Greg Hansen doesn't exactly ask that question in his newspaper article today but does ask if the Cats are better off today than when they had Mike Stoops coaching them...

The Cats have 28 guys on their injury list and 18 of them are starters, including several QBs...

Hansen says that unless you are part of the Big 4 in the PAC that include Oregon, USC, Stanford and Washington you have problems sustaining success or something to that effect...

He asked former AU coach Dick Tomey about it and Tomey said it's almost impossible, in the conference, to put together five consecutive winning seasons...

UCLA hasn't had five consecutive winning seasons since 1988 and ASU hasn't done it since 1989, although the Bruins are on a winning streak under Mora so far while the Sun Devils faltered last season finishing 6-7...

Outside of the Big 4, only Cal from 2002-2009 has done it according to Hansen...

Tomey goes on to say that five years in college football is a long time and that just finishing .500 in the PAC is very difficult...

Here's where it gets interesting from an ASU standpoint, as Hansen points out that Rich Rod got significant mileage out of players Stoops recruited initially but now his kind of guys, that he recruited, aren't doing so well and you have to wonder if the same thing couldn't be said about Todd Graham and his Sun Devil program these days...

So, what do you think about what Hansen wrote this morning..??

BTW, Rich Rod isn't going to get fired anytime soon and neither is Graham unless the Sun Devils really hit the skids hard in the coming months and years...

Is it almost impossible for teams like ASU and AU to have winning seasons all of the time in the PAC, and is there such a thing as a Big 4 in the conference..??

Go Devils!!!

On those 18 plays we rushed X (or had 6 or more in the box) and the result was Y

4/5 yds
4/minus 13 (Rosen dropped the ball/slipped out of his throwing hand and we recovered)
4/2 yds (Ball very nice tackle)
4/2 yds
4/11 yds (Starks bounces of Perry's? kill shot and goes for 8 more)
4/3 yds
4/8 yds (Starks left Calhoun looking for his jock at the LOS and Ball mad tackle)
4/1 yd
4/minus 2 (Wicker)
4/4 yds
4/3 yds (Chandler slowed down at LOS and Ball made tackle)
4/2
(TOTAL WHILE RUSHING 4 was 12 carries/26 yds)

5/minus 3 yds (Gump with great TFL)
5/minus 3 yds (Wicker nice TFL)
5/0 yds (Moeak on backside blitz)
(TOTAL WHILE RUSHING 5 was 3 carries/6 yds)

6/6 yds (Latu tries arm tackle and Jamabo goes for 6)
6/0 yds
6/4 yds
(TOTAL WHILE RUSHING 6 was 3 carries/10 yds)

(Not counted in the 18 was a loss of 5 when we rushed 4 but Smallwood was called for the facemask)

Sacks--rushed X/ result was Y (WE GOT ZERO SACKS RUSHING 4)
6/minus 5 yds (Calhoun)
5/minus 5 yds (Wrenn)
5/minus 9 (Crump)
5/minus 2 (Smallwood/Calhoun)
5/minus 8 (Crump)

After going 6-7 despite having the most sacks in FBS (3.54 per game) and the 3rd most TFLs in FBS (8.54 per game), CTG began to focus on takeaways as a point of focus and a talking point with the media.

In 2015 ASU was tied for 59th-67th in FBS in takeaways with 21/1.62 per game (15 INTs and 6 fumble recoveries).

Meanwhile ASU was tied for 51st-60th in turnovers with 19/1.46 per game (9 INTs lost and 10 fumbles lost).

Tied for 51st-57th in Turnover Margin at +2

In 2016 ASU is currently tied for 49th-65th in takeaways with 9/1.5 per game (7 INTs & 2 fumble recoveries)

Tied for 87th-100th in turnovers with 10/1.67 per game (4 fumbles lost & 6 INTs)

70th in Turnover Margin at -1

So we have gotten worse in takeaways, worse in turnovers and therefore obviously worse in turnover margin.

So the focus in the press conference after the game was the high number of sacks (5) and TFLs (9) vs UCLA

Team
Fewest Penalties — 31st nationally/2nd Pac-12 at 29
Fewest Penalties per Game — 18th nationally/1st Pac-12 at 4.83
First Downs Offense — 21st nationally/5th Pac-12 at 140
Net Punting – 6th nationally/2nd Pac-12 at 43.97
Punt Return Defense — 21st nationally/3rd Pac-12 at 2.75
Red Zone Offense — 6th nationally/1st Pac-12 at 0.962
Rushing Defense — 5th nationally/1st Pac-12 at 89.3
Scoring Offense — 24th nationally/4th Pac-12 at 39.7
Team Tackles For Loss — 26th nationally/2nd Pac-12 at 7.3
Individual
All Purpose — Tim White, 15th nationally/3rd Pac-12 at 152.17
Combined Kick Returns — Tim White, 8th nationally/3rd Pac-12 at 479
Completion Percentage — Manny Wilkins, 21st nationally/6th Pac-12 at 0.651
Field Goal Percentage — Zane Gonzalez, 9th nationally/1st Pac-12 at 0.941
Field Goals Per Game — Zane Gonzalez, 1st nationally/1st Pac-12 at 2.67
Interceptions Per Game — Gump Hayes, 17th nationally/1st Pac-12 at 0.5
Passes Defended — Laiu Moeakiola, 8th nationally/1st Pac-12 at 1.6
Punt Returns — Tim White, 13th nationally/2nd Pac-12
Punting — Matt Haack, 15th nationally/3rd Pac-12 at 44.9
Receptions Per Game — Tim White, 20th nationally/3rd Pac-12 at 6.5
Rushing TDs — Kalen Ballage, 3rd nationally/1st Pac-12 at 9
Sacks — Koron Crump, 30th nationally/1st Pac-12 at 0.83
Scoring — Zane Gonzalez, 3rd nationally/1st Pac-12 at 12.0
Scoring — Kalen Ballage, 13th nationally/3rd Pac-12 at 10.3
Total Interceptions — Gump Hayes, 7th nationally/1st Pac-12 at 3
Total Offense — Manny Wilkins, 26th nationally/4th Pac-12 at 297.4

Opened at -4 for UCLA and immediately jumped to -10

http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/odds/las-vegas/

Alright fellas, let's see what the Sun Devils have tonight. It will be good to see early success from Brady White

By the far the toughest get ASU basketball will have in recruiting, but FWIW Hamidou Diallo did visit here over the weekend and was at last night's game

UCLA ran 77 plays
We sent 6 on 22 of those plays (by far our highest percentage of the season)
We sent 5 on 17 of those plays (again, by far our highest of the season)
We sent 4 on 31 of those plays
We sent 3 on 7 of those plays

DSC's INT was the first time we entered the redzone and did not score all season (4-5 on the night). We are now 6th in FBS in red Zone Conversion percentage 96.15%, 25 of 26.
We dropped down to 43rd in TD percentage in the Red Zone at 69.23% with 18 TDs in 26 trips

9 TFLs (had 10 vs UTSA) Now 17th in FBS with 7.33 TFLs per game
5 Sacks (most of the season, previous high of 4 vs. UTSA) Now 27th in FBS with 2.67 per game
3 INTs
2 FFs and 1 recovered

Sacks allowed-62nd in FBS with 2.0 per game (BY FAR THE BEST IN CTG's 4 1/2 seasons after averaging 3 per game over the first 4 seasons)

Matt Haack 14th in FBS with 44.89 average

Zach Gonzalez #1 IN FBS HISTORY and leads FBS in 2016 with 16 FGs (on 17 attempts=9th in FBS at 94.1%)

Thanks to Paul Yee

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WITH THE WIN…

• The Sun Devils improved to 19-13-1 all-time against the Bruins, earning their first win against UCLA at home since 2011.
• ASU earned its third victory in its past four games against UCLA while having now won 7 of its last 11 meetings with the Bruins.
• ASU improved to 8-2 in the regular season games since 2013 following a loss. The Sun Devils have lost consecutive games just twice in the Graham era (four straight in 2012 and three straight last season.
• The Sun Devils moved to 25-14 in Pac-12 games since Todd Graham took over in 2012 and 20-10 in such games in the past three-plus seasons – with both marks leading the Pac-12 South in those respective time spans.
• There’s no place like home…The Sun Devils improved to 25-6 at Sun Devils stadium under Graham.
• The Maroon and Gold moved to 5-1 though six games for the third time in Graham’s five seasons leading the Sun Devils.

ON THE RISE…

• Courtesy of tonight’s victory the Sun Devils now hold the best record in the Pac-12 South in conference games at 25-14 since 2012.

SUPER DEMARIO…

• Tallying 62 yards rushing on 15 attempts, Demario Richard became just the 19th player in program history to exceed 2,000+ career rushing yards.

ASU CAREER 2,000-YARD RUSHERS
1. Woody Green (1971-73), 4,188
2. Freddie Williams (1973-76), 3,424
3. J.R. Redmond (1996-99), 3,299
4. Wilford White (1947-50), 3,173
5. Leon Burton (1955-58), 2,994
6. Darryl Clack (1982-85), 2,737
7. Cameron Marshall (2009-2012), 2,700
8. Art Malone (1967-69), 2,649
9. Keegan Herring (2005-08), 2,635
10. Darryl Harris (1984-87), 2,617
11. Ben Malone (1971-73), 2,474
12. D.J Foster (2012-15), 2,355
13. Robert Weathers (1978-81), 2,168
14. Nolan Jones (1958-61), 2,122
15. Gerald Riggs (1978-81), 2,097
16. Michael Martin (1993, 1995-97), 2,087
17. Mario Bates (1991-93), 2,025
18. Demario Richard (2014-present), 2,018
19. Bobby Mulgado (1954-57), 2,003
A HAND IN THE COOKIE JAR…

• Forcing four turnovers on the outing (3 INTs and 1 Fumble recovery) the Sun Devils have now forced 120 turnovers under Todd Graham in the past five seasons.
• Forcing a Josh Rosen interception in the fourth quarter, the Sun Devils ended the quarterbacks streak of 127 consecutive passes without an interception

MADE ‘EM PAY

• Accumulating four takeaways on the night en route to outscoring the Bruins 9-0 on points off turnovers, ASU has now outscored opponents 509-246 in points of takeaways under Todd Graham and 26-21 this season.

NO RUSH…

• The Sun Devils Limited the Bruins to -1 yards rushing on the outing, marking the first time since 2013 that they have prevented an opponent from gaining positive net yardage on the ground.
• The Sun Devils have now held 22 opponents under 100 rushing yards in the Todd Graham era (58 games/37.9 percent), including four of the six games this year.
• ASU is now 4-0 on the season when holding opponents under 100 yards rushing and 18-3 when doing so in the Graham era.

TOP 10 BEST RUSH DEFENSE GAMES (1996-PRESENT)
-54, @Washington State (Oct. 10, 2009)
-5, Washington (Oct. 19, 2013)
-5, Idaho State (Sept. 5, 2009)
-2, @Stanford (Sept. 29, 2007)
-1, UCLA (Oct. 8, 2016)
HOLD ONTO YOUR SEATS…

• Garnering the 23-20 victory, ASU has now gone 9-5 in games decided by a touchdown or less since the 2012 Arizona comeback in Tucson. To put that into perspective, ASU had gone 6-16 in such games since the 2007 season up until that moment.
• The Maroon and Gold are now 2-0 in games decided by less than a touchdown this year.

STRIKE FIRST…

• Courtesy of a 35-yard Zane Gonzalez field goal at the 7:54 mark in the first quarter, the Maroon and Gold have now scored first in 41 of the 58 games with Todd Graham at the helm and are 32-9 in the Graham era when getting on the board first.

SUN DEVIL FOOTBALL HEAD COACH HOME RECORDS

• Todd Graham, 25-6/5 years; Dennis Erickson, 23-12/5 years; Dirk Koetter, 27-12/6 years; Bruce Snyder, 32-17/8 years

DON’T CROSS THAT LINE…

• Against the Bruins, the Sun Devils defense forced 42 negative or no yardage plays (9 TFLs, 24 incomplete passes, 9 rushes of no gain) of 77 plays run by UCLA (54.5 percent).

GOLD ZONE…

• Scoring on 4-of-5 trips to the red zone on the outing, the Sun Devils have now converted on 25-of-26 trips to the red zone for the season and have scored a touchdown on 18 of those trips (69.2).

IN-ZANE IN THE MEMBRANE…

• Tallying three field goals on the outing, Gonzalez improved his career total to 89 en route to setting an FBS career field goal record, previously held by Florida State’s Dustin Hopkins (88)
• Gonzalez’s 16 field goals on the season are the most in the FBS as of 10/8.
• Gonzalez has now scored at least one point in each of the 45 games he has played at Arizona State, tying Luis Zendejas’ school record.

CAREER-HIGHS…

• Junior linebacker Marcus Ball recorded a career-high 10 tackles while posting the second interception of his collegiate career and his first of the season.
• Junior defensive back Maurice Chandler made his first career start totaling seven tackles.
• Freshman defensive back Robbie Robinson recorded his first collegiate interception.

SEASON-BESTS…

• Boasting an exceptional outing, the Sun Devil defensive unit set season bests in turnovers forced (four, previous two/Cal (9/24)), sacks recorded (five, previous four/ Cal (9/24)), net rushing yards allowed (-1, previous 56/ NAU (9/3), fumbles forced (two, previous one/ USC (10/1), and interceptions (three, previous two/Cal (9/24)).

EXPLOSIVE PLAYS…

• Tim White- 20-yard reception
• Demario Richard- 17-yard run
• Jalen Harvey- 18-yard reception
• Tim White- 30-yard reception
• Tim White- 17-yard reception
• Demario Richard- 13-yard run

Thanks to videographer Nicole Walker

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Game story by Justin

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Ralph Amsden, Brett Quintyne and Chilly talk about Arizona State's blowout loss to USC, and what needs to be done to right the ship this week to secure a win over the UCLA Bruins.

The guys discuss the blowouts that have occurred during the Todd Graham era, and whether those types of losses are keeping people from being satisfied with the overall success of the program. They also continue to beat to death the notion that ASU has gotten away from its (or perhaps never had a) commitment to the running game.

Brady White's pros and cons are discussed and the guys predict the outcome of this week's game.

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The message was clear and didn't fall on deaf ears. Story by Eric Smith.

Haack 9 punts 44.1 yd average , 3 inside the 20 vs UCLA's 8 punts , 36.4 ave, 2 inside the 20

Gonzalez 3-3 FGs, long of 46, 6 kickoffs, 5 touchbacks, 1 returned from 2 yards deep to the 15

UCLA's 2-4 FGs , long of 38, 5 kickoffs, 3 touchbacks, allowed 2 returns for 54 yards

Punt returns ASU'w White 1 for 12 yards, vs UCLA's 4 returns for 6 net yards

We also won the turnover battle 4-3

This was a strange night all the way around. I had no idea what to expect.

We started out with our normal routine, Fuddruckers pre-game meal with more than enough time to get to the game in time to see all the warmups. I have two small boys. My oldest boy got sick before he ever started to eat. I could tell my younger son was tired. We went back home and he was out for the night before 7. My frame of mind started to shift from cautiously optimistic to pessimistic.

The first half did not do anything to improve my mood really. I figured that sooner or later our D would fold and and we would get whooped. Oldest boy was asleep on the couch. I tried to to yell at the TV and wake him up. Why is our offense SOOO anemic in the first half. It wasn't White. It happened in every game with the exception (maybe) of Texas Tech.

Watching the O improve and the D continue to play the way CTG expects them to made me really happy. Crump and Wicker played great, as did the secondary. Our O came alive. Still wondering about some of the play calling but overall, huge improvement. Then, before we could celebrate, Brady is hurt and I am thinking about that UCLA game where they kicked the late field goal to win all over again. Then our D dominated the way we all want them to. Wow.

Some thoughts...

I love Saturday nights!! I had our game on TV, and had two computers streaming the UA and Stanford games. UA went as I wanted, Stanford did not but regardless, 3 games on TV is an amazing thing. I wish I had 2 more computers/TV's so I could have watched the baseball game and OSU/Cal. Wow. What a night for sports. You have to wonder if it pays for the Pac-12 to have 4 games on at the same time.

Great to see CTG with his wrist bands on again. I am sure there is some sort of explenation but what it told me was that he was more directly involved in the D preparation. No surprise it improved.

Really improved secondary play. Ball was all over the field at safety. Gump had a great game considering he was benched. He had his 3rd pick tonight. Led to a field goal after a HORRIBLE offensive possession. Chandler played well also. We blitzed our corners more tonight than I remember previously this season. If we can only get Perry to attack the ball carrier in the open field instead of running backwards.

Wrenn had a great game. Dude is a monster. Would like to see him instead of Lea and maybe Latu until he is completely healthy. Was really happy to see Crump get significantly more PT. He is a disruptor. Asside from the penalties, I thought Smallwood has his best game of the year.

Brady made some big league throws. Richard looked good also. Would have liked to see him get signifcantly more carries. The Sparky formation has jumped the shark, especially on first down.

Lots of chatter about the announcers for the game but I really enjoyed Belloti. He knows the Pac and was thoughtful and broke down plays in a way that I enjoyed. Both announcers couldn't believe some of the officiating. neither could I. When will the Pac-12 take it seriously.


My boy is now up and feeling better. Talking a million miles an hour. Could be a late night, lol. Good news all the way around. Great night to be a Devil!!!!!!!!

If you have small kids and are looking for something to do tomorrow, check out the Mccormick Stillman train park. They are having train fest. Great time!!! We love that place.

time to punish Cu.

DSC should have been emergency QB, 2nd and goal from 7 is not an emergency up 3. Two runs out of Sparky then kick FG. They must know Manny is out next week in addition to White. Only way it makes sense.

Wow. That was fun.

Hearing UCLA scuffed the middle of our field and wrote "UCLA" into it. Can anyone verify? Or just tailgate rumors?