Another week, another close loss. In what has become a cruel cycle for the ASU football team, Tuesday practices have consistently become more and more mellow as the season has gone on.
With not a lot of fanfare around the beginning of this week of practice, coach Todd Graham insists the Sun Devils are still in good spirits, but are equally frustrated about their performance.
"They're like me," Graham said. "I'm tired of losing close games."
With still two wins until bowl eligibility, something hardly anyone predicted before the season, ASU returns home for its final two games at Sun Devil Stadium with a sense of urgency.
First comes Homecoming weekend, when the program will honor ASU's lone undefeated team from 1975, which finished as the No. 2 team in the nation. While Graham said he discussed the significance of the weekend and that team with his squad, he said the Sun Devils shouldn't need anything more to motivate them.
"I talked to them about the '75 team coming in here," Graham said. "We don't have to have that for motivation, but we need to go put it together."
Putting it together is something that has eluded ASU for most of the season, winning only two games against teams over .500 and amassing "critical errors" on both sides of the ball in each loss, creating frustration.
Those errors often spring up at the most important times of the game and Graham said that's the frustrating part: seeing mistakes made at "the most critical times."
"We're a good team," Graham said. "You've got to do it 100 percent of the time. Not 94 or 93."
Additional Notes:
-Redshirt senior linebacker Antonio Longino was in a green non-contact jersey after he left Saturday's game early. Graham said he is "probably doubtful" for next week depending on his availability Wednesday.
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow @Tonis_The_Tiger on Twitter.
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