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TEMPE -- The No. 15/12 Arizona State University Sun Devil football program will host its Pac-12 home opener on Thursday, Sept. 25 in a pivotal early season Pac-12 South duel against No. 11/10 UCLA at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
Both teams enter the weekend coming off a bye with ASU picking up a 38-24 win in its Pac-12 opener against Colorado two weekends ago. ASU used a strong second half and a career day by D.J. Foster to rout New Mexico, 58-23. The Sun Devils opened the season with an efficient and thorough 45-15 victory over Weber State in Tempe on opening weekend, increasing their season-opening win streak to 12 straight games.
Arizona State is now in its 102nd season of competition in 2014. The Sun Devils are 576-370-24 (.606) all-time and have appeared in 27 bowl games, compiling a 13-13-1 record in such contests. The Sun Devils are coming off an impressive 10-4 campaign in 2013 that saw ASU finish as the Pac-12 South Champions and advance to the National University Holiday Bowl as head coach Todd Graham earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year accolades.
#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)
1. Longest Active Streak of 100+ Yds from Scrimmage: Ameer Abdullah (NEB) - 16, Kareem Hunt (TOL)- 9, D.J. Foster (ASU) - 6
2. D.J. Foster (@ASTATE_8) has four plays from scrimmage longer than 40 yards this year. That’s more than 48 total FBS squads have as a team.
3. Since at least ‘00, only ASU RB outside Foster with 4 40+ yard rushes in season was Keegan Herring (4 in ‘07). Foster hit mark in 3 games.
4. Damarious Randall (@RandallTime) is currently third nationally with 8.7 solo tackles per game. 26 of 27 tackles this year came by self.
5. A win Thursday over. No. 11 UCLA would be highest ranked opponent topped at HOME since No. 10 Ryan-Leaf led WSU on Nov. 1, 1997.
6. @FootballASU has outscored opposition 53-7 in 1st quarter of games this year. 18.0 points per 1st quarter vs. FBS teams is 2nd nationally.
7. @FootballASU is off to a 3-0 start for the first time since the 2007 season and just the 17th time in post WW2 era of football.
8.@FootballASU is a perfect 16-for-16 in the red zone this this with 13 touchdowns and three FGs. Ranked first nationally.
9. @FootballASU is currently averaging 7.13 yards per rush this season (Foster @ 9.44), and ranked fourth nationally in the category.
10. @FootballASU is 269-98-3 (.727) all-time at Sun Devil Stadium, 15th-highest active winning % in a stadium among all FBS schools.
ON THE AIR Hear the hometown with broadcaster Tim Healey and color analyst Jeff Van Raaphorst as well as sideline reporter Doug Franz call all the action for Sun Devil Football this season. The MidFirst Bank Sun Devil IMG Sports Network airs statewide and is buoyed by Booneville’s powerful sports/talk lineup of ESPN Phoenix 620 AM, 98.7 KMVP and 92.3 KTAR News FM. Don’t miss a play this upcoming season with the additional worldwide coverage brought to you by the TuneIn App which can be downloaded to your smartphone, tablet or laptop. This week’s game will broadcast on ESPN Phoenix 620 AM. The game’s home radio coverage will also be broadcast on Sirius Channel 91/XM Channel 91.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION Thursday’s contest will mark the first game for the Sun Devils this season to be broadcast on FOX Sports 1. Tim Brando will be on the call alongside analyst Joel Klatt while Jenny Taft will roam the sidelines. The Pac-12 will again provide access to Armed Forces Network for carriage of Pac-12 football games in 2014s for the benefit of the men and women in the military.
ON THE BRUINS UCLA leads the all-time series between the schools, 18-11-1, but the Sun Devils have the slight edge in recent history in winning four of the last seven - including last season’s Pac-12 South clinching victory. For the second straight season, both teams will enter this contest ranked in the AP Poll. Prior to last season, the two squads did not compete while both were ranked AP Top-25 Poll since Oct. 4, 1986 when ASU was ranked 16 and UCLA was No 15. ASU won the contest 16-9 in Pasadena and wouldn go on to a 10-1-1 season and a victory over Michigan in the Rose Bowl. The last three games in the series have been decided by a grand total of eight points (five point ASU win last season, two-point UCLA win in 2012 and one point UCLA victory in 2011).
LAST TIME OUT - Colorado
--The Devils are now 6-0 all-time against the Buffaloes, including 3-0 in Boulder. ASU’s six-game winning streak against CU is its second longest active streak against a current Pac-12 school.
--ASU is now 15-20-2 all-time in Pac-12 openers and 15-21-1 all-time in Pac-12 road openers.
--Todd Graham is 8-5 at Arizona State in true road games and the Sun Devils are winners of five straight on the road and four-straight Pac-12 road contests. their last loss coming in the Notre Dame game last season. ASU had 8 road wins in the entirety of the previous coaching regime from 2007-11.
--ASU now has seven rushes this season of 40 or more yards. They entered the CU game with a NCAA-leading five, and added two more against the Buffaloes (Foster 52-yard rush in the first quarter, Kelly 50-yard rush in the third quarter). The number is notable as ASU had five in the entirety of 2013.
--D.J. Foster scored in his eighth consecutive game and has a rushing touchdown in each of those eight. He now has 11 rushing touchdowns in that span and two receiving touchdowns.
--Antonio Longino became the 12th Sun Devil this season to earn their first career start.
--Safety Jordan Simone recorded his first career interception, and the first interception of the season for the Devils, and also forced his first career fumble while logging a career best 13 tackles - the fourth-most by a Sun Devil in a single game in the Todd Graham era.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
--Since football picked back up after World War II in 1946, ASU had gone 3-0 just 17 times and last achieved the feat in the 2007 season prior to the current season.
---ASU is now a perfect 16-for-16 in the red zone this season with 13 TDs and 3 FGs and they are first nationally in red zone scoring percentage. They are also holding opponents to just a 66.7 percent red zone scoring average this year, good for 13th nationally.
--Opponents are 1-for-6 on fourth down this season. The Devils have stopped opponents on fourth down once in all three games this season, including two goal line stands (against Weber State and at Colorado).
--ASU outscored Colorado 14-0 in points off turnovers in this game and 35-7 in 2014. Under Coach Graham, ASU has outscored opponents 310-107 in the category.
-The first score of the CU game was the first drive this season that ASU had a scoring drive over three minutes (3:07). Nevertheless, ASU’s five other scoring drives in the game came in under three minutes and 133 of 177 scoring drives (75.1 percent) in Todd Graham’s tenure have come in under three.
--D.J. Foster currently has the third-longest active streak of games with 100 or more yards from scrimmage nationally at six games
--Since at least 2000, on Keegan Herring in 2007 had four rushes of 40 or more yards in a single season. D.J. Foster accomplished the feat by the third game of 2014. His four plays of 40 or more yards are more than 48 total teams thus far in 2014.
--ASU outscored Colorado 14-0 in the first quarter. The Devils have outscored opponents 53-7 in the opening quarter in 2014 and 331-146 overall under Coach Graham.
--ASU has now scored first in 24 of 30 games under Coach Graham and are 19-5 in such contests.
-Below is a list of ASU’s current pertinent individual and team rankings nationally:
4th down conversion Pct. Defense — 15th/1st, 0.167
Blocked kicks — 18th/1st, 1
Blocked punts — 4th/1st, 1
Fewest penalties — 29th/2nd, 16
Fewest penalty yards — 18th/1st, 119
Fewest penalty yards per game — 25th/1st, 39.67
Fumbles recovered — 22nd/2nd, 4
Kickoff return defense — 43rd/7th, 19.00
Passes had intercepted — 1st/1st, 0
Passing yards allowed — 35th/5th, 199.7
Passing yards per completion — 27th/4th, 13.80
Red zone defense — 13th/1st, 0.667
Red zone offense — 1st/1st, 1.000
Rushing offense — 11th/1st, 304.3
Sacks allowed — 40th/2nd, 1.33
Scoring offense — 7th/2nd, 47.0
Tackles for loss allowed — 23rd/2nd, 4.0
Total offense — 13th/4th, 539.0
Turnover margin — 7th/3rd, 1.67
Turnovers lost — 1st/1st, 1
All purpose — D.J. Foster, 2nd/1st, 216.33
Passing efficiency — Taylor Kelly, 14th/6th, 168.1
Passing yards per completion — Taylor Kelly, 19th/4th, 14.88
Receiving yards per game — Jaelen Strong, 33rd/5th, 88.7
Rushing TDs — D.J. Foster, 10th/1st, 5
Rushing yards — D.J. Foster, 8th/1st, 510
Rushing yards per game — D.J. Foster, 5th/1st, 170.0
Scoring — D.J. Foster, 6th/1st, 12.0
Solo tackles – Damarious Randall, 3rd/2nd, 8.7
WE ARE THE YOUTH GONE WILD In a complete 180 from the strong veteran presence on the 2013 Sun Devil roster, the 2014 ASU squad will rely heavily on the youngsters to help lead the way as the season progresses. Entering the weekend, the Sun Devil two-deep depth chart features 26 freshmen and sophomores who could see playing time this season. That total ranks tied for 12th in the nation among Division I programs (Oklahoma State and Tulane lead with 32 underclassmen on the two-deep). In the opener, true freshmen DJ Calhoun and Tashon Smallwood each got the nod as starters, becoming just the seventh and eighth Sun Devils in program history to start in the season opener as true frosh, joining John Jefferson, Terrell Suggs, Zach Miler, Will Sutton, D.J. Foster and Jaxon Hood on the exclusive list.
SENIOR DISCOUNT With such an abundance of underclassmen set to make their presence felt this season, it should come as no surprise that there is a bit of a shortage on seniors. In fact, ASU’s senior class this season sits at 11 members - a tally that ranks tied for the second fewest total among all Division I institutions behind only Temple’s eight total seniors. The quality of those seniors is impressive however with eight of them appearing on the opening weekend two-deep depth chart and another set to participate on special teams. Even with the high percentage of total seniors seeing playing time, ASU’s eight seniors on the two-deep are tied for the fourth-lowest total in the nation behind only Temple and Tennessee (6) and Baylor (7). ASU had nine first-time starters in the opener (six on defense, three on offense) and has had 11 first-time D-I starters this season.
STRIKE FIRST Arizona State has scored first in 24 of the 30 games with Todd Graham at the helm and is now 19-5 in the Graham era when getting on the scoreboard first and 3-0 this season following the CU contest.
STRIKE FAST The quick-hitting offense has become a staple of the Todd Graham-coached Sun Devils, with 133 of ASU’s 177 offensive scoring drives under offensive coordinator Mike Norvell coming in three minutes or less (75.1 percent). Of ASU’s 22 scoring drives this season, only one came in longer than three minutes (3:07). ASU’s high-powered offense resonates with the high number of quick scoring drives, scoring in three minutes or less on 62 of the team’s 89 scoring drives in 2013 (70.0 percent). There was a direct correlation between the time of ASU’s scoring drives in 2013 and the points per scoring drive as well. When ASU scored in three minutes or less, it averaged 6.2 points per drive. When the drive lasted longer than three minutes, ASU’s average dropped to 5.4 points per drive. In ASU’s 14 drives in 2013 lasting longer than four minutes, the team averaged just 4.3 points per score.
START STRONG...FINISH STRONG The Sun Devils have now outscored their opposition 331-146 in the first quarter under Todd Graham and have a whopping 53-7 scoring edge in the first quarter in games played this season. The Sun Devils are 15-1 under Graham when holding their opposition scoreless in the first as they have done against both Weber State and Colorado this year. ASU improved to 19-0 when leading at halftime with Graham as head coach following the CU contest as well. ASU’s 18.0 points per first quarter against FBS opponents this season is currently ranked second nationally.
FOSTER THE PEOPLE D.J. Foster is the only returning player in the nation to amass 400+ receiving AND rushing yards last year and his nine career receving touchdowns are the most among all active running backs. He also had a knack for getting to the first down marker and finished tied for second on the team with 53 first downs on 156 touches last season (34.0 percent). This season, Foster leads the team with 18 rushing first downs of ASU’s 35 total rushing first downs this season and has 23 total first downs with receptions added. Of his 65 touches this season, 27, have resulted in ‘money plays’ or plays resulting in a first down or touchdown. Last season, Foster was second on the team in all-purpose yardage with 1,170 yards in 2013 (501 on the ground. 653 by air and 16 on KR). Foster made his mark in the receiving game in 2013 with 63 grabs for 653 yards (10.4 ypc), ranking second on the team in both categories. The 63 receptions set a new school record for catches by a running back.
GO D.J., THAT’S MY D.J. With 216 rushing yards against UNM, Foster became the first Sun Devil since to rush for over 200 yards in a game since Delvon Flowers rushed for 226 yards against Oregon State in 2001. He became just the third Sun Devil since 1994 to rush for over 200 yards in a game out of the 20 total 200-yard rushers in ASU history and his 216 yards are tied for the ninth-highest total in program history. Foster has racked up five 100+ yard rushing games in his last six games and has nine rushing touchdowns in that span. He had zero 100+ yard rushing games in his previous 24 games with just four rushing touchdowns. Foster’s ability to rack up the big runs has been huge for the team this season. He has four rushes of 40 or more yards this season, which is more than 48 total teams have accounted for even with passing plays added into the mix. Since at least 2000, only Keegan Herring (2007) had four 40+ yard rushes in a season - a feat it took Foster just three games to tie. Foster is averaging 9.44 yards per carry this season, the second highest average for a back with 40 or more carries on the year.
RUN, D.J., RUN Foster is currently eight in the nation and first in the league with 510 rushing yards this season while his 170.0 rushing yards per game are fifth nationally and first in the Pac-12. Foster has 18 “explosive” plays this season (14 12+ yard rushes, four 16+ yard receptions) to lead the team. He already has four rushes of over 40 yards this season, notable as no Sun Devil had more than two in the entirety of last season. Foster also holds the nation’s third-longest active streak for games with over 100 yards from scrimmage at six and is tied for 11th nationally in consecutive games with a reception at 30 - every game he has played in his ASU career - and is the only running back on the list.
A STRONG START Jaelen Strong wasted no time picking things up where he left off in the opener, hauling in 10 passes for 146 yards in just a single half of action. As far as openers go, only Mike Jones’ six catches for 162 yards in 2008 vs. NAU and Keith Poole’s nine catches for 162 yards in 1995 against UW were more prolific stat-wise in the past two decades. Last year, The junior college transfer led the team in receptions and yards with 75 grabs for 1,122 yards (5.4 rpg/80.1 ypg) and seven touchdowns in 2013. In his first four games, Strong made his mark by posting the best four starts of any receiver in term of yards and receptions in school history. Prior to Strong, no Sun Devil wide receiver in history had posted more than one 100+ yard game in their first four starts. Strong now has eight 100-yard receiving games in his career, trailing only Derek Hagan (18) and Shaun McDonald (12) for the most 100-yard receiving games in program history.
THE FORCE IS STRONG Just as impressive as Jaelen Strong’s statistics were, his ability to make catches when they count can’t be overlooked. Of Strong’s 19 receptions this season, 14 have gone for a first down and two have been touchdowns. ASU has 35 first downs by way of passing this season, meaning Strong has accounted for over half of those. Last season, a total of 47 of his receptions went for first downs while he also drew 10 pass interference penalties against opposing defenses (six of which resulted in first downs, four were declined as they were all still caught for either a first down, touchdown or two-point conversion), thus playing a role in 53 of ASU’s 340 total first downs last season. Additionally, Strong was second on the team in explosive plays (rushes over 12 yards and receptions over 16 yards) with 29 last season. He has seven such plays this season.
DON’T CROSS THAT LINE ASU prides itself on its aggressive defense under Todd Graham and tackles for loss and no-yardage plays play a big role in that. Against CU, ASU had nine tackles for loss, one stop at the line of scrimmage and forced 19 incomplete passes for a total of 29 plays that did not earn a single yard out of the 91 total plays run by the Weber State offense (31.9 percent). In 2013, the ASU defense had 101 tackles for loss and held offenses to 353 plays (out of 942 by the opposition) that did not earn positive yardage (including incomplete passes) - a 37.4 percentage rate of plays run from the line of scrimmage. In 2012, ASU forced 117 tackles for a loss of 497 total yards in 2012 - a 9.00 TFL per game mark that led the nation. All told, in three seasons under Graham, ASU has forced 765 plays that have not resulted in positive yardage out of 2,115 total plays (36.2 percent).
LIGHT ‘EM UP ASU racked up 58 points against UNM, marking the 10th time since Todd Graham and Mike Norvell arrived in Tempe that the team accomplished the feat. To put that in perspective, ASU eclipsed 50 points 10 times total in the previous 10 years before the current coaching regime (2001-11). Putting points on the scoreboard won’t typically be a problem with Norvell heading the offense, as ASU eclipsed 50 points six times in games in 2013, breaking the school record held by the 1973 team. ASU went 86 games without scoring 60 from 2005-2011. Under Coach Graham it has scored 60 three times (63 NAU, 62 Navy, 62 USC). The Sun Devils finished 10th nationally last at 39.7 points per game and scored 556 total points, just six points behind the 1972 school record. ASU is currently seventh nationally in scoring offense, averaging 47.0 points per game. ASU’s 43.7 points per game in non-conference games since 2012 is the seventh-highest average in the FBS in that time.
RETURNING FIRE Perhaps the most exciting part about last year’s offensive breakout is the fact that ASU returns a good majority of those players for the 2014 campaign. In fact, ASU is the only school in the Pac-12 Conference to return a 3,000+ yard passer (Kelly), a 1,000+ yard receiver (Strong) and two 500+ yard rushers (Kelly/Foster). The Sun Devils are actually one of just three teams in the entire country to lay such a claim with Houston and Marshall being the only others.
BETTER SUITED FOR HANDKERCHIEFS The Sun Devils don’t give referees much reason to reach for their pockets under Todd Graham. In each of his eight seasons as a head coach, Graham’s teams have been consistently ranked among in the top half of the least penalized teams in the country in both yards and penalties per game. The Sun Devils have just 16 penalties for 119 yards this season, ranked 40th in penalties per game and 25th penalty yards per game in D-I this season. In 2013, the Sun Devils finished eighth in fewest penalties (4.00) and seventh in fewest penalty yards per game (31.4).
MORE ON PENALTIES Todd Graham has had a knack for having some of the most disciplined teams in the nation when it comes to penalty yards. Seventeen of ASU’s 20 least penalized games since 2006 have come under Todd Graham. Since Todd Graham arrived at Arizona State, the Sun Devils have had just 127 penalties in 30 games (4.2 penalties per game). The Sun Devils were penalized just four times for 30 yards against UNM.
MAKE ‘EM PAY ASU isn’t in the habit of leaving points off the board following takeaways. The Sun Devils took advantage of three takeaways against CU for a 14-0 scoring advantage in points of takeaways, which also represented the winning margin of the game, and has outscored the opposition 35-7 in the category this year. In 2013, ASU outscored its opponents 146-42 on points off turnovers while posting a +15 takeaway number. ASU put 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. ASU had 18 touchdowns in 2013 on 33 opponent turnovers, aided by five interception returns for touchdowns. In 2012, the Sun Devil offense put points in the bank on 70.0 of its conversion opportunities, scoring 18 touchdowns off of 30 turnovers forced. ASU outscored opponents 139-58 in points off turnovers over the course of that year, despite posting just a middling +6 number in the takeaway category. That year, ASU’s opponents scored on just 41.7 percent of their drives following an ASU turnover and scored just seven touchdowns on 24 turnovers. In three years under Todd Graham, ASU has outscored opponents 310-107 in points off takeaways.
TURNOVER FACTORY The Sun Devils streak of 29 consecutive games forcing a turnover game to a hault against Weber State, bringing an end to what was the second-longest active streak in the nation. ASU has rebounded with six takeaways in the last two contests and hold a +5 takeaway margin this season and the 1.67 turnover margin in 2014 is ranked seventh nationally. Last season, ASU led the Pac-12 with 33 takeaways in 2013, finishing fifth nationally. The team was seventh nationally with a 1.1 turnover margin. The squad had forced 69 turnovers under Todd Graham in the last three seasons, the fifth-highest total in the country in that span. In the Pac-12, only Oregon, ASU and Washington have had a positive turnover ration in each of the last three seasons. Additionally, ASU is the only team in the league with at least 30 takeaways in each of those seasons.
GOLD ZONE One area that saw improvement last season for the Sun Devils was red zone offense, with ASU putting points on the board 91.3 percent of the time against FBS opponents in 2013, finishing sixth nationally in the category, as per TeamRankings.com. ASU has picked up where it left off so far this season, scoring on all 16 of its trips inside the red zone this season, racking up 13 touchdowns in that streak and leading the nation in the category. In 2012, ASU scored on just 76.1 percent of their drives inside the 20 and ranked a lowly 93rd in the nation against FBS opponents. On the flip side, ASU allowed its FBS opponents to score 88.9 percent of the time in 2013 when entering the red zone (ranked 106th nationally). ASU has held its opponents to six scores in nine red zone appearances this season (66.7 percent), good for 13th nationally.
WINNING THE BATTLE FOR FIELD POSITION The Sun Devils are largely exceptional when it comes to starting field position and continue to resonate a point Todd Graham makes about being successful in the field position battle to win games. Under Todd Graham, ASU has had an average starting yard line of its own 36.0 in 21 victories compared to a starting yard line of the 25.3 for their opponents in such contests. ASU has allowed just two drives to start inside its own territory thus far this season. Conversely, opponents have an average starting field position of their own 33.7 yard line compared to ASU starting at its own 29.2 in ASU’s nine 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). 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, though the squad dropped a bit to 32nd last season (average opp. starting yardline: 28.2). ASU had 10 scoring drives of 80 yards or longer in 2013, a notable feat as ASU had six such drives in the entirety of the 2012 season. ASU has had three such drives this season, including a school-record matching 99-yard drive against Weber State that was ASU’s longest drive since a 99-yard drive in 2008 against Northern Arizona.
CLOSING THINGS OUT ASU has outscored other teams 271-165 in the fourth quarter under Todd Graham. ASU finished 10th in the nation in points per fourth quarter in 2013 against FBS opposition (9.9) after finishing the 2012 season wtih 9.3 points per fourth quarter, which was good for eighth nationally. ASU’s 16.8 second-half points per game against FBS squads in 2013 was 24th nationally.
USE THEM WISELY Todd Graham doesn’t hesitate to use his alotted three timeouts per half when his squad is on defense, a coaching technique that has plenty of detractors. A closer look at the result of the play following those timeouts might quiet some, however. Since the start of the 2012 season, ASU has used 39 timeouts on defense in third down situations, forcing fourth down or a turnover on the ensuing play on 27 of those occassions (69.2 percent).
GOLD RUSH The Sun Devils rushing offense has been off with a bang thus far this season, averaging 304.3 yards per game thus far - the 11th-highest total in the nation. ASU put up 423 yards on the ground against UNM for its first 400+ yard rushing game since logging 405 against Oregon in 1997. The Sun Devils already have seven rushing plays over 40 yards this season and lead the nation in that category, notable as the squad had just five total 40+ yard rushes in the entirety of last season. ASU finished the 2012 season averaging 205.5 yards per game on the ground, which was the second-best mark in the past 25 seasons (since 1988). Only the 234.1 yards per game put up by the 1996 Sun Devils were better. It was a little bit of a slow start for the Sun Devils in 2013 but the team found its running legs by the end, averaging 191.4 yards per game and ranked 40th nationally. Even after ASU’s slow start to the season in the category, the squad still posted the fourth-highest single season rushing mark of the last 25 seasons. The Sun Devils are currently averaging 7.13 yards per rush this season, and ranked fourth nationally in the category and despite the early nature of things, it can be noted that ASU has not finished in the top 50 in yards per rush since before the 2008 season.
ROAD WARRIORS Winning away from home in college football is difficult, especially in conference games. Under Coach Todd Graham, ASU is beginning to assemble a pretty good resume of road/neutral site victories, collecting four in 2012 (at California, Colorado, Arizona and vs. Navy at the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl). In 2013, ASU garnered three straight road wins (at Washington State, at Utah and at #14 UCLA) and are winners of six of the last seven road games under Graham (five straight) and nine road wins in the past 14 road games for ASU, including seven Pac-12 Conference road wins in the past 10 Pac-12 road games. Prior to UNM, ASU had not won a non-conference road-game since defeating a then non-conference Colorado team in Boulder, 21-3, in 2006. ASU also had not won its first road game of the season since 2007 - a 41-3 rout over Stanford in Palo Alto. In four seasons prior to Todd Graham, ASU was 5-13 in conference road games while Graham has led the squad to a 7-3 record in such games in his three seasons at the helm.
EXPLOSIVE You’d be hard-pressed to listen to a Todd Graham press conference that didn’t involve the word “explosive” at some point as the head coach makes no attempt to hide the fact that that’s what he wants his team to be. 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 has 40 explosive plays (17 passing, 23 rushing) this season. ASU finished with 142 such plays in 2013 (82 passing, 60 rushing) and 165 (90 passing, 75 rushing) in 2012. The Sun Devils finished the season tied for seventh in the nation in plays longer than 20 yards in 2013 with 86 after having 72 in 2012, which was good for 19th in the country in the category. ASU is currently third nationally with nine plays over 40 yards this season and 26th nationally in plays of 20 or more yards with 21.
PROTECT THIS HOUSE With the victory in the opener, ASU is now 12-3 at Sun Devil Stadium under Todd Graham. With the loss to Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship, ASU finished last season with a 7-1 record at Sun Devil Stadium.. The 2013 season marked just the second time ASU has gone undefeated at home in the regular season in the past 16 seasons (since 1997), also going 6-0 in 2004. ASU also had a perfect record at home in ‘59, ‘64, ‘68, ‘70, ‘71, ‘73, ‘75, ‘81 and ‘96. After 13 games under Todd Graham, the Sun Devils have averaged 46.0 points per game at home,. The lowest score the Devils have recorded in a regular season home game under Graham is 21 against Oregon in 2012 - the only regular season game under Graham that ASU has scored less than 30 points - and ASU has scored 20 or more in 21 consecutive regular season home games, dating back to 2010. ASU’s 49.1 points per game at home in 2013 were sixth in the nation, just shy of the school record for scoring offense at home, which was 49.2 points set by the 1972 team. The Sun Devils are 269-98-3 (.727) all-time at Sun Devil Stadium since 1958, the 15th highest active winning percentage in a stadium among all FBS schools.
A BIG GAME Games between two highly ranked teams are not always commonplace at Sun Devil Stadium. Thursday’s contest represents the first regular season game between two AP-ranked teams in Tempe since 2007 (a 44-24 loss to then-No. 11 USC while ASU was ranked No. 7). In fact, in Sun Devil Stadium’s history there have only been 27 regular season games that featured two teams ranked in the AP Top 25. ASU will look for its highest win over a ranked opponent since 45-42 win at Oregon on Oct. 19, 2002 and also look for its highest win over a ranked opponent at home since 44-31 win over #10 Washington State on Nov. 1, 1997.
RUN THE CLOCK One of the biggest areas of improvement for the Sun Devils in 2013 was the clock management side of things. In 2012, ASU ranked seventh in the Pac-12 and 80th nationally in time of possession, holding the ball an average of 29:15 per game. In 2013, ASU averaged 30:21 minutes of possession time per game - a total that ranked fourth in the conference and 51st nationally. ASU had 31:11 minutes of possession in the opener to Weber State’s 28:49. The team had 13 scoring drives over four minutes in 2013, compared to just three in 2012. “So, ASU’s offense scores fast and thus time of possession is irrelevent,” you say? Not so fast, my friend. ASU is 12-2 when leading in time of possession under Todd Graham compared to a 9-7 record when trailing in the time of possession category.
IN-ZANE IN THE MEMBRANE Zane Gonzalez had a nice hot streak in 2013, hitting 18 straight field goals beginning with the USC game on September 28 before missing one in the Pac-12 Championship game against Stanford. The Deer Park, Texas, product did, however, earn Pac-12 First Team honors for his incredible season. Gonzalez finished the year hitting 25 of 30 field goals (83.3 percent) and booted 63 of 65 extra points. Gonzalez finished No. 10 in the nation in scoring at 9.9 points per game and led the Pac-12 kick scoring category by a large margin. The next kicker on the list was Stanford’s Jordan Williamson at 8.8. His 138 points by kick scoring were No. 1 in the Pac-12, far ahead of No. 2 Travis Coons of Colorado (107 points). Gonzalez was No. 1 in the Pac-12 in field goals at 1.7 per game. Gonzalez led the Pac-12 with 25 field goals, seven ahead of Williamson’s 18 field goals this season. Gonzalez was named one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, given annually to the nation’s top kicker. Gonzalez is averaging 9.0 points per game thus far this season, tied for 26th among the nations kickers..
FG-onzal-EZ Gonzalez finished with 138 points last season, breaking the long-standing school record in the category that was previous held by Wilford White’s 136 in 1950. Gonzalez’s 138 points demolished the previous scoring record by an ASU kicker that was 118, set by Thomas Weber (2007) and Mike Barth (2002). With 25 field goals last season, Gonzalez tied the NCAA freshman record of 25 that was set by UCLA’s Kai Forbath in 2007 (25-30) and made more field goals than any other player in the FBS in the process and four more than any other freshman in the nation. Gonzalez is current the NCAA active D-I leader in field goals made per game in a career at 1.65.
SIMONE SAYS Safety Jordan Simone had the game of a lifetime against Colorado, logging a team-leading 13 tackles to go along with his first career interception and fumble forced. He also had a key fourth down goalline stop in the game to essentially count for three Buffalo turnovers. His 13 tackles were the fourth-highest single-game tally by a Todd Graham coached Sun Devil in the past three seasons (Damarious Randall had 17 at Notre Dame last season, Brandon Magee had 17 at Arizona in 2012 and Chris Young had 14 at Utah last season).
MAKE SURE THE SAFETY IS ON ASU’s starting safeties Damarious Randall and Jordan Simone have been doing their part as the last line of defense for the Sun Devils. The duo leads the team in tackles with 27 and 23, respectively, while Randall has posted 26 solo tackles and a 8.7 solo tackles per game tally that currently ranks third in the nation (Simone is 27th at 6.0 per game).
TODD-BITS OF INFO Over his four seasons prior to coming to ASU -- one at Pittsburgh and three at Tulsa -- Todd Graham’s teams rushed the ball on at least 53.4 percent of their total plays. The 2012 Sun Devils rushed the ball on 59.1 percent of their total plays followed by a 55.2 percent tally in 2013. In 2011, ASU rushed just 44.5 percent of the time. Over the past eight seasons at Pitt, Tulsa, Rice and now ASU, only one Graham-coached team has ranked outside the top 50 nationally in sacks. The Sun Devils averaged 4.0 sacks per game in 2012, the second-best mark in the nation, and then 2.9 in 2013 to finish 17th nationally in the category. In eight seasons, Graham is 25-22 in true road games. ASU was 3-3 in such games in 2012 and 3-2 in road games in 2013. In the previous four seasons prior to Graham’s arrival, ASU was 5-16. In seven of the past eight years, Graham’s teams have ranked 39th or better nationally in fewest penalty yards per game. The Sun Devils averaged only 34.92 penalty yards per game in 2012, which was good for eighth in the nation, and bettered that in 2013 at just 31.36 penalty yards per game (seventh nationally).
HANG 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.
TODD’S WINNING WAYS At one point ranked 11th in the AP Poll, Todd Graham achieved his highest ranking as a head coach in his career in 2013. The team also peaked at 11th in the BCS standings, also a new high for Graham. Graham has won 20 games in his first three seasons at Arizona State. To put that into perspective, its took Frank Kush until the third game of his third season to reach the 20-win plateau whereas it took Graham until the second game of his third season. Of all the coaching hires made in prior to the 2012 season, Graham has posted the fifth-best record at 21-9, one game behind UCLA’s Jim Mora at 22-8 and half a game behind and Fresno State’s Tim DeRuyter (21-8) with only Urban Meyer (25-3) and Kevin Sumlin (32-6) ahead of them.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE The Sun Devils’ 10 wins in 2013 were made even more impressive by the fact that the team held the nation’s sixth toughest schedule based on the winning percentage of opponents played. ASU’s non-FCS opponents in 2013 posted a 84-50 record on the season (62.7) and marked the toughest schedule played by a Pac-12 institution.
TAKING DOWN THE TOP ASU was 3-2 last season against team’s ranked in the AP Top-25 Poll. ASU defeated No. 20 Wisconsin, No. 20 Washington and No. 14 UCLA in 2013 while losing to Stanford twice. ASU’s three victories were the most since 1997 when the team went 3-1 against teams ranked in the AP poll. The school record for AP wins is five, set by the 1986 Rose Bowl team. ASU’s current schedule has the team on a collision course with potentially three consecutive AP Top-25 teams, a streak that ASU has faced only twice in program history.
SCHOLAR-BALLERS The Sun Devils have had a recent history of putting numerous student-athletes on the field that have already earned their degrees and the 2014 roster is no different. ASU will feature eight players this season that have earned their undergraduate degrees and will be pursuing graduate coursework. That total ranks in a tie for 13th nationally and is tops amoung Pac-12 institutions. Additionally. ASU has 40 student-athletes on its roster that are members of Sun Devil Athletics’ Scholar-Baller Program, which honors athletes who maintain over a 3.00 GPA in the classroom.
WINNING BY WAY OF TKO (TAYLOR KELLY OFFENSE) Following the CU contest (13-for-21, 195 yards, three TDs, no INTs), Taylor Kelly now has 7,390 career passing yards, good for fourth in school history and closing in on Jake Plummer for third. His three TD passes against Colorado also give him 63 for his career, good for fifth in school history and just one behind Danny White for fourth. In 14 games in 2013, Kelly had 3,635 passing yards and averaged 259.6 yards per game, both ranked in the top five in school history. He is just the second Sun Devil to have multiple seasons with 3,000+ passing yards behind only Andrew Walter (3). Statistically, the team relies heavily on Kelly’s ball protection, as ASU is 6-8 with Kelly as the starter when he throws an interception, compared to a 15-1 record when he doesn’t - the lone loss coming in the Pac-12 Championship game last season against Stanford. All six of the victories with interceptions came in 2013, showing an improved ability to overcome adversity at the hands of turnovers. Kelly finished last season ranked 13th nationally in points responsible for with 222 (28 passing TDs, nine rushing), breaking the previous school record in the category of 198 previously set by Mike Pagel in 1981. Kelly is responsible for 75 touchdowns in his career (63 passing, 12 rushing) - good for the fourth-highest total among all ASU quarterbacks
VETERAN LEADERSHIP There won’t be a lot of turnover in the Pac-12 this season at the quarterback position. All but two teams return their starting quarterback from last season. Even with that in mind, Kelly is currently tied with UCLA’s Brett Hundley with the second-most career starts for a QB in the conference at 30. Only Sean Mannion (34) has more starts in his career, leading the nation’s active quarterbacks in the category. In fact, among all power conference programs, only Rutgers’ Gary Nova (31 starts) has more than Kelly and Hundley following the injury to Ohio State’s Braxton Miller (34 career starts would have led the country entering the season).
HE’S GOT LEGS, AND HE KNOWS HOW TO USE THEM Taylor Kelly has done plenty to get it done through the air, but its his aptitude in the running game that has made him as potent a quarterback. Kelly has rushed 19 times for 168 yards (8.8 ypc) with two TDs this season. His ability to extend plays has been exceptional from the start, as demonstrated by his 516 net rushing yards on 134 attempts in 2012 - a mark skewed by the fact that sacks count against a quarterback’s rushing totals. If you take out sacks, Kelly would have led the team in yardage and yards per carry with 690 net rushing yards in 2012 on 103 carries (6.7 ypc). Sacks aside in 2013, Kelly had 826 rushing yards on 134 attempts (6.2 ypc) and was on fire in the final nine games with nine rushing touchdowns while rushing for 599 yards (sacks excluded) on 106 carries (5.7 yards per rush). Those nine touchdowns were notable as Kelly had just one rushing touchdown in 18 games prior to the season-ending streak. Kelly was second on the team last season with 43 rushes for first down, trailing only Marion Grice (45). He was also second on the team in “explosive plays” on the ground (rushes of 12 or more yards) with 18 in 2013, trailing only Marion Grice’s 19. Kelly has 1,316 rushing yards in his career - the second most of any ASU quarterback in program history. Additionally, Kelly has now punted 15 times in his career, with 11 of those being downed inside of the 20-yard line - including one in the opener against Weber State.
TAYLOR MADE ON THIRfD DOWN The senior quarterback led the team in third down rushes in 2013 with 30. Fifteen of those went for a first down and six for for a touchdown, more than the entire team had combined on third down on the season, rushing or receiving (3). Kelly averaged a team leading 7.6 yards per rush on third down and finished tied for second nationally in touchdown rushes on third down with six. Kelly has rushed three on third down this season, logging one first down and averaging a team-leading 6.7 yards per rush on thos attempts..