After a dramatic 20-19 win over Utah this weekend, coach Todd Graham looks ahead to the next four games of the season, hoping to make an impression in the Pac-12 conference. (Photo by State Press Staff)At this point of the year last season, ASU football had just lost its second road game in a row at USC, fell to a 5-5 record and had already abandoned hope of winning the Pac-12 South.
One year later, coach Todd Graham’s team sits atop of the Pac-12 South standings with a 7-2 (5-1 Pac-12) record, and the Sun Devils are fresh off of a dramatic comeback victory over Utah.
For ASU fans, it’s hard to continue to be optimistic given ASU’s notorious history for collapsing late in the season. Graham knows the team is headed toward the right path, but he’s not ready to be complacent just yet.
“When you’re experiencing success as everybody is patting you on the back and you think you’ve done it, we’ve not done anything,” Graham said. “Win the next four games, and we’ve done something. Preparation is going to be key and continuing to improve.”
With two home games and a road trip left in the regular season, Graham said the theme to taking on the upcoming stretch is improving, which has been the motto all season long.
“I think we are hitting our stride,” Graham said. “We better be, because down this stretch, we’re really working hard to make sure we’re better than what we did. … You have to be improving every day. ... We have improved every day and gotten better.”
There were a lot of things in the Sun Devils’ 20-19 win over Utah that Graham liked. He said although he’d like to win every game by a large margin, he knows his team would eventually be tested in a close game. It has been rare in the team’s recent history, but ASU actually shined in crunch time against Utah.
“I wouldn’t change anything about the other night,” Graham said. “I think that was a big, big win for us and to win like we did. It wasn’t just about our defense, our offense went back-to-back on drives to score in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. It did it, not by tricking anybody, just by executing and playing with a great heart.”
What’s more impressive is where ASU won. Coming into the game, Utah won 49 straight games at Rice-Eccles Stadium whenever it was ahead at halftime, but the Sun Devils ended that streak.
“Stanford got beat there,” Graham said. “UCLA, (Utah) gave them everything they wanted. Oregon State, they went in there and won in there in overtime. That’s a very tough place to play. “
One particular moment of the game that caught Graham’s attention was when Utah senior running back Kelvin York had a big run and had some extra words with ASU senior linebacker Chris Young. York shoved Young, and Graham thought Young would punch back.
Instead, Young walked away, making York the only player penalized for a personal foul after the incident. Graham cited it as “another step in the buy-in to what we’re doing.”
“The reality is, you’ll be in a lot of close (games), and you have to win the close ones,” Graham said. “You do that with discipline.”
Graham also discussed the offense that struggled in the first three quarters of the game. It looked normal when ASU scored on the first drive in a typical fashion, but Graham said the team simply couldn’t execute thereafter.
“It didn’t look like the same team throwing the ball,” Graham said. “That can’t happen. … We didn’t change the calls (in the fourth quarter). We just ran the same plays and finally executed them.”
Still, Graham gave credit to redshirt junior quarterback Taylor Kelly for stepping up. He commended the defense for committing minimal penalties once again and staying composed throughout the entire game.
ASU must keep that up if it wants to make winning the Pac-12 championship, something much more than a dream.
“If you want to win this league, you’re going to have to play championship-level defense, and you’re going to play a championship-level quarterback play,” Graham said. “That’s it. You got to have that. Those are non-negotiables if you’re going to win this league.”
Reach the reporter at jnacion@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Josh_Nacion
