Needless to say, that true freshman quarterback Dillon Sterling-Cole received his baptism by fire receiving his first ever ASU start on the road versus Oregon. The three interceptions he had were a blemish, if not an expected one. Yet, his 28-31 passing for 302 yards and a touchdown pass, along with a touchdown run left head coach Todd Graham encouraged.
“Obviously, he’s young,” Graham said. “He’s got to take care of the football and just continue to learn what we’re doing, but he shows great promise.
“He’s got big-time arm talent. It’s just that learning a system in two weeks is very difficult to do. I think he’s done a solid job under the circumstance when two or three weeks ago he was running the scout team. But I’m very proud of who he came in…his effort putting in there.”
Graham was non-committal when asked if signal caller Manny Wilkins will resume his starting role ten days from now, and commented that the injured Wilkins along with the several other hobbled players is “healing up.”
Senior Day is near and dear to Graham’s heart
The last home game of the season is always an emotional time for a program. What will make the upcoming game versus Utah on November 10th significant; will be the fact that this will be the first group of seniors that have been recruited exclusively by Todd Graham since he arrived in Tempe following the 2011 season.
It’s a game Graham looks forward also due to the fact that he is a perfect 4-0 in Senior Day games at ASU.
“It’s very important,” Graham stated. “It’s the last time for seniors that have meant so much to me personally and to this university and it’s one of the finest groups to ever come through here. Our focus is to heal up, get better fundamentally and prepare to win Senior Day. This is something we take great pride in and have done a good job here.”
Laiu Moeakiola is one of 17 scholarship seniors who will play his last game at Sun Devil Stadium next week, and the linebacker has been instrumental component of the ASU defense from his sophomore year until today.
“I’m not gonna lie to you,” Graham admitted, “That will be an emotional one for me. It seems like yesterday when I was sitting and visiting with his mom and dad in Dallas. He picked us over a lot of schools (was a one-time UCLA commit). What he endured and how he has represented this university with class and character…the injuries and the surgeries he has gone through and to have an incredible senior year…he’s been an incredible Sun Devil.”
Gammage makes the most of his ASU career
Local Brophy Prep standout and former walk-on Fred Gammage is another member of the squad that will play in his hometown school’s stadium for the very last time. The wide receiver may have played his best game as a Sun Devil last week in Oregon, hauling in three receptions for 45 yards.
“Really proud of how Fred played and stepped up with Tim (White) out,” Graham stated. “He’s a guy that came in here and would not let anyone put parameters on him. He’s earned it; he has been a great Sun Devil and a great receiver for us.”
Time for healing
With the plethora of key injuries that have hit ASU in recent weeks, as manifested by the ten starters and five back-ups who have already missed playing time this year, the goal of the bye week couldn’t be clearer.
“Our focus is working fundamentally on our timing and those type of things,” Graham explained, “and to heal up. Our whole deal is that we haven’t been healthy in a month. We need to get players back. We are practicing, but practices are abbreviated. We have a comprehensive plan with our training department and our medical staff to treat and get our players back and get as many players back as we can.
“It’s not a full bye week because we play next Thursday. So these next four, five days are really critical for us to heal up and keep our timing. That’s the key for us – to get guys back, because before that (rash of injuries) we were playing pretty good football.”
Video provided by Fabian Ardaya
