THE GAME - Sun Devil Football continues the 2016 season this weekend as it returns home for its Pac-12 Conference opener on Saturday against the California Golden Bears in Tempe, Ariz. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. PT kickoff and will be broadcast live on ESPN2 with Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham and Dr. Jerry Punch on the call. The Devils will celebrate their annual Maroon Monsoon game at Sun Devil Stadium, with all fans encourage to wear maroon.
THE GOLDEN BEARS - Cal will come to Tempe for the first time since 2011 and the Devils will be looking for their first home victory against the Bears since 2007. Cal holds the overall series record at 18-15 and have won nine of the last 11 games against the Devils.
Cal ranks second in the nation in passing offense (453.0 ypg), third in total offense (580.3 ypg) and 10th in scoring offense (47.0 ppg).
Davis Webb leads the nation in passing attempts (166), second in in passing TDs (13), passing yards (1,359), passing yards per game (453.0 ypg), completions (106) and completions per game (35.33 cpg), and third in total offense (433.0 ypg), points responsible for (90) and points responsible for per game (30.7 ppg).
Wide receiver Chad Hansen was named to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List on Tuesday. He currently leads the nation in receptions (40), pergame receptions (13.3 rpg), receiving yards (546) and per-game receiving yards (178.7 rpg). He is also tied for first in touchdown receptions (5).
THE PAC-12 - ASU is only 15-22-2 all-time in Pac-12 overall openers but holds a solid 23-15-1 record in Pac-12 HOME openers. Todd Graham is currently 2-2 in Pac-12 home openers though the Devils are looking for their first Pac-12 opening victory since defeating Utah in 2012.
MAKE IT RAIN AND SAVE WATER
Arizona State has partnered with Coca Cola for the Change the Course campaign to replenish water all around the world. Use the hashtag #MakeItRainASU on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and Coca Cola will restore 1,000 gallons of water per use. Through your use of social media, Arizona State can help restore up to 5,000,000 gallons of water and give a new meaning to #MaroonMonsoon.
AN ASU VICTORY WOULD...
- Give ASU just its third victory in its last 12 games against Cal and just its first win against the Bears at Sun Devil Stadium since 2007.
- Improve ASU to 16-18 all-time against the Golden Bears and 11-8 at home.
- Be ASU's first win in a Pac-12 opener since 2012 (Utah).
- Improve Todd Graham to 3-2 in Pac-12 home openers.
- Move ASU to 15-22-2 all-time in Pac-12 openers and 23-15-1 in all-time Pac-12 home openers
- Mark the first time since 2007 that the Sun Devils have started a season 4-0 and just the fifth time it has happened since 1976.
- Move Manny Wilkins to 4-0 in his career as the Sun Devil starter, joining Danny White (10-0) and Todd Hons (8-0) as the only others since 1970 to achieve the feat in their first four career starts.
- Move the Devils to 24-6 in games played at Sun Devil Stadium since Todd Graham took the reins in 2012.
#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. .@FootballASU is currently ninth national with a 84.6% red zone touchdown coversion rate. Was 108th last year at 51.56%.
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 have rushed for 13 touchdowns in 2016 (third in FBS) and are already just six shy of their 2015 total of 19 rushing TDs.
5. .@Manny_Wilkins5 is looking to join Danny WhIte (10-0) and Todd Hons (8-0) as just the 3rd QB since 1970 to go 4-0 in 1st 4 starts.
6. Kalen Ballage is currently ranked 19th in the nation in rushing touchdowns (9)...Among all TEAMS.
7. ASU's defense currently has 16 three-and-outs on the year on 44 drives (36.4 percent) with 10 of those coming in final 24 minutes of games.
8. In Graham era, @FootballASU averaging 42.9 points per game in regular season games at Sun Devil Stadium. #NotParticularyDifficult
9. .@ZaneG_5 now needs just 8 field goals over the remainder of the season to break FSU's Dustin Hopkins FBS record of 88.
10. .@Football is looking to start a season 4-0 for the first time since 2007 and just the 5th time since 1976.
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 third national broadcast of the season and the second game of the year broadcast on the ESPN Family of Networks with the tilt being shown on ESPN2. Mike Patrick will be on the call alongside analyst Ed Cunningham while Dr. Jerry Punch will provide insight from the sidelines.
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
- Manny Wilkins is looking to join Danny White (10-0) and Todd Hons (8-0) as the only other Sun Devil quarterbacks since 1970 to go 4-0 in their first four career starts.
- The Sun Devils are averaging 46.5 points per game with Chip Lindsey as offensive coordinator.
- ASU has 13 rushing touchdowns already in 2016 after having 19 in the entirety of the 2015 season.
- The Sun Devils have opened the season limiting three opponents to under 100 team rushing yards for the first time in the school's modern football history.
- Should ASU hold Cal under 100 rushing yards, they will have had a four-game stretch of doing so for the second consecutive season (USC through Utah in 2015). Prior to 2015 and 2016, the Sun Devils had just ONE single occurence (2009) of limiting four straight opponents under 100 rushing yards since modern record were consistently kept from 1970.
- ASU has had a three-game stretch limiting opponents under 100 rushing yards three times in the Todd Graham era (fifth season). The Sun Devils did had just nine such occurences in the Pac-12 era prior to this run (1978-2011).
- The Sun Devils have scored on 13-of-13 trips to the red zone in 2016 and have scored a touchdown on 11 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 forced 16 three-and-outs this season on 44 defensive drives this season (36.4 percent)
STRIKE FIRST
- Arizona State has scored first in 39 of the 56 games with Todd Graham at the helm and is 31-8 in the Graham era when getting on the scoreboard first.
- The Sun Devils were 5-2 when scoring first last season and are 3-0 in this year after picking up in each of the first three games of the 2016 season.
STRIKE FAST
- 233 of the Devils' 327 offensive scoring drives under Todd Graham have come in three minutes or less (71.3 percent).
- Of ASU's 25 scoring drives this season, 15 have came in under three minutes (60.0 percent), including 3-of-7 against UTSA.
GETTING STARTED ON THE RIGHT FOOT
- The Sun Devils have outscored their opposition 492-284 in the first quarter under Todd Graham despite being outscored 28-19 this year.
- 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 UTSA, the ASU defense forced 31 negative or no yardage plays (10 TFLs, 18 incomplete passes, 3 rushes of no gain) of 67 plays run by the Red Raiders (46.3).
- On the season, the Devils have forced 77 negative or no yardage plays of 209 run by the opposition (36.8 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 8.05 TFL per game under Graham and one of two teams in the nation with more than 450 total tackles for loss (Clemson). They rank third in that time with 3.27 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.
- The Sun Devil offense is currently ranked ninth in the nation in scoring at 48.0 points per game and have not scored less than 30 points with Chip Lindsey as offensive coordinator.
- The Sun Devils have rushed for 13 touchdowns in the first three games after having 19 in the entirety of 2015. The 13 touchdowns are good for third among all FBS teams.
- After having just two five-rushing touchdown games in nine previous seasons, the Sun Devils did it in back-to-back games too open the season, marking the fifth and sixth times in the Graham era that ASU has gone over five rushing touchdowns in a game. The Devils had 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 303 total yards after first contact out of their 549 combined rushing yards (55.2 percent).
GOLD ZONE
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The Sun Devils have scored on 13-of-13 trips to the red zone in 2016 and have scored a touchdown on 11 of those trips (84.6 percent). That percentage is ranked fourth nationally among teams with over 10 red zone trips and ninth overall and is notable as ASU found the end zone on just 51.5 percent of its red zone trips last season
SUPER DEMARIO
- Demario Richard has eclipsed 100 all-purpose yards in 10 of his last 14 complete games and rushed for over 100 in all but six.
- 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 1386 rushing yards as a sophomore and junior, 648 have come after first contact (46.7 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 nine rushing touchdowns this season would currently be ranked in a tie for 19th 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 second in the nation in rushing touchdowns and leads the country in scoring per game (20.7) while his 6.89 yards per carry sit 16th nationally. His 62 points responsible for are 13th in the FBS while he is 15th in points responsible for per game (20.0).
NO RUSH
- The Sun Devils have held 21 opponents under 100 rushing yards in the Todd Graham era (56 games/37.5 percent), including all three games this season.
- ASU has held three straight opponents under 100 rushing yards for the third time under Graham (2013, 2015, 2016). The Devils had limited opponents to under 100 rushing yards in three straight games in just five previos seasons dating back to 1986.
- The Sun Devil rush defense is currently ranked ninth nationally and leads the Pac-12 in allowing just 73.7 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 starts dating back to last season.
- White is currently ninth among all active FBS players with 2,134 all-purpose yards over the last two seasons and is sixth in the Pac-12 in 2016 in averaging 135.33 (skewed by only fair catching vs. UTSA.)
- 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 38.02 points per game (Baylor, Oregon, Ohio State, Marshall, Florida State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M) in the Graham era.
- ASU ranks second in the Pac-12 and eighth in the nation with 2,129 total points (Baylor, Oregon, Ohio State, Florida State, Marshall, Alabama, Clemson) in that time.
MAKE 'EM PAY
- Under Todd Graham, ASU has outscored opponents 490-239 in points off takeaways though it trails 14-7 this season.
- 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.
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 eighth-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 ranks second in the Pac-12 and fifth in the nation with a .61 average turnover margin per game (Oregon, Houston, Michigan State, Boise State) since Graham took over the helm and was second in the Pac-12 and fifth in the nation with a plus-34 total turnover margin (Oregon, Houston, Michigan State, Boise State).
- ASU is first in the Pac-12 and sixth in the nation with an average of 1.30 interceptions per game (Houston, Boise State, TCU, Ohio State, Louisville) 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 23 of his 27 kickoffs for touchbacks this season (85.19 percent).
- Just three of his kicks have been returned (third in the FBS) while his 23 touchbacks are five more than any other player in the FBS.
- 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).
- 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 34.5 in 37 victories compared to a starting yard line of the 25.7 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 595-454 in the fourth quarter and overtime under Todd Graham (10.6 points per game) and are averaging 19.3 points per fourth quarter this season.
- Excluded FCS NAU, the Sun Devils are currently ranked fifth nationally in averaging 25.5 points per second half against FBS opposition and third in the country with 17.0 points per fourth quarter against FBS teams as well.
- 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 nine of the last 14 true road contests. ASU has 13 wins in the past 23 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 10 against Texas Tech and 33 thus far this season.
- ASU is 13th nationally with 55 plays over 10 yards this season and 15th in the country with 10 plays over 30 yards (11th 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
- The Sun Devils are currently ranked 27th in fewest penalties (14), 19th in fewest penalties per game (4.67), 31ist in fewest penalty yards (130) and 24th in fewest penalty yards per game (43.33).
- 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 35.13 penalty yards per game (Navy, Army, Air Force) under Graham and ranks first in the Pac-12 and sixth in the nation with an average of 4.36 penalties per game (Navy, Air Force, Army, Ball State, Iowa).
- Twenty-seven of ASU's 31 least penalized games since 2006 have come under Todd Graham.
- Since Todd Graham arrived at Arizona State, the Sun Devils have had just 243 penalties in 56 games (4.34 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 61 timeouts on defense in third down situations, and have not allowed a first down on the ensuing play or forced a turnover on 43 of those occasions (70.5 percent)
IN-ZANE IN THE MEMBRANE
- Zane Gonzalez currently leads active FBS players in averaging 10.1 points per game in his career. Additionally, he is first among all active kickers with an average of 1.93 field goals per made per game in his career. His 81 total fields goals are the most of any active player in the FBS.
- Gonzalez is 8-for-9 on field goals this year, bringing his career total to 81 as he chases down Florida State's Dustin Hopkins FBS record of 88 career field goals. Additionally, Gonzalez now has 424 points in his career as he nears Hopkins' FBS record for points by a kicker of 466 after already setting the Pac-12 scoring mark by any players (previous 413).
- His eight field goals this season are currently fourth nationally as he sits 10th nationally in scoring at 12.7 points per game.
- If his career ended now, Gonzalez would also own the FBS record for scoring per game among kickers and the ASU record for overall points per game with his 10.1 points per game topping Hopkin's FBS record of 9.6 and Wilford White's school record of 8.6.
- Gonzalez finished the 2015 season averaging 10.0 points per game, good for second in the Pac-12 and 10th nationally.
ZANE-IAC
- Gonzalez has scored at least one point in each of the 42 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.
- As of September 16, he is also the only player in the FBS this season with more than one 50+ yard field goal. Gonzalez now has four or more field goals in six games in his career, three more than any other Sun Devil player in history.
- 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 has now gone 8-5 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 moment.
- The Devils are 1-0 in games decided by less than a touchdown this year.
- 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.
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 four 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.
- ASU earned its first victory in a game in turned the ball over three times against UTSA after going 0-6 in the Todd Graham era prior.
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 currently leads the nation with just a single punt return against him this season for no yards.
- He sits fourth nationally with his net average of 46.0 yards per punt while the 46.0 overall average is 11th nationally.
- Haack averaged 43.1 yards per punt last season, good for fourth in the Pac-12 and 35th nationally.
- Yardage didn'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 three 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 became the first quarterback since Jeff Krohn in 2000 to earn a victory in each of his first three career starts. He is looking to become just the third quarterback since 1970 to go 4-0 in his first career starts, joining Danny White (10-0) and Todd Hons (8-0).
- Wilkins is currently 18th nationally in completed 66.3 percent of his passes through the first two games of the season and 24th nationally with 21.0 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.