Swann’s 1st start in title matchup
Let’s say Blitzen gets hurt playing reindeer games. So Santa summons a young fella to take his place. And Christmas Eve is just a few nights away. The rookie is about to join the starting nine and make his first — what? — billion-stop flight.
Jovan Swann is in a somewhat similar situation. The Stanford redshirt freshman defensive end will make the first start of his career Friday night. It will come in the biggest game of the year for the Cardinal — the Pac-12 title game against USC.
Swann played extensively last week against Notre Dame after starter Eric Cotton was hurt in the first quarter. Cotton is out this week, so Swann will have the task of challenging Trojans right tackle Chuma
Edoga and getting after quarterback Sam Darnold and tailback Ronald Jones II.
“I’m very excited and ready to contribute early on,” Swann said. He’s been well prepared by line coach Diron Reynolds, he said, “and I’m ready to get after it.”
Although he’s 6-foot-2 and 263 pounds, Swann has exceptional quickness. It runs in his family; his brother Mario isa former Indiana defensive back.
“I think that’s probably his strength,” defensive coordinator Lance Anderson said. “We’ve seen him get a number of hits on the quarterback throughout this season. A lot of it is just that burst and that quickness. And he’s getting better and better with his technique.”
Head coach David Shaw agreed that Swann has “made significant strides. He’s been a great effort player. … We’re going to count on him big from here on out.”
Two other redshirt freshmen, tackle Michael Williams and end Thomas Schaffer, are expected to join Swann and junior Dylan Jackson in the defensive line rotation around nose tackle and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year candidate Harrison Phillips.
Last week Swann wanted to prove to the Notre Dame coaches that they made a mistake not recruiting him out of Center Grove High in Greenwood, Ind., a 3½-hour drive from the South Bend campus.
“I had a chip on my shoulder, trying to make some noise,” he said. “People thought I was undersized. Every game I play, I think about why people weren’t recruiting me. I’m very confident in my game play and my athleticism.”
Like tailback Bryce Love and safety Frank Buncom, Swann hopes to become a doctor, an orthopedist in his case. He also enjoys being a grill master and hopes to cook for his teammates when he gets an apartment kitchen.
“My steaks are nice, and I can make a nice stove-top filet mignon,” he said. Alfieri back on outside: It’s official, Anderson said this week, that Joey Alfieri is back to outside linebacker after being moved inside this year. He played on the outside against Cal and Notre Dame. He apparently reinjured his shoulder Saturday night, and Shaw said he’s questionable for the USC game.
As it turned out, Alfieri wasn’t playing as much on the inside as the coaches had anticipated when they made the move. Last year he was an honorable mention All-Pac-12 player after making 51 tackles, fourth best on the team. He was second on the team in tackles for loss with 10½. Another outside linebacker,
Curtis Robinson, is “probably doubtful” this week with an undisclosed injury, Shaw said. Support for Graham: For Shaw, late November is a time for both joy and sorrow, the joy of hopefully reaching the postseason but the sorrow of seeing other head coaches losing their jobs.
This week Todd Graham was dismissed after six years at Arizona State, joining UCLA’s
Jim Mora on the outside. “Todd did an outstanding job there,” Shaw said. “Not too long ago (2013) he was in the Pac-12 championship game. Not too long ago (2014) he was about to get in the Pac-12 championship game again.”
The Sun Devils (7-5 overall) finished second again in the South Division with a 6-3 record. But it wasn’t enough.