Head Coach Todd Graham Media Availability (9/12/16)
On Kalen Ballage’s eight-touchdown performance…
“Going into the season I talked to them about the things we felt he needed to improve, being a downhill runner, being explosive. I’ll tell you the thing I was most proud of him for was what he said to the media. What his response was, he talked about his faith, talked about his teammates. I just like the brotherhood we have on this team, very impressive. Obviously we’re adapting our system and utilizing the skills of our players, him being one in particular. Guys like Kalen and Demario, I think Demario had 30 carries, talk about being physical. I thought our offensive line did great. We had dramatic improvement from our O-line, dramatic improvement quarterback, dramatic improvement with receivers, dramatic improvement at running back. Kareem Orr is playing good of corner play as we’ve had here. Armand has had dramatic improvements there. We had 28 points that we gave up due to miscues, all things we can correct. I think DJ Calhoun is playing his best football. Kalen’s performance was one I will let speak for itself. I think it was 140 yards rushing and eight touchdowns and what he said is what I’ll say, he brought his offensive line and he gave credit to his teammates. That’s what I think is so unique about this team is the energy that they have and whether one week it’s Demario scoring five or eight touchdowns or it’s Kalen, whoever, we are going to take what they give us. I was really proud of him and how he handled that and it really showed his class and character in the grace in which he handled that success. In reality, what he said was, we’re 2-0. That was a nice win, go to the next one.”
On the test Texas Tech provided the ASU secondary…
“Really, it should’ve been a blowout. I say that with respect. I thought we really did what we needed to do. Their quarterback was never in rhythm. The running back was really good, I thought it was the quarterback and then him and the receivers. Obviously they scored a lot of points, but we gave up 28 uncontested points where we blew coverages and things like that. One of the guys that I want to point out that kind of epitomizes what we’re all about is AJ Latu. AJ played nose tackle in our nickel package, played devil backer in base, and then on rundowns played SAM linebacker. He played all three positions because of injuries and how we’re depleted, so that was a challenge. There were some things that were a challenge to us, but the bottom line is that Arizona State University is 2-0 and beat Texas Tech. Our guys believe in us and believe in what we’re doing and said at the beginning at the season we had something to say and we haven’t done anything yet. Going back and looking at it, it was mistakes that we can correct. We didn’t pressure much, but we had a plan that we thought would help with things and really we had them put away and just blew the coverage. There were 28 points on those plays so going back and looking at it, you know, they made some great catches. Kareem almost picked off a pass on the goal line and their guy made the play. Their quarterback, you’ll see what he can do, he’ll have a good year. I don’t care how many yards somebody gets, I don’t care about all that stuff but at the end of the day, what matters is who is ahead on the scoreboard and that’s what you’re going to be remembered by. That’s what’s going to determine who wins a championship. I like our guys, I think Kareem and Armand are playing at a very high level.”
On what makes Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage so hard to tackle:
“Well, for one, they’re very well trained. They are very strong and very powerful, very gifted individuals, but I think what really separates them is they have got tremendous heart. They’re guys that really want to do well. One of the things that is most impressive to me is watching those guys before the game address the offensive line. I just really like this team. I like the energy that we have going into our fifth year. We have guys that are very experienced. You watch that game and watch some of those runs, those guys are finishing and I mean, brutal finishes. Really physical, really imposing, powerful guys. Our offensive line, Kody Kohl probably had the best blocking game of any tight end since I’ve been here. The key to our success is to be a team that is a really dominant run team, and a team that makes yards after contact and yards after catch. Those guys are very gifted, talented young men, but most of what you see coming out of them is their heart and their determination and it has a lot to do with their training too.”
On the overall offensive execution through the first two weeks of play…
“The origin of our offense is about run and play-action passing. Obviously, that sounds boring, but it’s not boring. What I like is that [Manny Wilkins} listens. We had a strategy and we played 18 more snaps than they did because of our effectiveness running the football. I think Manny had an outstanding game taking what they gave him and making the reads that he made. He did a great job of distributing the football and he made a huge improvement from week one to week two. What I like about Coach Lindsey is that he understands that the focus of our offense is care of that football. We had one hundred percent ball security in that game and zero sacks, which was the same exact thing in the bowl game. If you look at two of the three games he has been here, we have done a really good job of taking care of the football with only one turnover in three games. Then, from a negative standpoint, we had eight negative rushing yards. If we can accomplish those three things with the system we have in place and with the players we have in place, then we are going to score points. We had a lot of growth from week one to week two. I have to give a lot of credit to Manny for that growth. I’ll tell you my favorite play of that game was when he pulled the ball down, there was nowhere to run and he threw the ball away. He threw the ball away one time in the whole game. It showed that when he did run, he would stay alive as a passer and he would go through his progression. I think we are 60 percent of the way there as a football team and I think there is forty percent that we can still improve on. We are only half way there in my opinion. To be successful in our league, we have to win a lot of close games and we have to play defense. We have a lot of things to work on to get better, but we walked away with a lot of positives. We went into the game fully expecting to win and we got the job done. Now we are 2-0, heading into week three, and we have to go out there with the same passion and focus. We are playing for a 1-0 championship each week and that is our approach.”
On Manny’s leadership growth from week one to week two…
“When it comes to leadership, it comes down more to actions than what you say. We talk about influence. I’m an influencer and I have to earn my leadership every day. I tell Manny that being a quarterback is like being a head coach. They are going to like you when you win and they aren’t going to like you very much when you don’t. So you really have to be grounded in what your values and beliefs are. People really look at you closer when you’re going through tough situations. He showed great leadership in times of adversity during week one. This week, he showed his leadership through what he did on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday and then of course on Saturday. That was all a marked improvement on the week before. Leadership comes from your work, not what you say. I like that he doesn’t say that much. This week, we need to do the same thing and do better every day so that we can go out and have a better Saturday.”
On the importance of playing in Texas for recruiting purposes…
“Texas is our third largest alumni base. Obviously, that is my home state, we recruit there and we have a lot of current players from that state so that’s why we like to play there. It is hard to recruit in a place that we don’t play. We get great support when we play there and we have great turnouts. We need all of our Texas alumni to come out in force for this San Antonio game. Texas is a very significant area for us to recruit.”
On how guys returning from injury will effect the team…
"It helps tremendously. Having players like Salamo Fiso is really important to our system and what we’re doing. You have critical errors happen due to miscommunication, and that has been tough not having him or Latu who are our most experienced communicators. We have had guys step up and do a really nice job. Again we are 2-0, but Latu is a guy who is almost silent in his personality and way. He is very well respected and he is a great communicator on game day because he understands what we’re doing. We are hoping to have him back in full force but we are just trying to be smart. All of these games are important, but conference play is the most important thing so we want to make sure we are smart and get him back healthy before we put too much on him. I expect him to be back and I expect him to play more."
On the offensive line play through the first two weeks of the season…
"I was really proud of Quinn (Bailey). Quinn did a great job going out to tackle and Stephon (McCray) did a super job kicking over to guard. The guy that I am excited about is AJ (Alani Latu). AJ played really well. He has a lot of things he has to improve, but the physicality that he played with- we were knocking them off of the football. Four new starters up front the potential of that group is extremely high. We hope to have Zach (Robertson) back this week as well, but we have a lot of competition. We have had some minor injury deals with linebackers and o-line, but we also have competition. You want to get back as quick as possible because we have some pretty good issues there with great athletes and quality people. I was really proud of the offensive line. I thought that 0 sacks and 300 yards rushing was pretty good."
On how playing against the Texas Tech offense prepares the team for conference play…
"I think you’ve probably seen a lot of us rushing three. We have tried to play more coverage stuff, but we are probably being a little too complex because we have had too many breakdowns. We are going to do whatever we need to do to win games. We need to impact the QB, we understand and know that. It’s different how the schedule lines up too. There’s a reason why we did the things we did in week one which was to prepare us to win the game. With all due respect, going against a team like Texas Tech, we would think with where we were, taking out the critical errors out and the busted coverages, we would win by three or four touchdowns. We just have to execute our system and execute the things that we are doing. We did a lot of studying over the spring and the summer so that is what you are seeing some different looks that we haven’t shown. Our deal is to make sure a team can’t run the football and we haven’t had a team yet to do so. They threw the ball vertical three times in that game. What happened was we had some busted coverage. The QB was pretty good, but we will continue to evolve what we’re doing."
On Wilkins’ athletic ability when scrambling and hurdling defenders…
"It inspires me. I haven’t said anything to him about it, I just tell him to take care of himself. I like the edge that he plays with. I think when he runs down there and does that, you know that this is a QB that gets right next to the edge and puts the throttle down. I like how he did that, I want him to take care of himself and be smart. He has done it three times pretty effectively. I like that he was better in taking care of the football in week two. When he had done it at the first game when the ball had dropped down, I talked to him. I said, ‘you’re falling and doing those things, but trouble is coming from behind you’. I like that he is out there competing. I like that he is out there performing. I think it impacts our players. I think it helps our kid’s mentality. We want to be smart, don’t get me wrong, but I like the fact that Manny is a guy who isn’t scared for someone to hit him. He is a guy who could hurt you with his legs. He did a great job in that game really hurting them with his arm. I like that play, it kind of got me fired up. That was a heck of a play."
On how GPS technology has helped the team this season…
"It has really helped tremendously. You don’t realize sometimes that our two corners in that game did the equivalence of four and a half miles. Kody Kohl our tight end was up there with Tim White with four and a half miles in the game. When we go into games like that we want to adapt to the snaps. We need to maybe cover a few less kick offs. When you’re going to feel the effects of that is not week 4, 5 or 6, but 11, 12 and 13. It is something that is vital to us to check our total team yards that we ran collectively, as a group, know how much each one of them did. We try to look closely at kids like Tim White and Kalan Ballage who are up there with miles. It is not something that’s unique to us, it is just a part of playing that position. It helps you in how you’re training and practicing to know what needs to be adjusted. It helps us keep guys fresh, and with the recovery processes. Staying healthy and having guys available is important. It hurts us not having certain guys in the game. Utah last year it was really important. If we can monitor their journey with training and what we’re doing with them is how we utilize it."
On Carlos Mendoza...
"He is a great young man with strong relationships on the team. He has played a few positions and played well in the past two games. I am really proud of Carlos and how he has developed as a young man. He has a great character and great faith. I’m excited he is getting opportunities to play and perform. He has done a solid job for us. We have been very thin at linebacker because of guys being hurt and he has done a great job for us."
On Kalen Ballage’s eight-touchdown performance…
“Going into the season I talked to them about the things we felt he needed to improve, being a downhill runner, being explosive. I’ll tell you the thing I was most proud of him for was what he said to the media. What his response was, he talked about his faith, talked about his teammates. I just like the brotherhood we have on this team, very impressive. Obviously we’re adapting our system and utilizing the skills of our players, him being one in particular. Guys like Kalen and Demario, I think Demario had 30 carries, talk about being physical. I thought our offensive line did great. We had dramatic improvement from our O-line, dramatic improvement quarterback, dramatic improvement with receivers, dramatic improvement at running back. Kareem Orr is playing good of corner play as we’ve had here. Armand has had dramatic improvements there. We had 28 points that we gave up due to miscues, all things we can correct. I think DJ Calhoun is playing his best football. Kalen’s performance was one I will let speak for itself. I think it was 140 yards rushing and eight touchdowns and what he said is what I’ll say, he brought his offensive line and he gave credit to his teammates. That’s what I think is so unique about this team is the energy that they have and whether one week it’s Demario scoring five or eight touchdowns or it’s Kalen, whoever, we are going to take what they give us. I was really proud of him and how he handled that and it really showed his class and character in the grace in which he handled that success. In reality, what he said was, we’re 2-0. That was a nice win, go to the next one.”
On the test Texas Tech provided the ASU secondary…
“Really, it should’ve been a blowout. I say that with respect. I thought we really did what we needed to do. Their quarterback was never in rhythm. The running back was really good, I thought it was the quarterback and then him and the receivers. Obviously they scored a lot of points, but we gave up 28 uncontested points where we blew coverages and things like that. One of the guys that I want to point out that kind of epitomizes what we’re all about is AJ Latu. AJ played nose tackle in our nickel package, played devil backer in base, and then on rundowns played SAM linebacker. He played all three positions because of injuries and how we’re depleted, so that was a challenge. There were some things that were a challenge to us, but the bottom line is that Arizona State University is 2-0 and beat Texas Tech. Our guys believe in us and believe in what we’re doing and said at the beginning at the season we had something to say and we haven’t done anything yet. Going back and looking at it, it was mistakes that we can correct. We didn’t pressure much, but we had a plan that we thought would help with things and really we had them put away and just blew the coverage. There were 28 points on those plays so going back and looking at it, you know, they made some great catches. Kareem almost picked off a pass on the goal line and their guy made the play. Their quarterback, you’ll see what he can do, he’ll have a good year. I don’t care how many yards somebody gets, I don’t care about all that stuff but at the end of the day, what matters is who is ahead on the scoreboard and that’s what you’re going to be remembered by. That’s what’s going to determine who wins a championship. I like our guys, I think Kareem and Armand are playing at a very high level.”
On what makes Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage so hard to tackle:
“Well, for one, they’re very well trained. They are very strong and very powerful, very gifted individuals, but I think what really separates them is they have got tremendous heart. They’re guys that really want to do well. One of the things that is most impressive to me is watching those guys before the game address the offensive line. I just really like this team. I like the energy that we have going into our fifth year. We have guys that are very experienced. You watch that game and watch some of those runs, those guys are finishing and I mean, brutal finishes. Really physical, really imposing, powerful guys. Our offensive line, Kody Kohl probably had the best blocking game of any tight end since I’ve been here. The key to our success is to be a team that is a really dominant run team, and a team that makes yards after contact and yards after catch. Those guys are very gifted, talented young men, but most of what you see coming out of them is their heart and their determination and it has a lot to do with their training too.”
On the overall offensive execution through the first two weeks of play…
“The origin of our offense is about run and play-action passing. Obviously, that sounds boring, but it’s not boring. What I like is that [Manny Wilkins} listens. We had a strategy and we played 18 more snaps than they did because of our effectiveness running the football. I think Manny had an outstanding game taking what they gave him and making the reads that he made. He did a great job of distributing the football and he made a huge improvement from week one to week two. What I like about Coach Lindsey is that he understands that the focus of our offense is care of that football. We had one hundred percent ball security in that game and zero sacks, which was the same exact thing in the bowl game. If you look at two of the three games he has been here, we have done a really good job of taking care of the football with only one turnover in three games. Then, from a negative standpoint, we had eight negative rushing yards. If we can accomplish those three things with the system we have in place and with the players we have in place, then we are going to score points. We had a lot of growth from week one to week two. I have to give a lot of credit to Manny for that growth. I’ll tell you my favorite play of that game was when he pulled the ball down, there was nowhere to run and he threw the ball away. He threw the ball away one time in the whole game. It showed that when he did run, he would stay alive as a passer and he would go through his progression. I think we are 60 percent of the way there as a football team and I think there is forty percent that we can still improve on. We are only half way there in my opinion. To be successful in our league, we have to win a lot of close games and we have to play defense. We have a lot of things to work on to get better, but we walked away with a lot of positives. We went into the game fully expecting to win and we got the job done. Now we are 2-0, heading into week three, and we have to go out there with the same passion and focus. We are playing for a 1-0 championship each week and that is our approach.”
On Manny’s leadership growth from week one to week two…
“When it comes to leadership, it comes down more to actions than what you say. We talk about influence. I’m an influencer and I have to earn my leadership every day. I tell Manny that being a quarterback is like being a head coach. They are going to like you when you win and they aren’t going to like you very much when you don’t. So you really have to be grounded in what your values and beliefs are. People really look at you closer when you’re going through tough situations. He showed great leadership in times of adversity during week one. This week, he showed his leadership through what he did on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday and then of course on Saturday. That was all a marked improvement on the week before. Leadership comes from your work, not what you say. I like that he doesn’t say that much. This week, we need to do the same thing and do better every day so that we can go out and have a better Saturday.”
On the importance of playing in Texas for recruiting purposes…
“Texas is our third largest alumni base. Obviously, that is my home state, we recruit there and we have a lot of current players from that state so that’s why we like to play there. It is hard to recruit in a place that we don’t play. We get great support when we play there and we have great turnouts. We need all of our Texas alumni to come out in force for this San Antonio game. Texas is a very significant area for us to recruit.”
On how guys returning from injury will effect the team…
"It helps tremendously. Having players like Salamo Fiso is really important to our system and what we’re doing. You have critical errors happen due to miscommunication, and that has been tough not having him or Latu who are our most experienced communicators. We have had guys step up and do a really nice job. Again we are 2-0, but Latu is a guy who is almost silent in his personality and way. He is very well respected and he is a great communicator on game day because he understands what we’re doing. We are hoping to have him back in full force but we are just trying to be smart. All of these games are important, but conference play is the most important thing so we want to make sure we are smart and get him back healthy before we put too much on him. I expect him to be back and I expect him to play more."
On the offensive line play through the first two weeks of the season…
"I was really proud of Quinn (Bailey). Quinn did a great job going out to tackle and Stephon (McCray) did a super job kicking over to guard. The guy that I am excited about is AJ (Alani Latu). AJ played really well. He has a lot of things he has to improve, but the physicality that he played with- we were knocking them off of the football. Four new starters up front the potential of that group is extremely high. We hope to have Zach (Robertson) back this week as well, but we have a lot of competition. We have had some minor injury deals with linebackers and o-line, but we also have competition. You want to get back as quick as possible because we have some pretty good issues there with great athletes and quality people. I was really proud of the offensive line. I thought that 0 sacks and 300 yards rushing was pretty good."
On how playing against the Texas Tech offense prepares the team for conference play…
"I think you’ve probably seen a lot of us rushing three. We have tried to play more coverage stuff, but we are probably being a little too complex because we have had too many breakdowns. We are going to do whatever we need to do to win games. We need to impact the QB, we understand and know that. It’s different how the schedule lines up too. There’s a reason why we did the things we did in week one which was to prepare us to win the game. With all due respect, going against a team like Texas Tech, we would think with where we were, taking out the critical errors out and the busted coverages, we would win by three or four touchdowns. We just have to execute our system and execute the things that we are doing. We did a lot of studying over the spring and the summer so that is what you are seeing some different looks that we haven’t shown. Our deal is to make sure a team can’t run the football and we haven’t had a team yet to do so. They threw the ball vertical three times in that game. What happened was we had some busted coverage. The QB was pretty good, but we will continue to evolve what we’re doing."
On Wilkins’ athletic ability when scrambling and hurdling defenders…
"It inspires me. I haven’t said anything to him about it, I just tell him to take care of himself. I like the edge that he plays with. I think when he runs down there and does that, you know that this is a QB that gets right next to the edge and puts the throttle down. I like how he did that, I want him to take care of himself and be smart. He has done it three times pretty effectively. I like that he was better in taking care of the football in week two. When he had done it at the first game when the ball had dropped down, I talked to him. I said, ‘you’re falling and doing those things, but trouble is coming from behind you’. I like that he is out there competing. I like that he is out there performing. I think it impacts our players. I think it helps our kid’s mentality. We want to be smart, don’t get me wrong, but I like the fact that Manny is a guy who isn’t scared for someone to hit him. He is a guy who could hurt you with his legs. He did a great job in that game really hurting them with his arm. I like that play, it kind of got me fired up. That was a heck of a play."
On how GPS technology has helped the team this season…
"It has really helped tremendously. You don’t realize sometimes that our two corners in that game did the equivalence of four and a half miles. Kody Kohl our tight end was up there with Tim White with four and a half miles in the game. When we go into games like that we want to adapt to the snaps. We need to maybe cover a few less kick offs. When you’re going to feel the effects of that is not week 4, 5 or 6, but 11, 12 and 13. It is something that is vital to us to check our total team yards that we ran collectively, as a group, know how much each one of them did. We try to look closely at kids like Tim White and Kalan Ballage who are up there with miles. It is not something that’s unique to us, it is just a part of playing that position. It helps you in how you’re training and practicing to know what needs to be adjusted. It helps us keep guys fresh, and with the recovery processes. Staying healthy and having guys available is important. It hurts us not having certain guys in the game. Utah last year it was really important. If we can monitor their journey with training and what we’re doing with them is how we utilize it."
On Carlos Mendoza...
"He is a great young man with strong relationships on the team. He has played a few positions and played well in the past two games. I am really proud of Carlos and how he has developed as a young man. He has a great character and great faith. I’m excited he is getting opportunities to play and perform. He has done a solid job for us. We have been very thin at linebacker because of guys being hurt and he has done a great job for us."