Junior safety Alden Darby raises two pitchfork signs in celebration of the Sun Devils’ 45-14 win over Illinois on Saturday. (Photo by Sam Rosenbaum)A year ago, penalties on ASU were commonplace and almost expected.
This season, albeit just two games, things are completely different.
In the five seasons the Sun Devils played under former coach Dennis Erickson, ASU ranked 120th, 114th, 120th, 108th and 76th in penalty yards per game out of 120 FBS teams.
In the first two games of the Todd Graham era, ASU has committed a total of five penalties for a measly 35 yards.
“I’m really proud to go two games with no penalties on defense or special teams,” Graham said. “We’re working really hard to deliver to our fans what we said we would.”
The Sun Devils began the season with an impressive four-penalty performance against NAU, but many were anxious to see how the team would performed against Illinois, a Big Ten team expected to be more physical and challenging.
ASU answered the call with only one intentional penalty — its fewest in a game since 2006.
“Our goal was zero penalties and the only person who got a penalty was me,” Graham said. “We took a delay so we could back the punt up a little bit.”
The 11 defenders on the field have yet to commit a penalty, but the majority of the starters are returning from last season’s team.
The difference between the 2011 and 2012 version of the ASU defense is Graham’s mindset and commitment to defensive discipline.
“Coach Graham is over with us mainly all practice long because he knows how many penalties the defense alone had last year,” junior safety Alden Darby said. “He’s really emphasizing on our part of the field, no penalties. We really take pride in having no penalties. It’s another step for us.”
Redshirt freshman quarterback Michael Eubank echoes Darby’s sentiments and understands keeping the flags off the field correlates with the team’s on field success.
“Not getting any penalties is just as important as owning the ball for us,” Eubank said. “We want to make sure we do that every game.”
Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu
