Territorial Cup, Senior Day Await Sun Devil Football on Saturday

THE GAME - The Arizona State University Sun Devil football team will host Senior Weekend in Tempe this week in addition to its annual Territorial Cup contest as the Arizona Wildcats come to town on Saturday, Nov. 21. In the final game at Sun Devil Stadium this season, the 89th Territorial Cup is scheduled to kickoff at 1:30 p.m. Arizona time/12:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1.

THE WILDCATS - This will be the 89th Duel in the Desert, with Arizona leading the all-time series 48-39-1. The Sun Devils fell to the Wildcats last year in Tucson, 42-35, and neither team has truly dominated the series since the Wildcats went 8-0-1 against ASU over the course of the 1980s. Since then, there have only been two occurences where one team has posted a three-game winning streak - once for each team (ASU 2005-07, UA 1993-95).

The visiting team has been the victors in eight of the last 15 matchups between the two schools - including four of the last six contests - while eight of the last 11 games have been decided by a touchdown or less. Five of the past six games have been decided by a grand total of 22 points, with a fourth-quarter comeback, two blocked extra points, a late field goal and two late defensive stands being the difference in those contests.

This year’s contest is one of the rare occassions where the Arizona game is NOT the last regular season game of the year. Since 1960, this will be only the third time where the Sun Devils will play another conference opponent after the Wildcats when it wraps the season up at Cal on Nov. 28.

THE PAC-12 - The Sun Devils will be looking to become the ninth Pac-12 team to earn bowl eligibility with its sixth win of the season while also improving back to .500 in league action. Both teams will be jostling for better positioning in the all-around conference standings with ASU having a shot at third in the Pac-12 South with a win and a UCLA loss.

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 16-5 conference record following those losses.

AN ASU VICTORY WOULD...

Give ASU a victory in four of the last six games against the Wildcats
Make ASU bowl eligible for the fourth straight season under Todd Graham, a feat no other ASU coach has accomplished in his first 4 seasons.
Be the Sun Devils’ second straight home victory against the UA and third straight home win for either team in a series that has seen the visiting team win eight of the last 15 games.
Put the Sun Devils back over .500 overall and at .500 in Pac-12 games
Improve Todd Graham to 3-1 at ASU against Arizona.
Improve ASU to 21-6 at Sun Devil Stadium under Todd Graham.
Be the fourth-straight victory for the Sun Devils on Senior Day, all under Todd Graham. ASU was 6-6 in the previous 12 seasons on Senior Day prior to 2012.

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 126/XM Channel 204.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION

Saturday’s contest will be the second game season to be broadcast on Fox Sports 1. Tim Brando will be on the call alongside analyst Spencer Tillman, the same crew that handled ASU’s game against Washington State in Pullman. Bruce Feldman will provide insight from the sidelines.

The Pac-12 will again provide access to Armed Forces Network for carriage of Pac-12 football games in 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 50 consecutive games, the longest active streak in FBS and the new @Pac12 record.

2. @MattHaack21 has 16 punts over 50 yards this season and 24 punts downed inside the 20, ranked 1st/2nd, respectively, in the @Pac12.

3. The Sun Devils are averaging 18.2 second half points per game this season against FBS opponents, good for 14th nationally.

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

5. The @FootballASU roster has accounted for 19 instances of players accounting for 100+ all-purpose yards. Had just 16 last season.

6. 45 of ZaneG_5’s 60 kickoffs have been touchbacks (75.0 percent), notable as ASU had just 33 touchbacks in all of 2014.

7. ASU is looking to becoming bowl eligible for 4th straight season, which would make Graham the 1st ASU coach to do so in 1st 4 years at ASU.

8. The Sun Devils have forced 105 turnovers in four seasons under Todd Graham, the sixth-highest total nationally in that time.

9. Eight of the last 11 games between the Sun Devils and Arizona have been decided by a touchdown or less.

10. Kalen Ballage has 36 carries for 301 yards (8.4 yards per carry) in last three games. Had 183 on 53 (3.5 ypc) in his 1st 4 games.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Wide receiver D.J. Foster extended his streak of at least one reception to 50 games against Washington State and claimed solo possession of the Pac-12 record previously held by USC’s Kareem Kelly (48, 1999-2002).
ASU’s roster has combined for 19 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 six 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.
Kalen Ballage has carried the ball 36 times for 301 yards (8.4 ypc) in the last three games after having just 183 yards on 53 carries (3.5 ypc) in his first four games (missed three games to illness). He has found the end zone three times in the last three games, compared to just once previous four.
ASU’s 17-point comeback against Washington was tied for its fourth-largest comeback since 1996 and its largest comeback in Todd Graham’s time as Sun Devil head coach.
ASU is now one game away from becoming bowl eligible for the fourth straight season under Graham, a feat no other Sun Devil head coach has accomplished in his first four seasons.

STRIKE FIRST

Arizona State has scored first in 34 of the 50 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

203 of the Devils’ 278 offensive scoring drives under offensive coordinator Mike Norvell have come in three minutes or less (73.0 percent).
Of ASU’s 49 scoring drives this season in regulation, 35 have come in under three minutes (71.4 percent).

GETTING STARTED ON THE RIGHT FOOT

The Sun Devils have outscored their opposition 447-244 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 95-51 in the third quarter of games this year, ranked 10th nationally with 10.6 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 10th-most career receptions of all active FBS players with 213 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 4,708 career all-purpose yards (2,320 rushing, 2,372 receiving, 16 return) and finds himself ranked fifth 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 (three 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 in consecutive seasons. He leads the team with 50 receptions this season and has 213 in his career, second all-time among at ASU behind only 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 (2,320) AND over 1,500 career receiving yards (2,372).
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 50 - 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 UW, ASU forced 24 incomplete passes, eight tackles for loss and three plays for no gain. As a result, 35 of Washington’s 86 plays from scrimmage (40.6 percent) did not result in positive yardage.
This season, ASU has forced 275 negative or no-yardage plays out of 733 run by the opposition (37.5 percent)
Under Graham, ASU has forced 1,293 plays that have not resulted in positive yardage out of 3,593 total plays (36.0 percent).

SERIOUSLY, DON’T CROSS IT

With 87 tackles for loss this season, ASU’s 8.7 tackles per loss per game are ranked fourthnationally and first in the Pac-12.
ASU’s is also averaging 3.60 sacks per game this season, a total that ranks third nationally and first in the conference.
Entering the game against Arizona, 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 400 total tackles for loss (Clemson). They rank first in that time with 3.32 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 two of his nine games and rushed for over 100 in all but three.
Richard now has 13 touchdowns in his past 10 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 50th nationally and sixth in the Pac-12 in averaging 130.56 all-purpose yards per game.
Of Demario Richard’s 1085 yards from scrimmage this season, 502 have come after first contact (46.2 percent/2.8 yards per touch).

BERC-ING FOR THE WEEKEND

Mike Bercovici is responsible for 150 of ASU’s 310 points this season (48.4 percent). He has 20 passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns, making up 25 of ASU’s 37 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 five 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 (11th/24.20), passing touchdowns (22nd/20), passing yards (18th/2,732), passing yards per game (22nd/273.2), points responsible for (17th/150) and points responsible for per game (22nd/15.0).
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 Arizona, ASU ranks second in the Pac-12 and 12th in the nation at 36.90 points per game in the Todd Graham era.
ASU ranks second in the Pac-12 and 11th in the nation with 1,845 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 455-215 in points off takeaways, though it uncharacteristically trails 58-38 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 105 turnovers under Todd Graham in the past four seasons, which is the sixth-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 Arizona, ASU is ranked second in the Pac-12 and seventh in the nation with a .66 average turnover margin per game (Oregon, Houston, Michigan State, Baylor, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois) since Todd Graham took over the helm and is second in the Pac-12 and seventh in the nation with a plus-33 total turnover margin (Oregon, Michigan State, Houston, Baylor, Northern Illinois, Bowling Green).
ASU is first in the Pac-12 and fifth in the nation with an average of 1.34 interceptions per game (Houston, TCU, Boise State, Louisville) since 2012 and is first in the Pac-12 and fifth in the nation with 67 total interceptions (Houston, Boise State, TCU, Louisville).

KICKING THE HABIT

A total of 55 of Zane Gonzalez’s 60 kickoffs this season have gone into the endzone and 45 have been touchbacks (75.0 percent), notable as just 22 of 59 opponent kicks have been touched back (37.2 percent).
ASU had just 33 touchbacks for the entire season in 2014 on 91 kicks (36.3).
Of Matt Haack’s 58 punts this season, just 17 have actually been returned. 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 1.9 yards per ASU punting play this season.
Overall, ASU has only had 29 kicks or punts returned against them this season out of 121 total (24.0 percent). The 29 returns are the sixth-fewest given up by any FBS team this season (UCLA leads the country with just 21 returns against on 118 kicks).

WINNING THE BATTLE FOR FIELD POSITION

Under Todd Graham, ASU has had an average starting yard line of its own 35.0 in 33 victories compared to a starting yard line of the 25.5 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 493-385 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 18.2 second half points per game this season against FBS opponents, good for 14th nationally.
ASU has struggled in the second half, however, given up 15.4 second half points per game to opponents, the 36th worst total nationally.
ASU did hold Washington scoreless in the second half, however, the first time it had held a conference opponent scoreless in the second half since the 2012 season.

ROAD WARRIORS

The Sun Devils are winners of eight of the last 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 seven such plays against Washington and 90 this season (9.0 per game).
ASU is currently 32nd nationally in plays over 10 yards this season with 163 and 38th in 20+ yard plays at 53.
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: eighth in fewest penalties (42), eigtth in fewest penalties per game (4.2), eigth in fewest penalty yards (378) and eight in fewest penalty yards per game (37.80), leading the Pac-12 in all categories.
The Sun Devils averaged just 4.5 penalities for 32.4 yards per game in 2014, ranked 16th in fewest penalties per game and fourth in fewest penalty yards per game in D-I. In 2013, the Sun Devils finished eighth in fewest penalties per game (4.00) and seventh in fewest penalty yards per game (31.4).
Entering the game vs. Arizona, ASU ranks first in the Pac-12 and second in the nation with an average of 33.94 penalty yards per game (Navy) under Graham and ranks first in the Pac-12 and fifth in the nation with an average of 4.24 penalties per game (Navy, Air Force, Army, Ball State).

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 211 penalties in 50 games (4.22 penalties per game).

PROTECT THIS HOUSE

ASU is 20-6 at Sun Devil Stadium under Todd Graham.
In 26 regular season home games under Todd Graham, the Sun Devils have averaged 41.7 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 277-101-3 (.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 22-12 in Pac-12 games since 2012, tied with UCLA (22-12) for the best tally in the Pac-12 South in the past 3+ seasons.
ASU is 17-8 in Pac-12 games in the past two-plus seasons, ahead of UCLA (16-9) and just ahead of USC (17-9) 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 56 timeouts on defense in third down situations, and have forced a turnover or not allowed a first down on the ensuing play on 38 of those occasions (67.9 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 Dixon leads all active players at 11.0 points per game. Additionally, he is third among all active kickers with an average of 1.72 field goals made in his career (WVU’s Josh Lambert has 1.79 to lead).
Gonzalez has scored at least one point in each of the 38 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 62 field goals to his credit in his career, one of just four Sun Devil kickers to surpass 60 and currently third all-time at ASU.
With 338 career points, Gonzalez is currently third in the ASU record books in the category with his sights set on Thomas Weber’s 340 career point total that sits 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 11-1 under Todd Graham in games where it does not have a turnover.

TODD’s WINNING WAYS

Graham has won 33 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 33-17, ranking behind only Urban Meyer (48-3), Jim Mora (36-14) and Kevin Sumlin (35-14) in the last three-plus 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 34 wins are already the sixth-most among coaches in program history while his .660 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 16 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
Ten games into the season, ASU’s schedule is currently ranked as the 14th-toughest schedule in the NCAA with Sun Devil opponents (past and future) currently posting a 57-38 overall record (0.600).
ASU’s past opposition record is currently ranked 15th nationally with a 47-29 overall record.
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 91 tackles with Fiso just behind him at 76.
Fiso is currently seventh nationally and leads the conference in averaging 1.6 tackles for loss per game and already has 16.0 through 10 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 87 TFLs this season.
Simone has double digit tackles in five games this season and in three of the last four games. He is 20th nationally and second in the league at 9.1 tackles per game.
The two have done much of the work on their own as well, with Simone third in the nation and leading the Pac-12 with 7.4 solo tackles per game while Fiso ranks 8th/2nd in those categories at 6.2 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 20 yard-line against both UCLA and Washington.
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 42.8 yards per punt this season, good for fifth in the Pac-12 and 45th nationally.
Yardage doesn’t do the whole story justice, however. Sixteen of his 58 punts have been for 50 or more yards (27.5 percent) while 24 punts have been downed inside the 20 yard line (41.3 percent). His 16 50+ yard punts lead the Pac-12 (ahead Utah’s Tom Hackett-15) while his 24 punts inside the 20 are second in the league behind OSU’s Nick Porebski’s 26.

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