’s a goal for me. If people say I can be this good, I’ll try to be even better.”

For now, the tackle candidates are returnees Jonathan English, slimmed down to 292 pounds from 335; Saia Falahola, who missed 2007 with a triceps muscle tear; and David Bertrand, an ex-University of Arizona player. Spencer Gasu, a junior-college transfer, is also in the mix.

Defensive tackle can be an unheralded position, as players sometimes try to draw blocks that enable an end or linebacker to get to the ball.

“We’re a position where you get double-teamed,” Smith said. “I sacrifice myself so Dexter can make a big play; I’ll pick his tackle so he can come free underneath. It stinks from an individual standpoint, but it helps the team.”

That said, Erickson wants more push from each spot of a defensive line that has not had a true big-time pass rusher since Terrell Suggs.

A front four that can get pressure all by itself is a fulcrum of a defense. Erickson knows; his 1989 national champions at Miami included future All-Pros Russell Maryland and Cortez Kennedy. The front four on the ’91 Hurricanes title team was not as star-studded but led a defense that allowed just 100 points, a school record.

“You can dominate on the defensive line with the pass rush and playing the run,” Erickson said. “But more than anything, those guys free up the linebackers to make tackles.

“If you are good enough to get pressure with four guys, that will help you with your pass defense. You can play a little more zone, and you don’t blitz as much, so you don’t give up the big play.”

Last year’s effort, when the defense’s overall performance was respectable despite rarely blitzing, was a start. The Sun Devils feel that their defensive line has the potential to be a powerful one.

And if that happens, history suggests, a successful team will follow.

“We’re hungry,” Smith said.

“The coaches will get us ready. We know what we have to do to get to the next level.”