Brad Cesmat
SEATTLE-Todd Graham looked down at the stat sheet on his i-pad after completing his media session late Saturday night in Husky Stadium. There were some things he grumbled about, but not that much. A road win in really tough conditions is one that any coach would take.
Some of my takeaways from the 24-10 victory for the Sun Devils.
-Taylor Kelly made some plays with his feet. He made one poor decision that resulted in a Washington touchdown. One fan texted me “Taylor Swiftly” should be his nickname.
-Todd Graham absolutely made the right call on going for a 4th and a half yard in the 3rd quarter that would’ve iced the game. Even though the Sun Devils were stuffed, I never like the field goal try when you’re that close.
-The defense is what has improved quite a bit from early in the season. Washington didn’t clear 100 yards in offense until just over minute to go in the first half. Doesn’t matter to me how young UW was on that side of the ball, the ASU defense played very well for the second week in a row.
-Gary Chambers TD catch late in the game was as good of a football play as you’ll ever see. The ball thrown by Taylor Kelly was short and Chambers had to adjust his body and layout to make the grab.
-I heard all about the TV disruptions on ESPN from many of you on social media. It was really rough conditions in and around the stadium. Winds were clocked at over 40 miles per hour in the area and when we were down on the field for the final 6 minuets I was amazed at how brutal the wind was howling.
Some other early Sunday morning thoughts from Seattle.
-Good to see DaVonte’ Neal have a breakout game for Arizona. 109yds of total offense and two TDs.
-Arizona was up 31-0 with 8-minutes to go in the 2nd Quarter Saturday against Washington State. Mike Leach is trying to win with a lot of youngsters on defense. It’s not happening.
-Where do Arizona and Arizona State end up in Tuesdays first poll of the College Football Playoff Committee? Does the UCLA blowout loss hurt Arizona State in the committees eyes? How does the Oregon win for Arizona play into their thinking? I will keep repeating myself as long as both schools keep winning. It’s in the best interest of everyone in Arizona to have the Wildcats and Sun Devils keep on winning. The two could make their matchup the day after Thanksgiving one for the ages. In this new playoff format both sets of fans should be rooting for success of their rival.
