Devils in Detail
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ASU Football: Injuries or Secondary Reason Behind Recent Struggles

By Hunter Robinson

Oct 22, 2016; Tempe, AZ, USA; Washington State Cougars wide receiver Tavares Martin Jr. (right) catches a second quarter touchdown against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 22, 2016; Tempe, AZ, USA; Washington State Cougars wide receiver Tavares Martin Jr. (right) catches a second quarter touchdown against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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With the season rapidly coming to a close, head coach Todd Graham has had to deal with an injury riddled team, but are the injuries the real reason for the Sun Devils’ recent struggles?

Since their last victory, ASU has had injury after injury which has brought their once very promising season to a halt. The most devastating has been the injury bug that has spread through the quarterback unit which has forced ASU to rely on their third string quarterback for the past two weeks. But while injuries have been a big issue for the Sun Devils, there is another area that may be even more crippling, the secondary.

ASU has one of the worst secondaries in the FBS. They rank 125 out of 128 in total defense and they are 128 out of 128 when it comes to passing yards allowed, allowing an average of 397.6 passing yards a game.

Injuries hurt a team, but if you are unable to stop the passing game in a day and age where the air-raid offense is at an all-time high then you have put yourself at a disadvantage. Earlier in the season when coach Graham was asked about the secondary he would always respond with an answer that came to the equivalent of, “I don’t want to answer that.” In one instance in particular, Graham answered a question about the secondary with, “We are 5-1,” after their victory against UCLA. Now sitting at 5-4, Graham now avoids questions about the secondary out of embarrassment.

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Injuries are to be accounted for in a season, so the excuse of injuries causing a team’s downfall doesn’t hold much value. A secondary that seems to have not taken a single step in the direction of improvement is a situation where a lot more blame can be directed to.

Yes, there have been injuries to the secondary, every unit of the team has suffered some sort of injury. The difference between the secondary and the other units of the team is that the secondary, even with everyone healthy, was clearly the weakest unit of the team.

With the next two games against ranked opponents, the Sun Devils need to find some way to improve the secondary or else they could be looking at a must-win game in Tucson on November 25.

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