ASU Football Hosts Homecoming Weekend Against Washington

THE GAME - The Arizona State University Sun Devil football team seeks to end a three-game losing streak this weekend as it welcomes the Washington Huskies to Sun Devil Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 14.  The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. MT/12 p.m. PT kickoff in Tempe, Ariz., and will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks. 

THE HUSKIES  - There has been no team in the Pac-12 in the last decade that ASU has had the number of more than the Huskies. Riding a nine-game winning streak against UW - tied for the third-longest active winning streak by one conference opponent over another - the Sun Devils will look to extend that mark to 10 straight on Saturday and increase their series lead over Washington to 18-15.  

Washington comes into the weekend looking for a kickstart to the final quarter of the season like the Sun Devils with an eerily similar 4-5 record and 2-4 mark in the Pac-12 while losing three of the last four. The Huskies have played inspired ball of late, however, crushing Arizona at home in a 49-3 rout while hanging tough with Pac-12 South leading Utah this past weekend in a tought 34-23 loss. 

The Huskies have the top scoring defense in the Pac-12 (25th nationally), allowing opponents to a measly 18.8 points per game this season.  That defense is giving up just 358.4 total yards of offense to the opposition, good for second in the conference 38th nationally. 

Unfortunately for UW, the offense hasn’t exatly matched those numbers, currently 11th out of 12 Pac-12 teams with just 354.2 yards per game - ranked 103rd nationally.  

THE PAC-12 - Both teams are looking build some momentum for the last quarter of the season, as a win would put either suqad back at .500 overall and bring either team within one game of bowl eligibility. 

In the past two-plus seasons, ASU has responded in an exemplary fashion following its first conference loss of the season - in the conference opener against Stanford in 2013, the second game of conference play against UCLA in 2014 and the first Pac-12 game this season against USC - compiling a 15-5 conference record following those losses.

AN ASU VICTORY WOULD...  

• Improve the Sun Devils to 18-15 all-time against the Huskies.
• Give the Sun Devils their 10th straight victory over UW, as and its current nine-game streak is tied for the third longest active streak by one conference opponent over another in the Pac-12.
• Be the sixth straight victory over UW at Sun Devil Stadium.
• Improve Todd Graham to 3-0 at ASU against UW.
• Improve ASU to 8-2 under Todd Graham in games following a loss in the regular season since losing four straight in the latter half of 2012.
• Bring the Sun Devils back to .500 overall and end a three-game losing streak, its longest since that four-game streak in 2012 and only multi-game winning streak in that time. 
• Bring ASU within one game of becoming bowl eligible for the fourth straight season under Todd Graham, a feat no other ASU coach has accomplished in his first 4 seasons.

ON THE AIR

Hear the hometown call with broadcaster Tim Healey and color analyst Jeff Van Raaphorst as well as sideline reporter Doug Franz 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, 620 AM KTAR and 92.3 KTAR News FM. This week’s game will broadcast on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. The hometown call will be on Sirius Channel 137/XM Channel 197. 

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION

Saturday’s contest will be the fourth game this season that will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks. Kevin Calabro will be on the call alongside analyst Yogi Roth while Lewis Johnson will provide insight from the sidelines.  ASU is 13-1 all-time on games played on the Pac-12 Networks. 

The Pac-12 will again provide access to Armed Forces Network for carriage of Pac-12 football games in 2015 for the benefit of the men and women in the military.

#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)

1. D.J. Foster has at least one reception in 49 consecutive games, the longest active streak in FBS and the new @Pac12 record. 

2. The Sun Devils are 12-1 all-time on games that have been broadcast on the @Pac12Networks. 

3. Mike Bercovici is responsible for 144 of ASU’s 283 points this season (51 percent) with 19 passing TDs and five rushing TDs. 

4. The Sun Devils are one of just five teams nationally with six or more players with at least 20 receptions this season. 

5. The @FootballASU roster has accounted for 18 instances of players accounting for 100+ all-purpose yards. Had just 16 last season. 

6.  39 of Gonzalez’s 54 kickoffs have been touchbacks (72.2 percent), notable as just 20/55 opponent KOs have been touched back (36.4 percent). 

7. Demario Richard has eclipsed 100 all-purpose yards in seven of his eight games this season and rushed for 100+ in five of those.

8. ASU is 8-3 in its last 11 true road games and have won 10 of the last 16 @Pac12 road contests. 

9. Kareem Orr’s (@ReemKnows1) four interceptions this season are the most for a freshman since David Fulcher in 1983 (also 4). 

10. Kalen Ballage has 211 yards on 16 carries in the last two games. Had 183 on 53 carries (3.5 ypc) in first four games.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

• Wide receiver D.J. Foster extended his streak of at least one reception to 49 games against Washington State and claimed solo possession of the Pac-12 record previously held by USC’s Kareem Kelly (48, 1999-2002).
• The second half of games have been a bit of a mystery for the Sun Devils this season. ASU is getting outscored 95-66 (-29) in the fourth quarter of games this year after outscoring the opposition 88-51 (+27) in the third quarter. ASU has held a lead in the fourth quarter of each of its last three games before eventually falling in those contests.
• ASU’s roster has combined for 18 occurrences of a player eclipsing 100 all-purpose yards in a game this season, compared to 16 times in all of 2014.
• The Sun Devils are one of just four teams nationally with six or more receivers with over 20 receptions this season. To put that in perspective, ASU had just three players in the entire 2014 season accomplish the feat.
• Kareem Orr’s four interceptions this season are the most for a freshman at ASU since David Fulcher also had four in 1983.
• ASU has held five conference opponents under 100 rushing yards this season (USC, UCLA, Colorado, Utah and WSU). The last time that occured was 2007.

STRIKE FIRST

• Arizona State has scored first in 34 of the 49 games with Todd Graham at the helm and is 27-7 in the Graham era when getting on the scoreboard first. 
• The Sun Devils are currently 4-1 when scoring first this season, doing so vs. Cal Poly, UNM, UCLA and Colorado. ASU was 7-1 when scoring first last season.

STRIKE FAST

• 199 of ASU’s 273 offensive scoring drives under offensive coordinator Mike Norvell have come in three minutes or less (72.9 percent). 
• Of ASU’s 44 scoring drives this season in regulation, 31 have come in under three minutes (70.5 percent).

GETTING STARTED ON THE RIGHT FOOT

• The Sun Devils have outscored their opposition 447-234 in the first quarter under Todd Graham.
• The Sun Devils are 21-2 under Graham when holding their opposition scoreless in the first quarter and are 3-1 this season when doing so.
• A strong second half start is also important and ASU has outscored the opposition 88-51 in the third quarter of games this year, ranked 10th nationally with 11.0 points per third quarter against FBS teams this season. 
• The Sun Devils were 36th nationally against FBS teams in 2014 in giving up just 5.1 points per first quarter while being 31st with 8.0 points scored per first. 
• ASU has posted an impressive 28-2 overall record under Graham when leading at halftime.

FOSTER THE PEOPLE

• D.J. Foster has the ninth-most career receptions of all active FBS players with 208 and his 11 receiving TDs as a running back were most among all active FBS running backs prior to his position switch.
• Foster now has 4,629 career all-purpose yards (2,303 rushing, 2,310 receiving, 16 return) and finds himself ranked sixth among all active players in the category. That comes despite having just 16 career return yards - a category that is the bread and butter among many leaders in the all-purpose category (four players ranked ahead of him have over 1,000 yards in returns).
• With 62 receptions in 2014, Foster became just the third player in program history to log 60 or more receptions. He leads the team with 45 receptions this season and has 208 in his career, good for second all-time among Sun Devil receivers behind Derek Hagan (258).

GO D.J., THAT’s MY D.J.

• Foster is the only active FBS players who has accounted for over 2,000 career rushing yards (2,303) AND over 1,500 career receiving yards (2,310). 
• Foster became just the fifth player in NCAA history to reach 2,000+ rushing AND receiving yards against USC, joining Stanford’s Darrin Nelson, Tulane’s Mewelde Moore, Texas Tech’s Taurean Henderson and Houston/West Virginia’s Charles Sims. Should he reach 2,400 yards in both, he would be the first Division I player to accomplish the feat.
• Foster has the nation’s longest active streak of games with a reception at 49 - every game he’s played as a Sun Devil - moving ahead of USC’s Kareem Kelly (1999-2002) for the Pac-12 record against WSU.

DON’T CROSS THAT LINE

• Against WSU, ASU forced 19 incomplete passes, three tackles for loss and no plays for no gain. As a result, 22 of Oregon’s 72 plays from scrimmage (30.6 percent) did not result in positive yardage.
• This season, ASU has forced 240 negative or no-yardage plays out of 647 run by the opposition (37.1 percent)
• Under Graham, ASU has forced 1,258 plays that have not resulted in positive yardage out of 3,507 total plays (35.9 percent).

SERIOUSLY, DON’T CROSS IT

• With 79 tackles for loss this season, ASU’s 8.8 tackles per loss per game are ranked fifth nationally and first in the Pac-12.
• ASU’s is also averaging 3.56 sacks per game this season, a total that ranks fourth nationally and first in the conference.
• Entering the game against Washington, ASU is first in the Pac-12 and second in the nation (Clemson) with an average of 8.08 TFL per game under Graham and one of two teams in the nation with more than 395 total tackles for loss (Clemson). They rank first in that time with 3.31 sacks per game.

LIGHT ‘EM UP

• ASU has scored 50 or more points 13 times since Todd Graham and Mike Norvell arrived in Tempe.  
• 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). 
• ASU finished 2014 ranked 16th nationally in scoring offense, averaging 36.9 points per game.
• The Sun Devils finished August/September ranked 93rd nationally in averaging just 25.0 points per game. In October, ASU was 23rd with 39.8 points per game.

SUPER DEMARIO

• Demario Richard has eclipsed 100 all purpose yards in all but one of his eight games this season and rushed for over 100 in all but two.
• Richard now has 13 touchdowns in his past nine games dating back to the Sun Bowl last season (he did not play at Utah).
• Richard became just the fourth FBS player since 1996 to eclipse 150 receiving and 100 rushing yards in a game (UNM) and is just the second player in Pac-12 history to do so.
• Richard is currently 36th nationally and fourth in the Pac-12 in averaging 130.00 all-purpose yards per game.
• Of Demario Richard’s 1040 yards from scrimmage this season, 478 have come after first contact (46.0 percent/2.9 yards per touch).

BERC-ING FOR THE WEEKEND

• Mike Bercovici is responsible for 144 of ASU’s 283 points this season (50.9 percent). He has 19 passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns, making up 24 of ASU’s 34 total offensive touchdowns this season.
• With two games this season with five touchdown passes, Bercovici is tied with Taylor Kelly for second at ASU with three career games with 5+ TD passes, trailing only Andrew Walter’s record of four. 
• Oddly enough, Bercovici has three of ASU’s four longest TD rushes this season. His career-long 34-yard scamper against UCLA topped a 19-yard rush in the opener against Texas A&M. He added an 18-yarder against UO.
• Even more oddly, Bercovici’s three touchdown rushes over 15 yards are equal to the number of such touchdown rushes as Taylor Kelly had in his career.

LIKE MIKE

• Mike Bercovici enters the weekend in the national top-30 in completions per game (12th/24.33), passing touchdowns (20th/19), passing yards (21st/2,473), passing yards per game (25th/274.8), points responsible for (18th/144) and points responsible for per game (17th/16.0).
• Bercovici has shown his chops as far as being able to spread the ball around this season. In each of ASU’s first six games this season, a different player led the team in total receiving yards (Jefferson/Lucien/Richard/Chambers/Foster/White). Last year, just three players led the team in the category throughout the season
• ASU is one of just five schools nationally with at least five players with 20  or more receptions this season, also a testament of Bercovici’s ability to spread the ball.  Only three players eclipsed the tally in 2014.
• ASU has six players with 200+ receiving yards this season, compared to having four in the entirety of last season.
• Out of all the players on last year’s team with a reception that weren’t named Jaelen Strong or D.J. Foster, there were 137 total receptions made on the season. Bercovici, in his limited action, was responsible for 61 of those passes (44.5 percent).

TAKING OFFENSE

• Entering the game against Washington, ASU ranks second in the Pac-12 and tenth in the nation at 37.10 points per game in the Todd Graham era.
• ASU ranks second in the Pac-12 and 10th in the nation with 1,818 total points in that time.
• That said, ASU already has three games this season scoring under 20 points in a game, compared to just one in the entirely of 2014.

MAKE ‘EM PAY

• Under Todd Graham, ASU has outscored opponents 448-215 in points off takeaways, though it uncharacteristically trails 58-31 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) 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 101 turnovers under Todd Graham in the past four seasons, which is tied for the eighth-highest total in the country in that span.
• ASU has 11 interception returns for touchdowns under Graham, compared to posting just four total in the previous three seasons prior to 2012. The total currently leads the nation in for the most interception returns for touchdown in that span and ASU has added three fumble returns in the span as well for a NCAA-leading total of 14 defensive touchdowns in the last four seasons.

TURNOVER FACTORY

• Entering the game against Washington, ASU ranked second in the Pac-12 and eleventh in the nation with a .59 average turnover margin per game since Graham took over the helm and was second in the Pac-12 and tenth in the nation with a plus-29 total turnover margin (Oregon, Michigan State, Houston, Baylor, Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Boise State, Louisville, Louisiana Tech).
• Also entering vs. Washington, ASU was first in the Pac-12 and sixth in the nation with an average of 1.31 interceptions per game (Houston, TCU, Boise State, Louisville, Louisiana Tech) since 2012 and is second in the Pac-12 and seventh in the nation with 64 total interceptions (Houston, Boise State, TCU, Louisville, Ohio State, Oregon).

KICKING THE HABIT

• A total of 49 of Zane Gonzalez’s 54 kickoffs this season have gone into the endzone and 39 have been touchbacks (72.2 percent), notable as just 20 of 55 opponent kicks have been touched back (36.4 percent).
• ASU had just 33 touchbacks for the entire season in 2014.
• Of Matt Haack’s 47 punts this season, just 11 have actually been returned and eight of those were for an average of just 3.0 yards per punt. With the exception of four returns of 79 yards, 45 yards, 40 and 30 yards, and including fair catches, balls out of bounds and kicks downed, opponents have gained a measly 1.5 yards per ASU punting play this season.
• Overall, ASU has only had 25 kicks or punts returned against them this season out of 104 total (24.0 percent). The 25 returns are the sixth-fewest given up by any FBS team this season (UCLA leads the country with just 18 returns against on 108 kicks).

WINNING THE BATTLE FOR FIELD POSITION

• Under Todd Graham, ASU has had an average starting yard line of its own 35.1 in 32 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 32.1 yard line compared to ASU starting at its own 28.2 in ASU’s 17 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.

SEAL THE DEAL

• ASU has outscored other teams 475-385 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 are averaging 17.5 second half points per game this season against FBS opponents, good for 21st nationally.
• ASU has struggled in the second half, however, given up 17.4 second half points per game to opponents, the 24th worst total nationally.
• ASU has been outscored 95-66 in the 4th quarter of games this season after outscoring opponents 88-51 in the third quarter of games. The Devils have lost a 4th quarter lead in each of the last three games (all losses).

ROAD WARRIORS

• The Sun Devils are winners of eight of the last 12 true road contests. 
• ASU has 12 wins in the past 21 road games, including 10 Pac-12 Conference road wins in the past 17. 
• 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 10-7 in Pac-12 road games at ASU, notable as the Devils were 5-13 in four seasons prior. 
• The Sun Devils have won their Los Angeles games in each of the last three seasons (UCLA in ‘13, USC in ‘14, UCLA in ‘15). Only once before in the Pac-12 era (‘91-’93/USC/UCLA/UCLA) has ASU accomplished that.

T.N.T., WE’RE DYNAMITE

• The Sun Devils have a classification of “explosive plays” that equal a run of 12 or more yards or a passing play of 16 or more yards.  ASU had 10 such plays against WSU and 83 this season (9.2 per game).
• ASU is currently 27th nationally in plays over 10 yards this season with 150 and 44th in 30+ yard plays at 21.
• ASU finished 24th nationally with 20 plays over 40 yards in 2014 after having just 16 total in 2013 and eight the year before.  ASU was 26th nationally in plays of 20 or more yards with 71.
• The Sun Devils finished 2013 tied for seventh in the nation in plays longer than 20 yards with 86 after having 72 in 2012, which was good for 19th in the country in the category. 

BETTER SUITED FOR HANDKERCHIEFS

• Despite some atypical penalties this season, the Sun Devils are still ranked in the top-10 in all the fewest penalty/fewest penalty yards per game categories: 10th in fewest penalties (39), 10th in fewest penalties per game (4.3), sixth in fewest penalty yards (339) and seventh in fewest penalty yards per game (37.67)
• 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). 
• Entering the game vs. Washington, ASU ranks first in the Pac-12 and second in the nation with an average of 33.84 penalty yards per game (Navy) under Graham and ranks first in the Pac-12 and fifth in the nation with an average of 4.27 penalties per game.

ON THEIR BEST BEHAVIOR

• 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 208 penalties in 49 games (4.24 penalties per game).

PROTECT THIS HOUSE

• ASU is 19-6 at Sun Devil Stadium under Todd Graham.
• In 25 regular season home games under Todd Graham, the Sun Devils have averaged 42.3 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 276-101-3 (.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 21-12 in Pac-12 games since 2012, just behind UCLA (22-11) for the best tally in the Pac-12 South in the past 3+ seasons.
• ASU is 16-8 in Pac-12 games in the past two-plus seasons, tied UCLA (15-8) and just ahead of USC (16-9) for tops in the Pac-12 South. 
• ASU has finished first or second in each of the last three seasons in the final Pac-12 South standings.

USE THEM WISELY

• Since the start of the 2012 season, ASU has used 55 timeouts on defense in third down situations, and have forced a turnover or not allowed a first down on the ensuing play on 37 of those occasions (67.3 percent).

IN-ZANE IN THE MEMBRANE 

• Zane Gonzalez is currently fifth among active FBS players in averaging 9.4 points per game in his career.  Lousiana Tech’s Kenneth Dixson leads all active players at 11.0 points per game. Additionally, he is third among all active kickers with an average of 1.71 field goals made in his career (WVU’s Josh Lambert has 1.81 to lead).
• Gonzalez has scored at least one point in each of the 37 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.
• Zane Gonzalez averaged 9.8 points per game in 2014, ranked 12th nationally and four among kickers while sitting first overall in the Pac-12. His 81.5 percent field goal percentage on 22-of-27 kicking was 22nd 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.

FG-ONZAL-EZ

• Gonzalez has 60 field goals to his credit in his career, one of just four Sun Devil kickers to surpass 50 and currently third all-time at ASU.
• With 329 career points, Gonzalez is currently third in the ASU record books in the category with his sights set on Thomas Weber’s 340 career points total that sit second all time. 
• Gonzalez finished with 138 points in 2013, breaking the long-standing school record in the category that was previous held by Wilford White’s 136 in 1950. Those 138 points demolished the previous scoring record by an ASU kicker of 118 by Thomas Weber (2007) and Mike Barth (2002). 
• 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 finished with 118 points in 2014, good for a tie for fourth all-time on ASU’s single season scoring list.  

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 and a 52.1 percent in 2014. In 2011, ASU rushed just 44.5 percent of the time.
• Over the past nine 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 finished with 2.9 per game in 2013 and 3.0 per game in 2014 to finish 17th and 13th, respectively, in the country.
• In nine seasons, Graham is 29-24 in true road games. ASU was 3-3 in such games in 2012, 3-2 in 2013 and 4-2 in 2014 (10-7 overall).  In the previous four seasons prior to Graham’s arrival, ASU was 5-16 in true road contests.
• In eight of the past nine years, Graham’s teams have ranked 39th or better nationally in fewest penalty yards per game. The Sun Devils averaged 34.92 penalty yards per game in 2012 (eighth nationally), 31.36 per game in 2013 (seventh nationally) and 32.38 per game in 2014 (fourth nationally).

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 7-3 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 THE 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 is notable because in the previous two seasons, ASU had just five combined games where it did not turn the ball over. 
• ASU is now 10-1 under Todd Graham in games where it does not have a turnover.

TODD’s WINNING WAYS

• Graham has won 32 games in his first four seasons at Arizona State, becoming just the third Sun Devil coach outside Frank Kush and Darryl Rogers to accomplish the 30-win feat by his fourth season.
• He has become the only ASU head coach to reach a bowl game in each of his first three seasons at the school outside of John Cooper. 
• He has has led ASU to three consecutive eight win seasons for the first time since 1971-73. 
• Of all the coaching hires made prior to the 2012 season, Graham has posted the fourth-best record at 32-15, ranking behind only Urban Meyer (46-3), Jim Mora (34-13) and Kevin Sumlin (33-13) in the last three seasons.

NOT WASTING TIME

• In his first three seasons, Todd Graham found himself with an average of 9.33 wins per year at ASU, which ranks him number one all-time in ASU lore.
• His 32 wins are already the sixth-most among coaches in program history while his .696 win percentage sits fourth all-time.
• Graham became the third-quickest coach to reach 30 wins, doing so in 43 games (Frank Kusk and Darryl Rogers each did so in 40).
• As far as Bowl Games go, Graham has wasted no time establishing himself in the record books as his three appearances with the Sun Devils are already tied for third among all ASU coaches and his two wins are tied for second.

ELITE COMPANY

• Head Coach Todd Graham had a school-record 28 wins in his first three seasons as head coach at ASU, one more than College Football Hall of Fame Coach Dan Devine (1955-57).
• Coach Graham has recorded 10 wins in five of his nine seasons as a head coach (Tulsa 2007, 2008, 2010; ASU 2013, 2014.) Since 2007, Coach Graham currently sits tied for No. 4 nationally in most 10-win seasons with five at FBS institutions, ranking behind only Nick Saban, Bob Stoops and Chris Peterson.

DOUBLE THE DIGITS, DOUBLE THE FUN

• In 2014, ASU secured back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time since Frank Kush notched double-digit victories from 1970-73.  That was drought of 31 years since it last happened, providing further evidence of how difficult an achievement back-to-back 10-win seasons are to come by.
• Back-to-back 10-win seasons hadn’t happened at Arizona State since 1970-73. But a quick look around the nation shows that only 12 schools have posted back-to-back 10 win-seasons the past two years. Here are the double-digit dozen.

TAKING DOWN THE TOP

• ASU is currently 1-2 against teams ranked in the AP Top-25 Poll this season and just finished 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 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.

GOLD RUSH

• Since the Coach Kush era, ASU has scored 20 or more rushing touchdowns in three or more consecutive seasons just one other time (1985-87) outside the current streak (23 in ‘11, 27 in ‘12, 36 in ‘13 and 20 in ‘14). 
• ASU current has 14 rushing touchdowns this year and has some work to do in the final games of the year to keep the streak going. 
• The current streak of four straight years with 20+ rushing touchdowns is the second longest streak in ASU history since 1960 behind only the seven straight Kush-led teams from 1967-73.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

• The Sun Devils concluded a four-game stretch this season where they are played three teams that were ranked in the AP Top 25. The Sun Devil played then-No. 19 USC in Tempe and followed that with a contest at then-No. 7 UCLA. After taking on Colorado, ASU got No. 4 Utah in Salt Lake City to close out the stretch
• Nine games into the season, ASU’s schedule is currently ranked as the 20th-toughest schedule in the NCAA with Sun Devil opponents (past and future) currently posting a 51-35 overall record (0.593).  ASU’s past opposition record is currently ranked 11th nationally with a 40-21 overall record (.656) while its future schedule is 80th nationally at 11-14 (.440).
• The Sun Devils faced two top-10 teams on the road for the first time since 2005 and just the sixth time in program history.

DYNAMIC DUO

• The defensive duo of Salamo Fiso and Jordan Simone has been a prominent 1-2 punch this season. Simone leads the team with 86 tackles with Fiso just behind him at 72.
• Fiso is currently fourth nationally and leads the conference in averaging 1.8 tackles for loss per game and already has 16.0 through nine games, notable as he had just 16.5 career TFLs entering the year. 
• Simone’s 9.0 TFLs give the duo 25 of ASU’s 79 TFLs this season.
• Simone has double digit tackles in five games this season and in each of the last three games. He is 23rd nationally and second in the league at 9.6 tackles per game.
• The two have done much of the work on their own as well, with Simone leading the nation with 7.8 solo tackles per game while Fiso ranks 9th/2nd in those categories at 6.4 per game.

HAACK LIKE A MAN

• Matt Haack has been a game changer in the field position battle this season and his effort against UCLA was a testament to that. He pinned five balls inside the UCLA 20-yard line, none more important than his final one - a 46-yarder that skipped out of bounce at the Bruins 1-yard line that help ASU put the game away.
• Haack was named the Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week for the effort and named the Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week as well.
• Haack is averaging 42.0 yards per punt this season, good for fifth in the Pac-12 and 52nd nationally. 
• Yardage doesn’t do the whole story justice, however. Eleven of his 47 punts have been for 50 or more yards (23.4 percent) while 19 punts have been downed inside the 20 yard line (40.4 percent). His 11 50+ yard punts are second in the Pac-12 (Utah’s Tom Hackett-14) while his 19 punts inside the 20 lead the league (Hackett in second-18).

_______

EMBRACE SUCCESS

The most successful University athletics programs have a committed community behind them. Help affect change for Sun Devil Football by making a donation to their program and Embrace Success.

Make a donation