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Sun Devils Welcome Red Raiders for Key Non-Conference Contest

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Sun Devils Welcome Red Raiders for Key Non-Conference ContestSun Devils Welcome Red Raiders for Key Non-Conference Contest

THE GAME - Sun Devil Football continues the 2016 season at home this weekend, welcoming the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday, Sept. 10 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. The game is currently slated for a 7 p.m. PT kickoff and will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1 with Joe Davis, Brady Quinn and Jenny Taft on the call.  

THE RED RAIDERS - This will mark the third meeting between the two programs with the series split at one game each. Texas Tech downed ASU, 37-23, in the 2013 Holiday Bowl in the last meeting with the Sun Devils taking a 31-13 victory to open the 1999 season prior to that. This is just the fourth time in school history that the Red Raiders will start a game at 9 p.m. CT or later and the first time Texas Tech has taken on a Pac-12 opponent in the regular season since 1999 (also against the Sun Devils).

Texas Tech racked up 758 yards of total offense in its 69-17 rout of Stephen F. Austin, which ranked second nationally through the first week of the season. It also marked the fourth-highest total in single-season school history. Despite removing most of its starting offense early in the third quarter, Texas Tech poured in 69 points against the Lumberjacks, marking the 17th-consecutive game where the Red Raiders have scored at least 25 points, the longest active streak in the country. 

Despite playing just over a half in his 2016 debut, Patrick Mahomes II recorded 540 yards of total offense after completing 30-of-43 passes for 483 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for another 57 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries. Mahomes leads the country in total offense through the first week of the season. He led the nation in the category a year ago after posting over 5,000 yards of total offense.

THE BIG 12 - ASU is 13-5-0 all-time against teams currently playing in the Big 12 and holds a winning record against each of the eight teams it has played from the conference with the exception of Texas Tech (tied 1-1) and Texas (0-1).

AN ASU VICTORY WOULD... 

  • Move ASU to 10-0 in non-conference home games in the Todd Graham era.
  • Mark ASU's fifth consecutive win over a non-conference Power Five oppoenent at home (Missouri '11, Illinois '12, Wisconsin '13, Notre Dame '14)
  • Improve ASU to 11-3 in the Todd Graham era in regular season non-conference games
  • Mark Todd Graham's fourth 2-0 start with the Sun Devils in five seasons at the helm.
  • Move the Devils to 23-6 in games played at Sun Devil Stadium since Todd Graham took the reins in 2012. 
  • Move Todd Graham to 36-19 as head coach of the Sun Devils in his fifth season and 85-48 overall in his 11 seasons as a head coach.
  • Improve ASU to 2-1 all-time against the Red Raiders
  • Move ASU to 14-5 all-time against teams currently playing in the Big 12 Conference and ensure a winning/even record against all those teams except Texas (0-1).

#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)

1. 2016 marks just 11th time since '66 that ASU enterered season with ZERO returning QB starts. 76-42-1 all-time on those previous 10 occasions.

2. Additionally, @FootballASU was one of just 2 schools (Tulane) in the FBS without a quarterback on the roster that had thrown a D-I pass.

3. .@FootballASU has held 19 opponents under 100 rush yards in Graham era (54 games/35.2 percent), including the season opener against NAU.

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. ASU put together back-to-back scoring drives of 85+ yards against NAU. had just three such drives in entirety of 2015.

6. With 1,029 career kickoff yards, @tim_white6 needs just under 500 to set the @FootballASU career record. 

7. .@NKealHarry15 became just the 4th Sun Devil on offense (9th overall) in ASU history to start opener as true frosh. 1 of 2 to score in debut

8. .@tim_white6 has over 100 all-purpose yards in three of his last four games dating back to last season. 484 in last 2 starts.

9. .@ZaneG_5 now needs just 13 field goals over the remainder of the season to break FSU's Dustin Hopkins FBS record of 88. 

10. .@FootballASU is 4-0 against its last four non-conference Power 5 opponents at home and 9-0 in non-conference home games under Graham.

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 first major national broadcast of the weekend with the contest scheduled to be shown on FOX Sports 1, The game will feature Joe Davis on the call alongside analyst Brady Quinn while Jenny Taft 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

  • 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 have 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 this season, compared to 16 times in all of 2014. ASU had two players reach 100+ AP yards in the opener (Tim White, Kalen Ballage).
  • Tim White led all players with 195 all-purpose yards, finishing with a team-leading 95 receiving yards along with 43 yards on punt returns and 57 on kickoff returns. It was the eighth game of his career with over 100 all-purpose yards and third in his last four games dating back to last season. 
  • The Sun Devils logged two consecutive scoring drives of 85 or more yards against NAU (85 and 89 yards) after having just three such drives in the entirety of the 2015 seasons.
  • Five Sun Devils including Demario Richard, Kalen Ballage, Manny Wilkins, N'Keal Harry and Nick Ralston recorded rushing scores for the Maroon and Gold, marking the first time the Sun Devils have recorded five or more rushing touchdowns in a game since Sep. 6, 2014.

STRIKE FIRST

  • Arizona State has scored first in 37 of the 54 games with Todd Graham at the helm and is 29-8 in the Graham era when getting on the scoreboard first. 
  • The Sun Devils were 5-2 when scoring first last season and are 1-0 in 2016  after picking up a score on the first drive against NAU during the season opener.

STRIKE FAST

  • 223 of the Devils' 310 offensive scoring drives under Todd Graham have come in three minutes or less (72.3 percent). 
  • Of ASU's eight scoring drives in the season opener, five came in under three minutes (62.5 percent).

GETTING STARTED ON THE RIGHT FOOT

  • The Sun Devils have outscored their opposition 480-256 in the first quarter under Todd Graham and 7-0 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 30-3 overall record under Graham when leading at halftime.

DON'T CROSS THAT LINE

  • Against NAU, the Sun Devil defense forced 26 negative or no yardage plays (10 TFLs, 10 incomplete passes, 6 rushes of no gain) of 67 plays run by NAU in the opener (38.8 percent)
  • Under Graham, ASU has forced 1,414 plays that have not resulted in positive yardage out of 3,894 total plays (36.3 percent).

SERIOUSLY, DON'T CROSS IT

  • The Sun Devils are currently 15th nationally and first in the Pac-12 with 10.0 tackles for loss this season.
  • With 111 tackles for loss last season, ASU's 8.5 tackles per loss per game were ranked third nationally and first in the Pac-12.
  • ASU averaged 3.54 sacks per game last season, a total that ranked first in all of the FBS.

LIGHT 'EM UP

  • ASU has scored 50 or more points 14 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 three times ('12-63 NAU, '12-62 Navy, '13-62 USC). 
  • 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.
GOLD RUSH
  • The Sun Devils rushed for five touchdowns in the season opener, already over a quarter of the way to last season's cumulative total of 19. 
  • ASU last rushed for five touchdowns against New Mexico in 2014, also the last time five separate players rushed for a touchdown in a game. It was just the third time in the last decade that the Devils have posted five rushing touchdowns in a game. 
  • The ASU trio of running backs (Demario Richard, Kalen Ballage and Nick Ralston) were tough to bring down all game, logging 90 total yards after first contact out their 148 combined rushing yards (60.8 percent).

SUPER DEMARIO

  • Demario Richard eclipsed 100 all purpose yards in all but two of his 11 complete games played last year and rushed for over 100 in all but four.
  • 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 became just the fourth FBS player since 1996 to eclipse 150 receiving and 100 rushing yards in a game (UNM) and was just the second player in Pac-12 history to do so.
  • Of Demario Richard's 1407 yards from scrimmage last season, 648 came after first contact (46.1 percent/2.7 yards per touch).

NO RUSH

  • The Sun Devils have held 19 opponents under 100 rushing yards in the Todd Graham era (54 games/35.2 percent), including the season opener against NAU.
  • The Sun Devils finished 20th in rushing defense in 2015, 49th in 2014 and 26th in 2013 and is 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 led all players with 195 all-purpose yards in the opener, finishing with a team-leading 95 receiving yards along with 43 yards on punt returns and 57 on kickoff returns. It was the eighth game of his career with over 100 all-purpose yards and third in his last four games dating back to last season.
  • White is currently ninth among all active FBS players with 1,904 all-purpose yards over the last two seasons.
  • With 1,029 career kickoff return yards, White is already within 500 of Jamal Miles' school record of 1,517 set from 2009-11.

TAKING OFFENSE

  • After last season, ASU is ranked second in the Pac-12 and eleventh in the nation at 37.45 points per game in the Graham era.
  • ASU ranks second in the Pac-12 and 12th in the nation with 1,985 total points in that time.

MAKE 'EM PAY

  • Under Todd Graham, ASU has outscored opponents 483-225 in points off takeaways, though it uncharacteristically trailed 68-55 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 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 111 turnovers under Todd Graham in the past four 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 previos seasons prior to 2012. The total currently leads the nation in for the most interception returns for touchdown in that span (3 more than any other team) and ASU has added three fumble returns as well for an NCAA-leading total of 16 defensive touchdowns in the last since 2012 seasons.

TURNOVER FACTORY

  • After last season, ASU is second in the Pac-12 and sixth in the nation with a .69 average turnover margin per game (Oregon, Michigan State, Houston, Boise State, Bowling Green) since Graham took over the helm and was second in the Pac-12 and tied for sixth in the nation with a plus-37 total turnover margin (Oregon, Michigan State, Houston, Boise State, Bowling Green, tied with Northern Illinois).
  • In that time, ASU is first in the Pac-12 and fifth in the nation with an average of 1.34 interceptions per game (Houston, Boise State, TCU, Louisville) since 2012 and is first in the Pac-12 and tied for fourth in the nation with 71 total interceptions (Houston, Boise State, TCU, tied with Louisville and Northern Illinois).

KICKING THE HABIT

  • Each of Gonzalez's nine kickoffs in the opener against NAU made it to the end zone and just one was returned. 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. Already, Gonzalez's 88.9% touchback rate is good for seventh nationally.

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 25.6 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 561-430 in the fourth quarter and overtime under Todd Graham.  
  • 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. 
  • ASU did hold Washington scoreless in the second half, however, the first time it had held a conference opponent scoreless in the second half since the 2012 season.

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 11 such plays against NAU in the opener
  • 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

  • ASU had five penalties for 40 yards in the opener. 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: 16th in fewest penalties (60), 12th in fewest penalties per game (4.62), 18th in fewest penalty yards (518) and 15th in fewest penalty yards per game (39.85), first or second in the Pac-12 in all 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 third in the nation with an average of 34.6 penalty yards per game (Navy, Air Force) under Graham and ranks first in the Pac-12 and sixth in the nation with an average of 4.32 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 234 penalties in 54 games (4.33 penalties per game).

PROTECT THIS HOUSE

  • ASU is 22-6 at Sun Devil Stadium under Todd Graham.
  • In 27 regular season home games under Todd Graham, the Sun Devils have averaged 42.4 points per game. 
  • 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 279-101-3 (.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

  • Since the start of the 2012 season, ASU has used 59 timeouts on defense in third down situations, and have not allowed a first down on the ensuing play or forced a turnover on 41 of those occasions (69.5 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 1.90 field goals per made per game in his career. His 76 total fields goals are the most of any active player in the FBS.
  • Gonzalez had had three field goals in the opener, bringing his career total to 76 as he chases down Florida State's Dustin Hopkins FBS record of 88 career field goals. Additionally, Gonzalez now has 398 points in his career as he nears Hopkins' FBS record for points by a kicker of 466.
  • 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 40 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 11-3 under Todd Graham in games where it does not have a turnover.

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 was a game changer in the field position battle last season and his effort against UCLA was a testament to that. He pinned five balls inside the 20 yard-line against both UCLA and Washington.
  • Haack was named the Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week for the effort against UCLA named the Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week as well.
  • 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 42.7 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 joined 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 the only one outside of D.J. Foster to score a touchdown in his first game.
SCHEDULE ANOMALIES
  • 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.