Sun Devil Football Welcomes SDSU Saturday

THE GAME - Sun Devil Football continues the 2017 season at home this week, taking on San Diego State State on Saturday, September 9 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. The game, scheduled for a 8 p.m. PT kickoff, will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks with Roxy Bernstein, Anthony Herron and Lewis Johnson providing the talent. 

AN ASU VICTORY WOULD... 

• Improve ASU's all-time record against San Diego State to 11-0-1 - notable as SDSU is the only remaining team that ASU has faced in history at least 10 times that it has not lost to. 
• Mark the fifth time in Todd Graham's six seasons at ASU that his team has started the year at 2-0. 
• Move the Devils to 27-8 in games played at Sun Devil Stadium since Todd Graham took the reins in 2012. 
• Improve ASU to 14-3 under Todd Graham in regular season non-conference games since 2012. 
• Be the team's seventh straight regular season victory over a non-conference opponent. 
• Mark the 90th career victory for head coach Todd Graham.

#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)

1. SDSU is the only team ASU has played at least 10 times in history that it has not lost a game to (10-0-1)

2. 20 of 27 Jalen Harvey career catches have been for 1st down w/ 29.4 yards per catch average in career and 47 yards per catch on 2 career TDs

3. Last time @FootballASU had 2 50+ yard TD passes was 2014 Jael Mary game. Also last time ASU had 2 50+ yd scoring drives in 30 seconds.

4. The Sun Devils have scored 70.8 percent of the time following an opponent turnover since 2012 (92 of 130) w/ 71 TDs (54.6 percent).

5. Brandon Ruiz's 52-yard field goal set an ASU record for the longest first successfully made field goal of a Sun Devil's career.

6. 65 student-athletes earned Scholar Baller recognition last year and 431 Football Scholar-Athletes have done so in 8 semesters under Graham.

7. The team has posted over a 3.00 Team GPA for the first time in program history as of summer school classes coming into Fall 2017 classes.

8. .@Official_JHump's 123 yards in collegiate debut are second most for a 1st career game behind only Calvin Demery's '69 school record of 201.

9. Dating back to '16, @MannyWilkins5 has three games with 300+ passing yards in his last four games. 308.5 total offense avg. in last 4 games.

10. Wilkins is the ONLY QB in ASU history to complete over 80% of his passes in an opener. 1 of just 3 to throw for 300+ yards ever in opener.

THE AZTECS - ASU leads the all-time series against San Diego State, 10-0-1, as the two teams square off for the first time since a 34-14 Sun Devil victory in 2007. The Devils are 105-34-2 all-time against teams currently playing in the Mountain West Conference. SDSU is the only team that ASU has played at least 10 times in history that it hasn't lost a single game to. 

SDSU is coming off a 38-17 season opening victory against UC Davis. SDSU won for the 22nd time over the last 25 games (22-3). The .880 win percentage over that time (since Oct. 3, 2015) trails only Alabama (25-1; .962 - entering tonight) and Clemson (26-2; .929) for the highest winning percentage in FBS play. San Diego State won its 33rd consecutive game when rushing for at least 200 yards and is 41-2 when doing so in the Rocky Long era (since 2011).

Rashaad Penny was named the MWC Offensive Player of the Week as he rushed a career-high 21 times for 197 yards (9.4 avg.) and two touchdowns. Christian Chapman was 16-for-21 for 220 yards and two touchdowns against one interception and improved to 14-3 as the starting quarterback over his career.

HONORING FRANK KUSH -  In honor of Arizona State Hall of Fame coach Frank Kush, Sun Devil Athletics will dedicate the contest SDSU to the legendary coach. The Sun Devil marching band will honor Coach Kush during their halftime performance before the Kush family and former players are honored on the field. Other tributes are planned throughout the evening as well.

LAST TIME OUT - NMSU

• ASU improved to 76-27-2 on Opening Day in history and 58-15-1 on Opening Day at home.
• The Sun Devils have now recorded sixteen consecutive Opening Day wins when the game is at Sun Devil Stadium.
• It was the 19th straight victory in a home opener for the Sun Devils, dating back to 1999. ASU's current 19-game active home opening win streak is the fifth-longest in the country.
• Manny Wilkins pieced together an impressive third quarter, that saw the Junior complete 10-of-10 passes for 139 yards, while connecting on a 60-yard touchdown pass to John Humphrey.
• The 101 degrees at kickoff marked the eighth warmest kickoff temperature since the 2002 season. 
• Coach Graham moved to 6-0 in home openers and 5-1 in the first game of the season as head coach at ASU.
• The victory marked the 40th victory for Todd Graham as head coach of the Devils.
• The Devils improved to 22-7-1 all-time against New Mexico State and to 29-7-1 against teams that are currently playing in the Sun Belt Conference.
• The Sun Devils have not allowed an opponent to score on their first drive in season home openers since 9/4/10.

STRIKE FIRST

• Arizona State has scored first in 44 of the 66 games with Todd Graham at the helm and is 33-11 when doing so.
• The Devils are 1-0 this season when scoring first (NMSU).

STRIKE FAST

• 261 of the Devils' 371 offensive scoring drives under Todd Graham have come in three minutes or less (70.4 percent). 
• Of ASU's 62 scoring drives last season, 40 came in under three minutes (64.5 percent).
• Two of ASU's four scoring drives in the opener came in under three minutes. In fact, both came in under 30 seconds - marking the first time ASU had two scoring drives of 50+ yards occur in less than 30 seconds since the 2014 USC game.

GETTING STARTED ON THE RIGHT FOOT

• The Sun Devils have outscored their opposition 568-332 in the first quarter under Todd Graham.
• The Sun Devils are 25-4 under Graham when holding their opposition scoreless in the first quarter.
• ASU has posted an impressive 32-3 overall record under Graham when leading at halftime.

DON'T CROSS THAT LINE

• ASU forced 28 plays against NMSU that resulted in negative or no yardage of the 88 total plays in the contest (31.2 percent)
• Last season, the Sun Devils forced 303 negative or no yardage plays of 884 run by the opposition (34.7 percent).
• Under Graham, ASU has forced 1,686 plays that have not resulted in positive yardage out of 4,732 (35.6 percent).

SERIOUSLY, DON'T CROSS IT

• Entering the season, ASU was first in the Pac-12 and second in the nation (Clemson) with an average of 7.89 TFL per game under Graham and one of three teams in the nation with more than 500 total tackles for loss. They ranked third in that time with 3.13 sacks per game.
• For the fifth consecutive season under Todd Graham, the Sun Devils had at least two players who reached double digits in tackles for loss (Koron Crump, JoJo Wicker and DJ Calhoun). ASU has had 17 such occurences under Graham (2012-present) after having just 17 TOTAL players reach the mark in 10 previous seasons (2002-11) with at least two players reaching double digits in the category just six times in that span.

LIGHT 'EM UP

• ASU has scored 50 or more points 16 times since Todd Graham arrived in Tempe for the 2012 season.  
• To put that in perspective, ASU eclipsed 50 points 10 times total in the previous 10 years before the current coaching regime (2001-11). 
• Against Pac-12 opponents, the Sun Devils have scored 50 or more points 10 times under Coach Graham, after only tallying nine in the conference era prior (since 1978).
• ASU went 86 games without scoring 60 from 2005-2011. Under Coach Graham it has scored 60 or more four times ('12-63 NAU, '12-62 Navy, '13-62 USC, '16-68 TTU). 
• The Sun Devils have dropped 50 on Arizona twice in the last three years after doing so just three times in 86 previous contests. 

GOLD RUSH

• The Sun Devils rushed for 27 touchdowns last season after having 19 in the entirety of 2015. The 26 touchdowns were good for 43rd among all FBS teams, despite not playing in a bowl game or a championship game.
• The Sun Devils have reached 25 rushing touchdowns three times under Graham in five seasons. That total is notable as the Devils had just three previous seasons with at least 25 rushing touchdowns from 1980-2011 (1985, 1986 and 1996).
• After having just two five-rushing touchdown games in nine previous seasons, the Sun Devils did it in back-to-back games to open the 2016 season, marking the fifth and sixth times in the Graham era that ASU had gone over five rushing touchdowns in a game. The Devils had three such games TOTAL from 1997-2011.
• Yards after contact have been a been impressive in recent years with the likes of Demario Richard, Kalen Ballage and Nick Ralston. 48 of ASU's total 79 yards in the opener against NMSU came after first contact (60.8 percent).

GOLD ZONE

• The Sun Devils scored on 43-of-47 trips to the red zone in 2016 (91.5 percent), a total that ranked 10th in the nation.
• The Devils scored a touchdown on 33 of those trips (70.2 percent). That percentage was ranked 22nd nationally and notable as ASU found the end zone on just 51.5 percent of its red zone trips in 2015 - a total that ranked 108th in the country.
• ASU opened things up on the same token in the opener, scoriong two touchdowns on two trips to the red zone.

SUPER DEMARIO

• Demario Richard is currently 15th in Sun Devil history with 2,144 career rushing cards and one of just 19 Devils to reach the 2,000-yard milestone.
• Richard now has nine 100-yard rushing games in his career, three shy of cracking the ASU top-five in the category.
• Of Richard's 1,697 rushing yards as a sophomore and junior, 780 came after first contact (46.0 percent/2.1 yards per touch).
• In 2015, Richard became the fourth Sun Devil in history to have at least seven 100-yard rushing games in a single season, joining Freddy Williams and Art Malone (8) and Woody Green (7, 2 times).

CAME IN LIKE A WRECKING BALLAGE

• Kalen Ballage had 14 rushing touchdowns last season, making him just the fourth Sun Devil since 2000 to reach double digits and moved him into a tie for the seventh most single season rushing touchdowns in ASU history. He finished 26th in the nation in rushing touchdowns (14) and 34th among all position players with 94 total points scored. 
• Ballage picked up where he left off, rushing for two touchdowns against NMSU and now has 23 in his career, creeping up on ASU's all-time Top-5 in the category (the threshold being 28 rushing TDs).
• He averaged a touchdown once every 11.1 carries last season, a total that ranked fourth nationally. 
• Ballage returns with the highest receiving grade among all returning Power Five running backs in the country with 84.4 according to Pro Football Focus.

NO RUSH

• The Sun Devils have held 23 opponents under 100 rushing yards in the Todd Graham era (66 games/34.8 percent), including four of 12 games last year. 
• Last year, ASU held three straight opponents under 100 rushing yards for the third time under Graham (2013, 2015, 2016). The Devils had limited opponents to under 100 rushing yards in three straight games in just five previous seasons dating back to 1986.

TAKING OFFENSE

• Entering the season, ASU ranked second in the Pac-12 and 13th in the nation at 36.7 points per game in the Graham era.

MAKE 'EM PAY

• Under Todd Graham, ASU has outscored opponents 550-287 in points off takeaways.
• Since 2012, The Sun Devils have scored 70.8 percent of the time following an opponent turnover since 2012 (92 of 130) w/ 71 TDs (54.6 percent).
• Conversely, opponents have scored just 51.1 percent of the time following an ASU turnover since 2012 (48 of 94) w/ 37 TDs (39.4 percent).

A HAND IN THE COOKIE JAR

• The Sun Devils have forced 130 turnovers under Todd Graham, which is the 10th-highest total in the country in that span.
• ASU has 15 interception returns for touchdowns under Graham, compared to posting just four total in the three previous seasons prior to 2012. The total is second in the FBS behind only Ohio State in that time (16). ASU has added four fumble returns as well for 19 defensive touchdowns since the 2012 season, tied for third in the country in that time span behind Ohio State (25) and Alabama (23).

TURNOVER FACTORY

• Entering the year, ASU ranked sixth in the nation with a .51 average turnover margin per game since Graham took over the helm and is seventh in the nation with a plus-33 total turnover margin.
• The Devils were first in the Pac-12 and tied for eight in the nation with 80 total interceptions in that span.

WINNING THE BATTLE FOR FIELD POSITION

• Under Todd Graham, ASU has had an average starting yard line of its own 34.5 in 40 victories compared to a starting yard line of the 25.4 for their opponents in such contests.  
• Conversely, opponents have an average starting field position of their own 31.3 yard line compared to ASU starting at its own 28.6 in ASU's 26 losses under Graham. 

SEAL THE DEAL

• ASU has outscored other teams 691-547 in the fourth quarter and overtime under Todd Graham (10.5 points per fourth quarter and OT/+2.2 points per game) and averaged 12.8 points per fourth quarter last season (outscoring opponents 155-125). 
• Excluding FCS NAU, the Sun Devils finished 2016 seventh nationally in averaging 19.6 points per second half against FBS opposition and second in the country with 11.9 points per fourth quarter against FBS teams.
• The 19.6 second-half points per game were more than 13 teams were averaging PER GAME against FBS opposition last season.

ROAD WARRIORS

• The Sun Devils are winners of nine of the last 19 true road contests. ASU has 13 wins in the past 28 road games, including 10 Pac-12 Conference road wins in the past 23. 
• 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 10-12 in Pac-12 road games at ASU, notable as the Devils were 5-13 in four seasons prior. 
• The Sun Devils are 4-4 in Pac-12 games in the State of California since 2012 after going just 3-23 from 1998-2011.

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 eight such plays against NMSU (11.4 percent)
• ASU had two 50+ yard scoring passes in the opener, something it had not achieved since the Jael Mary game against USC in 2014. They were the first two 50+ yard scoring passes of Manny Wilkins' career.
• ASU finished 30th nationally in plays over 10 yards in 2015 with 216 and 27th in 30+ yard plays at 35. 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. 

KEEP IT CLEAN

• Entering the year, ASU averaged just 37.8 penalty yards per game, tied for fourth-best in the nation. While that is impressive, what raises the eyebrows is who are the top three: Navy (25.2), Army (36.2) and Air Force (37.7).
• Since Todd Graham arrived at Arizona State, the Sun Devils have had just 296 penalties in 66 games (4.48 penalties per game).
• ASU had just 1 penalty for 10 yards against NMSU

PROTECT THIS HOUSE

• ASU is 26-8 at Sun Devil Stadium since Todd Graham took over in the 2012 season.
• In 34 regular season home games under Todd Graham, the Sun Devils have averaged 41.5 points per game. Against non-conference Power Five teams, ASU is averaging 50.0 points per game at home under Graham. 
• The Sun Devils join Baylor and Oregon as the only schools in the country to be ranked in the Top-40 in home points per game in EACH of the previous five seasons.
• 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 283-103-3 (.734) all-time at Sun Devil Stadium since 1958, the 26th-highest active winning percentage in a stadium among all FBS schools.

USE THEM WISELY

• Since the start of the 2012 season, ASU has used 68 timeouts on defense in third down situations, and have not allowed a first down on the ensuing play and/or forced a turnover on 48 of those occasions (70.6 percent).

HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS

• ASU has now gone 10-6 in games decided by a touchdown or less since the 2012 Arizona comeback in Tucson.  ASU had gone 6-16 in such games since the 2007 season up until that moment. The Devils are 1-0 in games decided by a touchdown or less this season.
• In 2016, ASU went 4-4 in games it had been tied or trailed in the second half after going 8-19 in four previous seasons. 
• ASU went 3-1 in 2013 in games decided by less than a touchdown, after going 4-13 in the previous four seasons in such games.. ASU was 3-1 in 2014 in games decided by less than a touchdown.

HOLD ON TO THAT BALL, ALSO

• ASU is now 13-3 under Todd Graham in games where it does not have a turnover after the NMSU victory this season.
• 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 was notable because in the previous two seasons, ASU had just five combined games where it did not turn the ball over.  
• ASU earned its first victory in a game in turned the ball over three times against UTSA last year after going 0-6 in the Todd Graham era prior. 

TAKING DOWN THE TOP

• The Sun Devils have gone 8-8 in the last 16 games against ranked teams. 
• In four seasons at the helm, Todd Graham is 8-11 against AP-ranked opponents and the team was 4-2 in such teams in 2014. 
• Graham has more than doubled the Top-25 win total of 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.

DIRTY HARRY

• Possessing deceptive speed and elusiveness, N'Keal Harry had 27 yards out his 69 total come after the catch in the opener against NMSU.
• N'Keal Harry became just the ninth true freshman in Arizona State history to start in a season opener last year. He was just the fourth Sun Devil ever to start on offense as a true frosh in the opener and he joined D.J. Foster as the only other Sun Devil in history to score in each of their first three games of the season as a true freshman.
• Harry recorded 659 receiving yards last season – breaking Zach Miller's 2004 school record for a freshman of 552. He had 58 catches on the year, also breaking Miller's freshman record of 56. His five touchdown receptions last season were second in Sun Devil history as far as freshmen go, trailing only Miller's school record of six.

THE FIRST OF MANNY

• Manny Wilkins returned as the Pac-12 leader as far as the highest percentage of throws of 20+ yards this season with at least 50 deep passes at 19.9 percent., according to Pro Football Focus. 
• Wilkins had two touchdown passes over 50 yards against NMSU in the opener, becoming the first Sun Devil to do so since Mike Bercovici against USC in 2014. They were also the first two 50+ touchdown passes of Wilkins' career.
• He became the ONLY quarterback in ASU history to complete over 80 percent of his passes in an opener and one of just three to throw for 300+ yards in a season opener.
• Dating back to last season, Wilkins has thrown for 300 or more yards in thee of his last four games.

BRING THE WOOD

• Koron Crump was second on the Sun Devils with 10.5 tackles for loss last season and 9.0 sacks. He averaged a tackle for loss just once every three times he made a tackle and a sack for every four tackles. He also had a team-leading three fumbles forced last season. Crump added two sacks in the opener against NMSU.
• Tashon Smallwood logged a career best 4.0 tackles for loss with two sacks  against NMSU, becoming the first Sun Devil to have 4.0+ tackles for loss since Antonio Longino against Arizona in 2015. 
• Four times in the Todd Graham era has a defensive player had at least 10 sacks in a season. ASU had just two players reach the milestone from 2003-2011.
• For the fifth consecutive season under Todd Graham, the Sun Devils had at least two players that reached double digits in tackles for loss (Koron Crump, JoJo Wicker and DJ Calhoun). ASU has had 17 such occurrences under Graham (2012-present) after having just 17 TOTAL players reach the mark in 10 previous seasons (2002-11) with at least two players reaching double digits in the same season just six times in that span.
• Crump leads all returning Pac-12 defensive players with 46 total QB pressures (sacks/hits/hurries) last season according to Pro Football Focus while JoJo Wicker is fifth among returning players with 36.

IN THE RIGHT HANDS...OR FEET

• The Sun Devils came into the season as one of just three teams in the country that started the year with no kickers OR punters with D-I experience on the roster, along with Virginia and UAB. 
• The team is replacing unanimous All-American and 2017 Lou Groza Award winner Zane Gonzalez at the placekicking position in addition to two-time Ray Guy Award watchlist punter Matt Haack but first impressions of the newcomers were positive against New Mexico State. 
• Brandon Ruiz set an ASU record with his 52-yard field goal in the opener, his first career field goal to make him the first Sun Devil to have their first career field goal go for 50 or more yards. 
• Michael Sleep-Dalton won't blow anyone's mind with his yards per punt, but the redshirt sophomore downed four of his six punts inside the 20 in the contest while also adding a 51-yard punt to his tally. 

IN THE RIGHT HANDS...OR FEET

• With his two catches for 68 yards in the opener, Jalen Harvey continued a trend that he has maintained his whole career as the redshirt junior has a knack for the big plays. 
• 20 of his 27 career catches have gone for a first down while he has averaged 29.4 yards per catch average in caree and 47 yards per catch on two career touchdown receptions.
• John Humphrey introduced himself to the Sun Devil nation in a big way in the opener, catching seven passes for 123 yards and a touchdown. The debut is the second best for a first collegiate game in Sun Devil history, trailing only Calvin Demery's 1969 school record of 201 yards in his first game.

KOBE...BRYANT

• Junior college transfers Kobe Williams and Joey Bryant wasted no time leaving their mark on the Sun Devils, each picking up their first career starts AND interceptions in the season opener against NMSU - Williams' interception resulting in a pick-six.
• The cornerback duo tallied four total pass defenses on the evening as well.

SCHOLAR BALLERS

• The Sun Devils enter the season with seven players in the program that have already earned their undergraduate degrees and will be pursuing graduate programs this fall. 
• 65 student-athletes earned Scholar Baller recognition for the 2016-17 academic year and 431 Football Scholar-Athletes have been named Scholar Ballers in eight semesters under Todd Graham. 
• 33 members on the roster have a cumulative GPA over 3.00. Additionally, the team as a whole has posted over a 3.00 Team GPA for the first time in program history as of summer school classes coming into Fall 2017 classes.