ASU's Graham tries new approach on defense

Sep 5, 2017 - 3:01 AM Arizona State coach Todd Graham, coming off a 5-7 season, exclaimed, "1-0, baby!" after last week's too-close-for-comfort 37-31 win over visiting New Mexico State.

The Sun Devils will try for 2-0 against stiffer competition when they play defending Mountain West champ San Diego State on Saturday night in Sun Devil Stadium. The Aztecs won their opener 38-17 over FCS school UC Davis.

Two consecutive losing seasons has Graham on the hot seat, but he's trying to stay positive even when things might look bleak. The Aggies threw for 398 yards against ASU's porous pass defense.

In his first five years as coach, Graham was more visible with the defense. Against New Mexico State, he left the instructions to new defensive coordinator Phil Bennett while he spent more time with offensive coordinator Billy Napier and junior quarterback Manny Wilkins.

"It's not as stressful for me," Graham said with a smile.

"The guy that's coaching our defense taught me football, so I'm very blessed to have him," Graham said about Bennett. "He's taken a lot off me and I think it's really helped with Billy."

Arizona State is sticking to its first unit as much as it can. Graham and Bennett didn't make their first defensive substitution until the first minute of the fourth quarter, and that was because of an injury. ASU did not use a nickel package with its defense.

Graham reasoned that his defensive starters are in "that kind of shape" to stay on the field as much as possible.

The Aggies put up 549 yards and ran 88 plays, 18 more than the Sun Devils, who appeared to be listless on defense by the end, when New Mexico State scored 18 points in the fourth quarter.

Graham talked about the positives of the game, including ASU not turning the ball over.

That is important with San Diego State coming to town. The Aztecs have picked off 49 passes in the past two season, the most in the nation over that span. In the win over UC Davis last week, the Aztecs had two interceptions by the end of the first quarter.

San Diego State has forced 66 turnovers since 2015.

Protecting Wilkins is a potential concern. New Mexico State -- which had only 11 sacks last season -- sacked Wilkins seven times, part of the Aggies' 14 tackles for loss.

Wilkins completed 22 of 27 passes for 300 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Wide receiver John Humphrey, a transfer from Oklahoma, led ASU with seven receptions for 123 yards.