ASU Football: Devils to face inexperienced SDSU quarterback

After over three years and 31 consecutive games with one man under center, the San Diego State Aztecs will be without senior quarterback Christian Chapman versus ASU football.

Chapman suffered a sprained MCL in the Week Two win over Sacramento State. The injury has put Chapman on the sideline anywhere from 3-6 weeks. During his 31 starts, Chapman owns a record of 24-7 included in that is a 1-1 mark to start this season.

Replacing the senior quarterback will be backup quarterback Ryan Agnew. The six-foot junior finished last week 11-of-17 for 159 yards and two interceptions in the team’s victory over Sacramento State.

Before his action against Sacramento State, Agnew had only thrown nine passes over two seasons with a total of six completions for a total of 76 yards.

The usual edge of having a backup quarterback start is the lack of film on the player causing the other team to game plan on what little they do know. This is not a luxury the Aztecs will receive as they face former defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales.

“The good part is Coach Gonzales knows who he is,” head coach Herm Edwards said. “We know who they are. They’re going to run the football. They want to possess the clock, they want their defense to be fresh and their defense plays with their hair on fire, they play hard.”

And running the football is exactly what SDSU does best. The Aztecs will enter their matchup against Arizona State as one of only four FBS teams without a touchdown pass on the season.

SDSU will rely heavily on the shoulders of junior running back Juwan Washington who finished with 36 carries a week ago against Sacramento State.

“He’s athletic, he can leave the pocket and make some plays,” Edwards said of Agnew. “They’re going to rely on their running game and stay out of third and longs.”

Despite the presence of a backup quarterback, the Aztecs will be looking to upset the newly crowned No. 23 team in the nation after beating the Sun Devils 30-20 a season ago.

Last year’s matchup was dominated heavily on the ground for SDSU behind now Seattle Seahawks running back Rashad Penny. Penny finished the game with 216 yards on the ground on 18 carries including a 95-yard rush.

While Penny did the majority of the damage in the team’s defeat of ASU, Washington was also a key player in the game rushing for 56 yards on 16 carries in the game.

The Sun Devils know that the Aztecs will match their intensity according to Edwards as SDSU did in last year’s upset. ASU has yet to put together a complete game and will need a four-quarter performance to replicate the team’s success from a week ago in an upset over Michigan State.

“We haven’t played a complete game yet on either side of the football,” Edwards said. “What we have done is they play hard now.”

Expect Gonzales to use his knowledge of San Diego State’s offense and defense to be a key factor in this one as they face a quarterback who is largely inexperienced making his first career start in three years.

SDSU will try and compact this through a ferocious running attack that doomed the Devils a season ago.

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.