Off to an underwhelming 2-1 start in nonconference play for the ASU football team, the players and coaching staff turn their attention towards Pac-12 play.
The Sun Devils host no. 19 USC Saturday night in one of the most-anticipated conference openers in recent memory. Coach Todd Graham abandoned cliches to make it known how significant this game is for everyone involved with ASU.
"No game on our schedule is more important than any other, but you guys know that's not true when I say that, it's not true," Graham said. "This game's important. This thing's big. This thing's big for our guys, big for our fans."
The rhetoric coming out of the Sun Devils all week has been that USC is the most talented team they will play all year, showing just how seriously this task is being taken. Graham said the key, as in most games is to protect against explosive plays, which ASU can produce at any moment.
"This deal here, any play can go to the house," Graham said. "They have four or five running backs as good as we'll play against. Big, physical up front on the offensive line, so you have to deal with that. I think USC's receivers, they've got more of them (than Texas A&M), and the top ones are elite."
Those skill positions are led by sophomore wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and redshirt senior running back Tre Madden. Through USC's first three games, Smith-Schuster is third in the country with 434 yards on 22 catches. Madden, who missed 2014 with injury, has rushed for 206 yards and four scores, heading up a deep backfield corps.
The offense is masterminded by redshirt senior quarterback Cody Kessler, who has been brilliant so far. Kessler has completed 78.7 percent of his passes for 922 yards and 10 touchdowns mostly targeting Smith-Schuster, but 17 different Trojan receivers have caught a pass this year, highlighting their depth.
Key for the Sun Devils is the health of the roster, as a few players are scheduled to come back from injury and illness, namely sophomore running back Kalen Ballage. After missing the first three games with mononucleosis, Ballage practiced with the team all week and Graham expects him to be back in action against the Trojans.
"We're excited to have him back," Graham said. "We've been trying to get him back into the condition he needs to be in and I don't know how much he's going to be able to play, but he's going to play and we're looking forward to having him out there."
Ballage will be the second half of the 1-2 punch with fellow sophomore running back Demario Richard and help an ASU rushing attack that was hot and cold in the first three games.
ASU also expects to return junior defensive lineman Ami Latu, redshirt senior wide receiver Devin Lucien and redshirt junior running back De'Chavon "Gump" Hayes, all of whom have been sidelined with injuries in the past two weeks.
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow @Tonis_The_Tiger on Twitter.
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