Are ASU QBs bad or is the defense just that good?

It was practice No. 14 for the Arizona State football team, and it took the same pattern as recent ones. The defense dominated — which didn't bode well for the quarterbacks.

Neither of the candidates for the starting spot excelled. Redshirt freshman Sam Leavitt, who has been the frontrunner, was intercepted twice — once by Myles Rowser and then later by Xavion Alford. Graduate transfer Jeff Sims, who had struggled in recent practices, went 0-for-5 on his first series, which was a two-minute offense.

Afterward, it was hard to tell if head coach Kenny Dillingham was that pleased with the defense or upset with the offense. The Aug. 31 season opener against Wyoming at Mountain America Stadium is fast approaching.

"Good day," Dillingham said. "Like I just told the team, I think the offense was pretty good the first 12 days of camp. I think they started feeling themselves.

"I mean we're the worst team in the Big12," Dillingham said referring to the preseason poll that had the Sun Devils pegged last. "If you get comfortable out here, something's wrong. I mean we're the worst team in the Big 12 so if you think you're good something's wrong. The energy on defense right now is really, really good."

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Practice started on the outdoor field with the first 11-on-11 segment, a two-minute drill with the situation being down by two points and starting at the 25. Leavitt came out first and went 3-for-6, the longest completion of 20 yards going to Xavier Guillory. The drive stalled and ended with a 43-yard field goal by Corona Del Sol product Carston Kieffer.

Sims was up next and that drive never materialized. He had one positive gain on a keeper but went 0-for-5 passing on the possession.

There was also a 7-on-7 team period that went slightly better for both. Leavitt had one possession where he was 4-for-4 highlighted by a 30-yard completion to Malik McClain.

Sims' first drive featured two straight completions to Derek Eusebio, with the next play disrupted by a nice pass breakup by linebacker Caleb McCullough.

The team practiced in the bubble for the last 45 minutes, which has been the norm during all of camp. Both of Leavitt's interceptions came late in the practice during the indoor portion of 11-on-11 drills.

"It's been a back-and-forth camp, it really has been," Dillingham said. "It's been a good camp. It has been physical. There has been good energy. I just feel like the last few days the defense got pissed off and the offense got comfortable and it's good. It's good that you have to respond. Now we gotta go back out tomorrow and respond. And does that mean today was a bad practice? No, it was a good practice. It really was but we have to be more dialed into the details on offense."

After Wednesday's practice, Dillingham hinted that he would likely have a plan on how that quarterback position would shake out after Saturday night's scrimmage at Mountain America Stadium. The team will take off Sunday before returning to the normal morning practice on Monday.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Are ASU QBs bad or is the defense just that good?