Arizona State primed, prepared for Weber


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OGDEN — Weber State football coach Jay Hill knows the challenge that lay ahead in facing defending Pac-12 South champion Arizona State.

Hill coached against the Sun Devils the last three seasons at Utah, and watched last season as Arizona State came from behind to beat the Utes, 20-19. The Sun Devils ended up hosting the Pac-12 championship game, where they lost 38-14 to Stanford.

Arizona State returns as one of the nation’s best, ranked 19th in the preseason polls. Entering his third season with the school, coach Todd Graham has gone 18-9, and expectations are high this season with quarterback Taylor Kelly returning. Kelly threw for 3,510 yards and 35 touchdowns, and still has wide receiver Jaelen Strong, an All-American candidate, to throw to.

With that in mind, Graham said at the Pac-12 Media Days that his team is excited for the upcoming opportunities in his third season.

“We’ve got a great plan, and got everybody going in the same direction,” he said. “(We have) one vision, one heartbeat. This will be the best team I’ve had in those regards, and I think that will result in hopefully a championship on the field.”

Arizona State has a bevy of offensive weapons, and also had one of the nation’s better rushing attacks, averaging over 191 yards per game. Kelly, besides being a tremendous passer, was also ASU’s second-leading rusher, running for 608 yards and nine touchdowns.


"Weber State has a really good coaching staff, their head coach comes from Utah, and they know what we do and how to defend what we are doing," Arizona State coach Todd Graham said.

Graham said Kelly deserves to be mentioned amongst the conference’s elite quarterbacks, like Oregon’s Marcus Mariota and UCLA’s Brett Hundley.

“I wouldn’t trade any of them for Taylor Kelly,” he said. “Is there some of them that run faster or have a stronger arm? Yes. (But) his character and his leadership are some of the best that I’ve ever been around in my coaching career.”

The Sun Devils will have a new defensive focus, as former Pittsburgh and West Virginia defensive coordinator Keith Patterson takes over the same position at Arizona State, replacing Joe Lorig, who left to coach linebackers at Utah State.

Graham said adding Patterson, with whom he has a tremendous relationship with, will be a great benefit to the program.

“I’ve got a 30-year relationship with (Patterson),” he said. “He’s just a tremendous football coach, and he’s going to help really sure up the defensive call up front. He’s just tremendous.”

As far as preparations for Weber State, Graham said the Sun Devils are preparing for the Big Sky members the same as they would for any other foe, especially since Hill knows Arizona State so well.

“Weber State has a really good coaching staff, their head coach comes from Utah, and they know what we do and how to defend what we are doing, and they understand what we do defensively,” Graham said. “Our deal is about us going out there and executing, and play Arizona State-caliber defense, which is explosive plays, sacks, TFLs, and interceptions.”

Graham said he expects Weber to use a variety of looks to try and confuse the Sun Devils’ defense.

“Obviously they need to be able to protect their quarterback, so you’re going to see the ball thrown quick,” he said. “Quick passes, empty formation, no back formations, a lot of motions and things like that, and those are things that we have prepared hard for. The main thing is just going to be able to line up and play football.”

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