ASU Football: Sun Devils drop out of Top-25, but defense stands out

(Photo: Tyler Paley/WCSN)

In the wake of its loss to Texas A&M, Arizona State dropped completely out of the AP Top-25 this week as it began prepping for its Week 2 matchup against Cal Poly. After defeating ASU by 21 points, the Aggies rose to No. 16 in the country.

That news wasn’t at all shocking to ASU head coach Todd Graham.

“It should be expected,” Graham said. “You don’t win, that’s the way it is. I’m not worried about the AP poll. I’m worried about the next 11, 12 games.”

ASU’s next three games are at home, as the Sun Devils welcome New Mexico and No. 8 USC in to Sun Devil Stadium.

Christian Sam stands out

Despite giving up 38 points last Saturday, Graham was upbeat in his Monday press conference regarding the play of his defensive unit.

“I can’t say enough about what our defense did that entire game,” Graham said on Monday. “We felt that there was a chance every second of the game. I kept telling the defense, I kept encouraging them that offensive line kept encouraging them just because they know that they kept us in that football game.”

In particular, sophomore linebacker Christian Sam played well in his first start at WILL. He racked up 11 total tackles against the Aggies and forced a fumble that led to a touchdown by redshirt junior tight end Kody Kohl.

Outside of a 66-yard touchdown from TAMU freshman Christian Kirk, Sam and the Sun Devil defense held the Aggies offense for the better part of the game, keeping ASU within a touchdown with less than four minutes remaining.

“As a whole defense, it all seemed to work,” Sam said. “It was one.”

With that in mind, Sam mentioned the mood at practice was business as usual despite the underwhelming opening result.

“Everything goes fast,” Sam said. “Now we’re on to the next game, but as a unit, we all did good.”

Practice notes

– Redshirt junior wide receiver Tim White remained in a green non-contact jersey, but he took first-team reps today during tempo. He still has a small wrap/brace on his left hand/wrist.

– Redshirt senior defensive back Lloyd Carrington was back in a Tillman jersey today, joining redshirt senior Jordan Simone and redshirt sophomore James Johnson.

– Senior center Nick Kelly and redshirt junior left tackle Evan Goodman were in green today.

– Redshirt senior running back Jacom Brimhall took reps with the second-string in tempo.

– Graham spoke to senior captains Simone, Kelly, D.J. Foster and Mike Bercovici for a good length of time following practice. Graham said they were discussing “leading and all those good things like that.”

You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com.

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