THE GAME - Sun Devil Football continues the 2016 season this weekend as it heads on the road for the first time this year to do battle against the UTSA Roadrunners in San Antonio, Texas. The game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. PT kickoff and will be broadcast live on ESPN2 with Mark Neely and Ray Bentley on the call.
THE ROADRUNNERS - This will mark the first-ever meeting between the two teams. It is the first time since 1990 that ASU has faced two teams from Texas in the regular season. That year, ASU played UTEP and Houston - the latter coming in a game played in Japan.
UTSA is led by first-year head coach Frank Wilson, who joined the program after spending six years as the running back coach and recruiting coordinator at LSU.
The Roadrunners are 1-1 this season with a 26-13 victory over Alabama State followed by a 23-14 loss at Colorado State. UTSA features a stingy passing defense that is currently ranked 15th nationally in allowing just 125.0 yards per game and a kickoff return defense that is currently ranked fifth in the nation at 10.33 yards per return. UTSA has struggled against the run, however, allowing 182.5 yards per game this season - a total that sits 94th nationally.
Quarterback Dalton Sturn has been a bright spot so far for the Roadrunners, completing 35-of-48 passes this season for 450 yards with 4 touchdowns to 2 interceptions. UTSA features a well-rounded receiving corps with 10 receivers who have logged a reception but none posting over 83 yards on the seasoon and all sitting between 2-7 receptions.
CONFERENCE USA - ASU is 37-14-3 against teams that are currently a member of Conference USA. The vast majority of those games have come against UTEP, where ASU is 33-13-3. The Sun Devils last played a member of the current league in 2004 (UTEP).
AN ASU VICTORY WOULD...
- Move ASU to 12-3 in regular season non-conference games under Todd Graham and give ASU its second 3-0 non-conference record in the last three years.
- Mark ASU's fifth consecutive win over a non-conference opponent in the regular season.
- Post Todd Graham's second 3-0 start with the Sun Devils in the last three seasons.
- Improve ASU to 9-5 in its last 14 road contests and 13-10 in the last 23 road games.
- Move Todd Graham to 37-19 as head coach of the Sun Devils in his fifth season and 86-48 overall in his 11 seasons as a head coach.
- Improve the Devils to 50-21-3 against all teams based in Texas that are actively competing in the FBS.
- Be the third-straight victory in a true road opener (TAMU '15 was considered neutral). Had lost 6 straight prior.
- Improve ASU to 18-2 in games played in the state of Texas since 1955.
#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)
1. ASU (41.4 ppg), BU, UO only schools in Top-35 in HOME ppg in EACH of last 5 yrs (add Ark St. if not counting '16).
2. 220 of Kalen Ballage and @TheFaceOfCali's 380 total rushing yards (57.9 percent) have come after first contact (3.0 yards per rush).
3. .@FootballASU has had 5+ rush TDs in back-to-back games and 6 total in Graham era. Had two such games TOTAL from 1997-2011.
4. The Sun Devils rushed for five touchdowns in the opener against NAU, notable as its already over a 1/4 of way towards '15 total of 19.
5. .@Manny_Wilkins5 is looking to become the first quarterback since Jeff Krohn in 2000 to earn a victory in first 3 career starts.
6. Kalen Ballage is currently ranked seventh in the nation in rushing touchdowns...Among all TEAMS.
7. Graham-coached Devils now with 50+ in 15 games. Eclipsed 50 just 10 times from 2001-11. 60+ 4 times, 86 games w/o reaching 60 from '05-'11
8. In Graham era, @FootballASU averaging 49.8 points per game vs. non-conference Power 5 teams at Sun Devil Stadium. #NotParticularyDifficult
9. .@ZaneG_5 now needs just 12 field goals over the remainder of the season to break FSU's Dustin Hopkins FBS record of 88.
10. .@CoachLindseyASU now averaging 51.67 points per game in his first three games as offensive coordinator for ASU.
ON THE AIR
Hear the hometown call with broadcaster Tim Healey and color analyst Jeff Van Raaphorst as well as sideline reporter Derek Hagan providing all the action for Sun Devil Football this season. The hometown broadcasts are boosted by Bonneville's powerful sports/talk lineup of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, ESPN Phoenix 620 AM and 92.3 KTAR News FM. This week's game will broadcast on ESPN Phoenix 620 AM.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION
The Sun Devils will compete in their second national broadcast of the season and the first game of the year broadcast on the ESPN Family of networks with the tilt being shown on ESPN2. Mark Neely will be on the call alongside analyst Ray Bentley.
The Pac-12 will again provide access to Armed Forces Network for carriage of Pac-12 football games in 2016 for the benefit of the men and women in the military.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
- 2016 marks just the 11th time in the last 50 years that the team did not have a single quarterback start returning (and second time under Todd Graham) and just the fifth time since 1992 that it has occured. For whatever it is worth, ASU is 76-42-1 all-time in those previous 10 seasons. ASU was one of just 10 teams in the FBS without a returning QB start this year.
- ASU also had no quarterbacks who had officially thrown a pass in a college game entering game one, joining Tulane as the only other program this year in that category.
- Last season, ASU's roster combined for 27 occurrences of a player eclipsing 100 all-purpose yards in a game, compared to 16 times in all of 2014. ASU already has five such occurences through two games.
- In three games as offensive coordinator (including Cactus Bowl last season), Chip Lindsey's offense has averaged 51.67 points per game.
- The Sun Devil offense has posted two games without turning the ball over once under Lindsey. ASU had just two games TOTAL in 2015 where it didn't turn the ball over prior to Lindsey's arrival in the Bowl Game.
- The Sun Devils have scored on 11-of-11 trips to the red zone in 2016 and have scored a touchdown on 10 of those trips. That was an area ASU struggled in last year, only finding the end zone on 51.5 percent of its total red zone trips
- The Sun Devils have 12 rushing touchdowns in two games this season after having 19 total in the entirety of 2015.
STRIKE FIRST
- Arizona State has scored first in 38 of the 55 games with Todd Graham at the helm and is 30-8 in the Graham era when getting on the scoreboard first.
- The Sun Devils were 5-2 when scoring first last season and are 2-0 in 2016 after picking up wins against NAU and Texas Tech after getting on the board first.
STRIKE FAST
- 230 of the Devils' 320 offensive scoring drives under Todd Graham have come in three minutes or less (71.8 percent).
- Of ASU's 18 scoring drives this season opener, 12 have came in under three minutes (66.7 percent).
GETTING STARTED ON THE RIGHT FOOT
- The Sun Devils have outscored their opposition 489-270 in the first quarter under Todd Graham and 16-14 in games this season.
- The Sun Devils are 23-2 under Graham when holding their opposition scoreless in the first quarter and 1-0 this season when doing so.
- A strong second half start is also important and ASU scored 115 points in the third quarter of games against FBS opposition last year, a 9.6 points per third quarter average that was ranked 14th nationally.
- ASU has posted an impressive 31-3 overall record under Graham when leading at halftime.
DON'T CROSS THAT LINE
- Against Texas Tech, the ASU defense forced 20 negative or no yardage plays (3.0 TFLs, 15 incomplete passes, 2 rushes of no gain) of 75 plays run by the Red Raiders (26.6 percent)
- Under Graham, ASU has forced 1,434 plays that have not resulted in positive yardage out of 3,969 total plays (36.1 percent).
SERIOUSLY, DON'T CROSS IT
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ASU is first in the Pac-12 and second in the nation (Clemson) with an average of 8.02 TFL per game under Graham and one of two teams in the nation with more than 440 total tackles for loss (Clemson). They rank second in that time with 3.25 sacks per game
LIGHT 'EM UP
- ASU has scored 50 or more points 15 times since Todd Graham arrived in Tempe for the 2012 season.
- To put that in perspective, ASU eclipsed 50 points 10 times total in the previous 10 years before the current coaching regime (2001-11).
- ASU went 86 games without scoring 60 from 2005-2011. Under Coach Graham it has scored 60 or more four times ('12-63 NAU, '12-62 Navy, '13-62 USC, '16-68 TTU).
- The Sun Devils have dropped 50 on Arizona twice in the last three years after doing so just three times in 85 previous contests.
- Last year, the Sun Devils finished Aug./Sept. 93rd nationally with just 25.0 points per game. In October, ASU was 23rd with 39.8 points per game and 21st/34.3 ppg in November.
- The Sun Devils rushed for five touchdowns in the season opener and followed that with seven more against Texas Tech, with the 12 touchdowns already just seven fewer than the 2015 cumulative total of 19.
- After having just two five-rushing touchdown games in nine previous seasons, the Sun Devils have now done it in back-to-back games. It's the sixth time in the Todd-Grahm era that ASU has gone over five rushing touchdowns in a game. The Devils had just three such games TOTAL from 1997-2011.
- The ASU trio of running backs (Demario Richard, Kalen Ballage and Nick Ralston) have been tough to bring down all year, logging 232 total yards after first contact out of their 392 combined rushing yards (59.2 percent).
GOLD ZONE
- The Sun Devils have scored on 11-of-11 trips to the red zone in 2016 and have scored a touchdown on 10 of those trips. That was an area ASU struggled in last year, only finding the end zone on 51.5 percent of its red zone trips.
SUPER DEMARIO
- Demario Richard has eclipsed 100 all-purpose yards in all but three of his last 13 complete games and rushed for over 100 in all but five.
- Richard is just the fourth Sun Devil in history to have at least seven 100-yard rushing games in a single season. Freddy Williams and Art Malone had eight each in 1975 and 1968, respectively while Woody Green had seven two times in 1972 and 1973.
- Richard now has nine 100-yard rushing games in his career, three shy of cracking the ASU top-five in the category.
- Of Richard's 1291 rushing yards as a sophomore and junior, 598 have come after first contact (46.3 percent/2.3 yards per touch).
- Kalen Ballage introduced himself to the world in a big way against Texas Tech, tying an FBS record with eight total touchdowns (7 rushing, 1 receiving). He also tied the FBS record for touchdowns in a quarter with four in the second quarter of the contest.
- If Ballage were his own FBS team, his eight rushing touchdowns this season would currently be ranked in a tie for seventh in the country and his seven touchdowns against Tech were equal to or more than five teams had in the entirety of the 2015 season.
- Ballage had eight total touchdowns in his two previous seasons prior to his barrage against Texas Tech.
- He is currently ranked first in the nation in rushing touchdowns (two ahead of anyone else) and scoring per game (28.0) while his 8.39 yards per carry sit seventh nationally. His 56 points responsible for are fourth in the FBS while he is sixth in points responsible for per game (27.0).
NO RUSH
- The Sun Devils have held 20 opponents under 100 rushing yards in the Todd Graham era (55 games/36.4 percent), including both games this season.
- The Sun Devil rush defense is currently ranked 12th nationally and leads the Pac-12 in allowing just 64.0 yards per game this year.
- The Sun Devils finished 20th in rushing defense in 2015, 49th in 2014 and 26th in 2013 and were one of just 20 schools to be ranked in the Top 50 in each of the last three seasons.
THE WHITE PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME
- Tim White now has nine games in his career with over 100 all-purpose yards and four in his last five games dating back to last season.
- White is currently ninth among all active FBS players with 2,099 all-purpose yards over the last two seasons and is 12th nationally in 2016 in averaging 195.0 yards per game so far.
- With 1,170 career kickoff return yards, White is already within 400 of Jamal Miles' school record of 1,517 set from 2009-11.
TAKING OFFENSE
- ASU ranks second in the Pac-12 and ninth in the nation at 38.13 points per game (Baylor, Oregon, Ohio State, Marshall, Florida State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State) in the Graham era.
- ASU ranks second in the Pac-12 and seventh in the nation with 2,097 total points (Baylor, Oregon, Ohio State, Florida State, Marshall, Alabama) in that time.
MAKE 'EM PAY
- Under Todd Graham, ASU has outscored opponents 490-225 in points off takeaways and 7-0 in 2016.
- The Sun Devils outscored the opposition 142-62 in points off turnovers in 2014, ranked fourth nationally behind only Louisiana Tech's 172, Nevada's 170 and Oregon's 164.
- ASU scored 22 times following 27 total takeaways (81.5 percent) that year and scored touchdowns on 19 of those occasions (70.4).
- In 2013, ASU outscored its opponents 146-42 on points off turnovers while posting a +15 takeaway number, putting points on the board following 75.8 percent of opponent turnovers (25-of-33) compared to just the 33.3 (6-of-18) percent clip ASU opponents scored off of Sun Devil turnovers.
A HAND IN THE COOKIE JAR
- ASU finished with 27 takeaways in 2014 (2.1 per game) after having a streak of 29 consecutive games forcing a turnover come to an end in the season opener. The total was good for 24th nationally and third among Pac-12 schools.
- ASU led the Pac-12 with 33 takeaways in 2013, finishing fifth nationally. The team was seventh nationally with a 1.1 turnover margin that season.
- The Sun Devils have forced 113 turnovers under Todd Graham in the past five seasons, which is the seventh-highest total in the country in that span.
- ASU has 13 interception returns for touchdowns under Graham, compared to posting just four total in the three previous seasons prior to 2012. The total currently leads the nation in for the most interception returns for touchdown in that span and ASU has added three fumble returns as well for an NCAA-leading total of 16 defensive touchdowns in the since the 2012 season.
TURNOVER FACTORY
- ASU is second in the Pac-12 and tied for fourth in the nation with a .67 average turnover margin per game (Oregon, Houston, Michigan State, tied with Boise State) since Graham took over the helm and is second in the Pac-12 and tied for fourth in the nation with a plus-37 total turnover margin (Oregon, Houston, Michigan State, tied with Boise State).
- In that time, ASU is first in the Pac-12 and fourth in the nation with an average of 1.33 interceptions per game (Houston, Boise State, TCU) since 2012 and is first in the Pac-12 and tied for fourth in the nation with 73 total interceptions (Houston, Boise State, Ohio State, tied with TCU).
KICKING THE HABIT
- Zane Gonzalez is again out to prove he is the best kickoff specialist in the nation, having kicked 17 of his 19 kickoffs for touchdowns this season (89.47), allowing a nation-leading one single kick return to date and leading the nation in touchbacks
- A total of 79 of Zane Gonzalez's 88 kickoffs last season went into the endzone and 66 were touchbacks (75.0 percent), the highest touchback percentage in the country and notable as just 27 of 83 opponent kicks were touched back (32.5 percent). ASU had just 33 touchbacks for the entire season in 2014 on 91 kicks (36.3).
- Gonzalez has a 65.00-yard average on kickoffs this season after his 64.56 yards per kickoff in 2015 were second nationally.
- The 18 kickoff returns allowed by Gonzalez last season were the fourth-lowest total nationally and the lowest among all 67 teams with 71 or more kickoffs.
WINNING THE BATTLE FOR FIELD POSITION
- Under Todd Graham, ASU has had an average starting yard line of its own 34.7 in 35 victories compared to a starting yard line of the 25.4 for their opponents in such contests.
- Conversely, opponents have an average starting field position of their own 31.3 yard line compared to ASU starting at its own 29.1 in ASU's 19 losses under Graham.
- in 2012, ASU posted an average starting spot of its own 33-yard line that ranked 10th in the nation, according to the folks at Football Outsiders (www.footballoutsiders.com) and in 2013, the team ranked 13th nationally (average starting yard line: 33.3). With a 32.6 average starting spot in 2014, ASU was 13th nationally.
- The Sun Devils also held their opponents to an average starting line of their own 28-yard-line, a total that ranked 24th nationally in 2012 and was 32nd in 2013 (average opp. starting yardline: 28.2). ASU jumped to 11th nationally in 2014, forcing their opponents to an average field position of their own 26.9 yard line.
- ASU dropped to 46th in opponents starting position in 2015 while also falling to 62nd as far as their own starting field position went, notable given the team's 6-7 record on the year.
SEAL THE DEAL
- ASU has outscored other teams 578-454 in the fourth quarter and overtime under Todd Graham (10.5 points per game) and are averaging 20.5 points per fourth quarter this season.
- The Sun Devils finished sixth nationally against FBS teams with 10.6 points per fourth quarter in 2014, 10th (9.9) in 2013 and eighth (9.3) in 2012.
- The Sun Devils averaged 18.5 second half points per game last season against FBS opponents, good for 13th nationally.
- ASU struggled defensively in the second half, however, giving up 18.8 second half points per game to opponents, the 14th-worst total nationally.
ROAD WARRIORS
- The Sun Devils are winners of eight of the last 13 true road contests.
- ASU has 12 wins in the past 22 road games, including 10 Pac-12 Conference road wins in the past 18.
- Todd Graham has 10 Pac-12 road victories under his belt already, the second-most among all ASU coaches since 1980 behind only Bruce Snyder's 18 from 1992-2000.
- Graham is 10-8 in Pac-12 road games at ASU, notable as the Devils were 5-13 in four seasons prior.
- The Sun Devils have won their Los Angeles games in each of the last three seasons (UCLA in '13, USC in '14, UCLA in '15). Only once before in the Pac-12 era ('91-'93/USC/UCLA/UCLA) has ASU accomplished that.
T.N.T., WE'RE DYNAMITE
- The Sun Devils have a classification of "explosive plays" that equal a run of 12 or more yards or a passing play of 16 or more yards. ASU had 12 against Texas Tech and 23 thus far this season.
- ASU is 15th nationally with 38 plays over 10 yards this season and 17th in the country with seven plays over 30 yards (2nd in the FBS with four 30+ rushing plays)
- ASU finished 30th nationally in plays over 10 yards last season with 216 and 27th in 30+ yard plays at 35.
- ASU finished 24th nationally with 20 plays over 40 yards in 2014 after having just 16 total in 2013 and eight the year before. ASU was 26th nationally in plays of 20 or more yards with 71.
- The Sun Devils finished 2013 tied for seventh in the nation in plays longer than 20 yards with 86 after having 72 in 2012, which was good for 19th in the country in the category.
BETTER SUITED FOR HANDKERCHIEFS
- Despite some atypical penalties last season, the Sun Devils were still ranked in the top-20 in all the fewest penalties/fewest penalty yards per game categories.
- The Sun Devils averaged just 4.5 penalities for 32.4 yards per game in 2014, ranked 16th in fewest penalties per game and fourth in fewest penalty yards per game in D-I. In 2013, the Sun Devils finished eighth in fewest penalties per game (4.00) and seventh in fewest penalty yards per game (31.4).
KEEP IT CLEAN
- ASU ranks first in the Pac-12 and fourth in the nation with an average of 35.22 penalty yards per game (Navy, Air Force, Army) under Graham and ranks first in the Pac-12 and sixth in the nation with an average of 4.38 penalties per game (Navy, Air Force, Army, Ball State, Iowa).
- Twenty-six of ASU's 30 least penalized games since 2006 have come under Todd Graham.
- Since Todd Graham arrived at Arizona State, the Sun Devils have had just 240 penalties in 55 games (4.36 penalties per game).
PROTECT THIS HOUSE
- ASU is 23-6 at Sun Devil Stadium under Todd Graham.
- In 29 regular season home games under Todd Graham, the Sun Devils have averaged 41.4 points per game. Against non-conference Power Five teams, ASU is averaging 50.0 points per game at home under Graham.
- The Sun Devils join Baylor and Oregon as the only other schools in the country to be ranked in the Top-35 in home points per game in EACH of the past five seasons with only Arkansas State added to the list if 2016 were not included.
- ASU has posted under 20 points in a regular home game just twice in Todd Graham's tenure - a 19-16 overtime victory over Utah in 2014 and a 42-14 loss to #19 USC in 2015.
- The Sun Devils are 280-101-3 (.731) all-time at Sun Devil Stadium since 1958, the 25th-highest active winning percentage in a stadium among all FBS schools.
ON THE RISE
- ASU is 23-13 in Pac-12 games since 2012, tied with UCLA (23-13) for the best tally in the Pac-12 South in the past 3+ seasons.
- ASU is 18-9 in Pac-12 games in the past two-plus seasons, ahead of UCLA (17-10) and just ahead of USC (18-10) for tops in the Pac-12 South.
- ASU has finished first or second in each of the last three of the past four seasons in the final Pac-12 South standings.
USE THEM WISELY
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Since the start of the 2012 season, ASU has used 60 timeouts on defense in third down situations, and have not allowed a first down on the ensuing play or forced a turnover on 42 of those occasions (70.0 percent)
IN-ZANE IN THE MEMBRANE
- Zane Gonzalez currently leads active FBS players in averaging 10.0 points per game in his career. Additionally, he is first among all active kickers with an average of 1.88 field goals per made per game in his career. His 77 total fields goals are the most of any active player in the FBS.
- Gonzalez is 4-for-4 on field goals this year, bringing his career total to 77 as he chases down Florida State's Dustin Hopkins FBS record of 88 career field goals. Additionally, Gonzalez now has 410 points in his career as he nears Hopkins' FBS record for points by a kicker of 466 and is within three points of Ka'imi Fairbairn's Pac-12 record of 413.
- If his career ended now, Gonzalez would also own the FBS record for scoring per game among kickers with his 10.0 points per game topping Hopkin's current career record of 9.6.
- Gonzalez finished the 2015 season averaging 10.0 points per game, good for second in the Pac-12 and 10th nationally.
- As a freshman, Gonzalez led the Pac-12 with 25 field goals and was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award. He was a semifinalist last season as well and named to the preseason watch list for 2015.
ZANE-IAC
- Gonzalez has scored at least one point in each of the 41 games he has played at ASU and is well on pace to break the ASU school record of 45 such games held by Luis Zendejas for most games scoring a point.
- Gonzalez was good on 26 field goals last season and became the first ASU kicker ever to have 20 or more field goals in three different seasons. In fact, only Luis Zendejas had two such seasons before. No other player outside Zendejas and Gonzalez have had more than one.
- With 25 field goals in 2013, Gonzalez tied the NCAA freshman record of 25 that was set by UCLA's Kai Forbath in 2007 (25-30) that was four more field goals than any other player in the FBS in the process.
- Gonzalez holds ASU's first, second and fourth highest single-season points totals in history (138, 130, 118).
HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS
- ASU played in four games in 2013 decided by seven points or less, going 3-1 in those contests. The total is notable as ASU was just 4-13 in the previous four seasons in games decided by less than a touchdown.
- ASU was 3-1 in 2014 in games decided by less than a touchdown following the team's 36-31 Sun Bowl victory over Duke.
- ASU has now gone 7-5 in games decided by a touchdown or less since the 2012 Arizona comeback in Tucson. To put that in perspective, ASU had gone 6-16 in such games since the 2007 season up until that Tucson game.
HOLD ON TO THAT BALL, ALSO
- In 2014, the Sun Devils had six games where they did not turn the ball over and went 6-0 in those contests. That number was notable because in the previous two seasons, ASU had just five combined games where it did not turn the ball over.
- ASU is now 12-3 under Todd Graham in games where it does not have a turnover.
- The Sun Devils have two games without turning the ball over in the three games that Chip Lindsey has been offensive coordinator. To put that in perspective, ASU had two games total in the 2015 regular season that it did not turn over the ball.
TAKING DOWN THE TOP
- ASU finished 1-2 against teams ranked in the AP Top-25 Poll last season after a gauntlet that pitted the Sun Devils against three Top 25 teams in four weeks (a loss to USC, a win at UCLA, and a loss at No. 4 Utah).
- ASU was 3-2 in 2013 against team's ranked in the AP Top-25 Poll and the three victories were the most since 1997 when the team went 3-1 against teams ranked in the AP poll.
- ASU's 2014 schedule put the team on a collision course with three consecutive AP Top-25 teams (UCLA, USC, Stanford), a streak that ASU had faced only twice in program history. The last that happened was 2001, where ASU went 0-3 against No. 13 Washington, No. 8 Oregon and No. 11 Washington State. In 1994, ASU defeated No. 20 BYU in between losses to No. 23 Washington State and No. 21 Oregon.
- ASU came out of the stretch with a 2-1 record with back-to-back victories over No. 16 USC and No. 23 Stanford. It was the first time ASU has won back-to-back games over ranked opponents since 1997, when it took down No. 25 Stanford on Oct. 18 before defeating No. 10 Washington State on Nov. 1 following a bye week.
SLAYING DRAGONS
- The Sun Devils have gone 8-6 in the last 14 games against ranked teams.
- In four seasons at the helm, Todd Graham is 8-9 against AP-ranked opponents and the team was 4-2 in such teams in 2014.
- Graham has more than doubled the Top-25 win total of Dennis Erickson (3) and Dirk Koetter (2) during their tenures.
- In the previous 14 seasons, ASU was 5-40 in games against teams ranked in the AP poll. Other notable victories include the come-from-behind victory over Arizona in 2012, winning a game in the Coliseum last season for the first time since 1999 and defeating USC in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1996-97. ASU also ended a four-game losing streak to Stanford.
HAACK THIS WAY
- Matt Haack continues to be a game-changer in the field position battle, pinning three punts inside the Texas Tech 20-yard line in the victory while averaging over 50 yards per kick. He leads the nation with just a single punt returned against him for no yards this year.
- Haack averaged 43.1 yards per punt last season, good for fourth in the Pac-12 and 35th nationally.
- Yardage doesn't do the whole story justice, however. Nineteen of his 74 punts were for 50 or more yards (25.7 percent) while 32 punts were downed inside the 20 yard line (43.2 percent). The 32 punts inside the 20 were the second most in the nation and four more than any other player in the Pac-12. His two touchbacks were tied for the lowest total in the nation as well.
- Haack has a 42.8 yard per punt average in his career that current ranks tied for fourth all-time in ASU history.
GRAND SALAMO
- Redshirt senior Salamo Fiso finds himself in a position this year to move into numerous Sun Devil records while also finding a spot on several preseason award lists, including the Bednarik, Nagurski, Butkus, Lombardi and Polynesian CFB Player of the Year.
- Fiso enters the season just 14 solo tackles behind Mike Richardson (sixth all-time) for most solo tackles for a career and just 6.5 tackles for loss behind Carl Bradford (43) to crack ASU's all-time top 10 for tackles for loss.
- Fiso finished eighth nationally and second in the Pac-12 behind teammate Antonio Longino last season in average 1.5 tackles for loss per game. His 6.0 solo tackles per game were also second in the Pac-12 (behind teammate Jordan Simone) and 12th nationally.
WHO'S THE NEW GUY
- There are plenty of new faces on the Sun Devil coaching staff this season, an especially high amount given the fact that Todd Graham remains at the helm. ASU's five new assistant coaches this season are tied for the fifth most in the nation among all FBS programs that retained their coaching staff (USC leads with 7; Fresno State, Utah State and Western Kentucky all had 6 changes).
- There are plenty of relatively new faces along the offensive front as well as the Sun Devils entered the season with the fifth fewest returning offensive line starts (15) of any team in the country.
- N'Keal Harry became just the ninth true freshman in Arizona State history to start in a season opener this year. He joins Cohl Cabral, Robbie Robinson and Kyle Williams as the only true freshman to play on Opening Day.
- Harry is just the fourth Sun Devil ever to start on offense as a true frosh in the opener and he joined D.J. Foster as the only other Sun Devil in history to score in each of their first two games of the season as a true freshman.
- The 2016 will mark the a strange year from a schedule standpoints For instance, ASU has had only a single home game after Oct. 22 just twice (1996 and 1998) in the Pac-12 era. ASU's only home game after Oct. 22 this year is Nov. 10 vs. Utah.
- The Devils had just one home game in November just once in the past 10 years (2012). Utah is only home game in November this year.
- 2016 will mark the first time since 2002 ASU finishes with back-to-back games on the road.
- The Sun Devils have finished with three of final four games on the road just five times (2012, 2002, 1998, 1996 and 1994) since joining the Pac-12.
- Manny Wilkins is looking to become the first quarterback since Jeff Krohn in 2000 to earn a victory in each of his first career starts.
- Wilkins is currently sixth nationally in completed 75.0 percent of his passes through the first two games of the season and 14th nationally with 24 completions per game.
- The Sun Devils entered the season as one of just two teams in the nation without a quarterback on the roster that had officially completed a pass at a four-year college until Wilkins first attempt.