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ASU Football: Takeaways From Last Season Part 1

By Hunter Robinson

Jan 2, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Todd Graham leaves the field after the second half against the West Virginia Mountaineers of the 2016 Cactus Bowl at Chase Field. The Mountaineers won 43-42. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 2, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Todd Graham leaves the field after the second half against the West Virginia Mountaineers of the 2016 Cactus Bowl at Chase Field. The Mountaineers won 43-42. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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Four months from now, ASU Football will be back in action.

We here at Devils in Detail feel the same way you do, that is too long to wait for football. So we have decided to start football coverage early!

From now until football season we will be covering a different aspect of ASU Football. Over the next few days I will be writing a series of posts about takeaways from last season. These takeaways will help everyone in the Devils in Detail nation to have more realistic expectations for this upcoming season. So without further ado, here we go.

Takeaway #1: Todd Graham does not like to make adjustments

Last season was a heartbreaking season for ASU football fans because there were so many games that ASU should of won. The main problem that everyone saw was that if something wasn’t working, Todd Graham did nothing about it.

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Many times the run game wasn’t working and instead of changing up the game plan and airing the ball out more Todd Graham continued his ground and pound attach which would set the offense up with a 3rd and long situation. The inability to change up a game plan also arose when the defense would get smoked because of how often a blitz was called. Last season ASU’s defense was among the worst FBS defenses in total defense, ranking 112 out of 127 schools. (ASU did finish higher than U of A) Part of this ranking was because of Todd Graham refusing to make adjustments.

ASU was incredibly bad defending the passing game. They allowed over 300 yards per game and they were the worst passing defense in the FBS last season. They also had difficulty tackling in the open field. A simple adjustment or switch of emphasis could have improved something like tackling issues but coach Graham showed his stubbornness throughout the season by refusing to make adjustments.

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