ASU linebacker looks to make a statement against Oklahoma State

TEMPE, Ariz. — Tate Romney, a redshirt freshman linebacker from Chandler, Ariz. had his number called on Thursday night against Southern Utah. With linebacker Will Shaffer needing to sit out the first half, Romney got extra snaps and made the most of them.

Freshman linebacker Tate Romney stepped up against SUU

Romney is a redshirt freshman transfer from BYU. He originally is from the valley and understands the passion in the area for Arizona State football, and how big of a deal it is to suit up for the Sun Devils.

“I was really nervous going into it,” Romney said with a smile. “But after the first couple plays, I started to relax, get some confidence and stuff. After that it was a lot of fun, I had a ton of fun on Thursday night.”

It’s no surprise that Romney had fun. He played extremely well, making eight total tackles, and Arizona State came out with a hard-fought victory.

It wasn’t the prettiest game, but a win is a win, and Romney knows ASU has a lot of improving to do.

Looking ahead to Oklahoma State

“Week 1 is kind of getting everything together and stuff,” Romney said. “Week 2, there should be a lot of improvement. It should kind of show what we’re about hopefully.”

Oklahoma State runs a spread offense, and they’re typically a pass-first team. The Cowboys specifically like to pass on third down. The linebacker unit will be very important on Saturday and have different responsibilities. Sometimes they may be asked to drop into coverage, other times they’ll have to shoot gaps to stop the run.

“It’s fun, that’s the name of the game for a linebacker, right? Getting in there, stopping the run,” Romney said. “So you know, when you get that kind of stuff, it’s fun and exciting. Just seeing an open gap and being able to shoot it and take it.”

Romney and the Sun Devil defense have a big matchup coming up on Saturday, and he can’t wait.

“Hopefully we can make a statement this week,” Romney said.

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