By Braeden Mueller |  Arizona State

December 2011:
Hired Coach Todd Graham after only one season at Pittsburgh. His quick departure from Pitt caused some controversy as he notified his players and staff reportedly with only a text message. Bringing in a fresh 6-6 record from Pittsburgh, a focus on defense and a great recruiting background, this hire was creating hype around the next season. Little did the fans know at the time that six years later the discussion would revolve around whether or not Graham should be fired.
2012 Season:
In his first season at the helm, the future looked bright for the Sun Devils as they opened their season with Northern Arizona, Illinois and at Missouri. The season looked to be developing after back-to-back blowout wins over NAU and Illinois respectively and strong play from quarterback Taylor Kelly. Then came the inevitable disappointing loss at Missouri, when the Sun Devils couldn’t find the end zone on multiple drives ending in the red zone. After the loss to Mizzou, the Devils rattled off three straight wins against Pac-12 opponents before running facing second ranked Oregon. Marcus Mariota and Kenjon Barner were overpowering on the ground, with a pair of 86 and 71 yard rushes respectively. This would start a skid of three straight losses in Pac-12 play. The losing feeling would not hit the Devils again this season as they finish the season on a two-game win streak and a trip to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl to face Navy. The high-powered offense led by Kelly and Foster would prove too much for the Midshipmen as the Devils won 62-28.
Review: In his first season, Todd Graham led the Devils to their first winning season since 2007. The Devils won a bowl and finished the season on a three-game win streak for the first time since 1978.
2013 Season:
Coming off a bowl win in his first season, CTG was feeling very confident. Taylor Kelly, Marion Grice and D.J. Foster were all are back on offense. The Devils’ tough non-conference slate that included Wisconsin and Notre Dame at home would make or break their season. With an easy W over Sacramento State in the opener, the eyes turned to Melvin Gordon and the Badgers. The Devils were able to grind out a 32-30 win in a game that featured Kelly throwing for 300 yards and Marion Grice’s four rushing touchdowns.

Dreams of an undefeated season would come to an end the next week against the reigning Pac-12 champs Stanford. After falling in a hole early, the Devils outscored the Cardinal in the second half 28-13. The loss would be short lived because the Devils would own LA this season with a win over USC with a whopping 62 point outbreak. Then came the neutral site game against Notre Dame, in Arlington, Texas. The Devils would end up falling to the Irish after Kelly’s interception was taken to the house with 1:08 left in the 4th quarter to make sure that the Devils would not be able to overcome the 10 point deficit. With the rest of the season containing Pac-12 opponents, the Devils were able to put together seven straight wins and qualify for the Pac-12 title game. Facing Stanford again, the Devils would not be able to overcome the Cardinal’s stifling defense and lost 38-14. With a record of 10-3, the Devils were placed in the Holiday Bowl against Texas Tech. The season came to a grinding halt, as the high-powered offense would be controlled by a lackluster Big-12 defense by a score of 37-23.
Review: Wins over Wisconsin, USC, UCLA, U of A, and a nice seven-game win streak to end the conference play the season would be remembered for years to come. Although the lack of performance in big games is a reoccurring theme under CTG, this season was memorable.
2014 Season:
Many Devils fans billed the third season of the CTG era as the year they would finally get over the hump and win the conference championship. With home games against UCLA, Stanford, Utah and Notre Dame, the schedule would be friendly to the Devils. Ideally, the Devils would be able to beat UCLA as they did the previous year on the road, but the Devils would not be able to stop the high flying UCLA offense. Brett Hundley picked apart the Devils with 355 yards and four touchdowns, including an 80-yard bomb. The Devils looked flustered and not competitive against the Bruins. The Devils would have no rest on defense as their schedule had USC, and Stanford in the following weeks. The Devils went on the road against a ranked USC team and shocked the Trojans behind monster games from Mike Bercovici and Jaelen Strong. Bercovici threw for 500 yards and five touchdowns while Strong hauled in 10 catches for 202 yards and three touchdowns.

Devils then returned home to play Kevin Hogan and the 23rd ranked Stanford Cardinal. Behind another strong performance from the duo of Bercovici and Strong, the Devils improved to 5-1. After wins against Washington and Utah (in OT), the desert fire game against Notre Dame came to Tempe. The sellout crowd at Sun Devil Stadium played a factor in this top 10 matchup, as the Devils rolled over the Irish in revenge of the previous year’s snub. In what was a breakout game for DJ Foster, he rushed for 126 yards while Taylor Kelly, who retook his starting position after becoming healthy, tossed for a solid 224 yards. The euphoria wouldn’t last long as the Devils stumbled in the next game against the dominant running duo of Strom Woods and Terron Ward. Oregon State rushed for 288 yards and had two rushers over 100 yards. This was the first time that the Sun Devils had lost after leading at halftime under Graham. After bouncing back against WSU, the Devils feasted their eyes on the team from the South. The Wildcats, who rushed for 188 yards and threw for 208 yards, stunned the Devils. The Devils finished tied for second in the Pac-12 South and were placed in the Sun Bowl against Duke. The Devils would win 36-31, sending Taylor Kelly off with a win.
Review: The hype for this season was well deserved, but with unexplainable losses to UCLA, Oregon State, and Arizona this season was a disappointment. We saw the rise of Berco in place of injured Taylor Kelly, and the star of DJ Foster being made. Finishing the season with a bowl win, made the losses aforementioned a little less salty. PS: Watching Arizona getting dominated by Oregon in the title game was pretty satisfying.
2015 Season:
The 2015 season again began with much optimism as many people, including ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, picked the Devils as preseason favorites to make it to the College Football Playoff. Graham said that this was the best team he had ever had in Tempe. Devil fans once again had their expectations set too high before the season opener against Texas A&M in Houston. Once the ball was kicked, the Aggies dominated and embarrassed this so called “dream team.” After being beat 38-17 Devils started to worry that this season would not work out the way they had hoped. The Devils faced USC at home in their game. The sold-out crowd would be dispersed by halftime, as the Trojans won 42-14. With a struggling Quarterback named Berco and a lackluster defense, the team struggled to find its footing in the Pac-12 this year. With devastating losses to Utah, Oregon, WSU, and California this season was marred by the dreams of a national championship. The Oregon game was the awakening to the lack of defense by the Sun Devils as the Ducks scored 61 points. After this loss, the fans hopes for the season turned to a bowl game. After a loss to WSU, the Devils rattled off a two-game win streak against Washington and Arizona to become bowl eligible. The Devils were sent to the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl against to face West Virginia and coach Dana Holgerson’s high-powered offense. In an 85-point outbreak for both teams and 1,000 combined yards on offense, the Devils fell 43-42. The fans will not forget the 3rd and 22 rush by Wendall Smallwood which led set up the winning score for the Mountaineers.

Review: Disappointment, shock, and tragedy marked this season. After being chosen to be in the playoffs, the season was set up for failure. Common in the CTG era, the Devils did not have a solid defense and performed horribly in the big games. Some fans were calling for the firing of CTG but 2016 can’t get worse…right?
2016 Season:
The 2016 season couldn’t be worse than the 2015 season in the fans minds, but as CTG would prove, it could. After a promising 5-1 start to the season, the Devils finished the year on a seven-game losing-streak. Injuries and horrible defense would be the norm for the season. The Devils lost three different quarterbacks to injury in consecutive weeks, and Dylan Sterling-Cole had to have his redshirt pulled to take over under center. While the offense led the Devils to victories against Texas Tech, UCLA and Cal, it was the defense blunders that made the most notable statistics. The Devils gave up the most 50-yard touchdowns by ANY defense this year and ranked 127th in total defense. The rivalry game loss to Arizona topped off a season of failure. The Devils were outplayed, outclassed by a team that was 2-9 and had only beat Grambling State, and Hawaii. The Wildcats did not attempt a pass in the second half but rushed for over 500 yards and had 2 players over 100 yards. Manny Wilkens played well but to no avail as the Devils were embarrassed defensively. The bright side for this season is the recruiting class, with transfer Blake Barnett, Eno Benjamin, and Alex Perry all bringing the Boom to ASU.
Review: Nothing went right for CTG this year, as they had injuries and lack of leaders on the team. The emergence of Kalen Ballage, Demario Richard, and N’keal Harry all are positives to a horrible season. Not many people were calling for the firing of CTG before the U of A game, but after the fans wanted to see him go or something change. Looking to the future, the Devils have one of the best recruiting classes under CTG and will be returning most of their offense/ defense but under a new coordinator on both sides of the ball.