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By BRITTANY BOWYER
Cronkite News
TEMPE — As homecoming approaches, Arizona State is trying to accomplish something it has strived to do for 20 years: beat Oregon and USC in the same season.
Entering Saturday’s matchup against the Trojans, the Sun Devils have a force of momentum behind them.
“We’re getting better every week,” coach Todd Graham said. “I think we’ve improved every week.”
Momentum has been building for three weeks. Coming off a bye week, Graham led his team to a 13-7 victory over Washington on Oct. 14. The Sun Devils took that motivation and put it toward a game against Utah on the road, where they beat Utah, 30-10.
Saturday, the Sun Devils will be tested again as they duke it out with USC for the top spot in the PAC-12 South. The Trojans are 4-1 in the conference. ASU and Arizona are 3-1.
The last time ASU beat Oregon and USC in the same season was 1997. Both programs have had dominating runs since. The Ducks posted at least 10 wins each season from 2008-14, and the Trojans went to four straight Rose Bowls from 2004-08.
“I think we are ready for this role as a team,” ASU wide receiver N’Keal Harry said. “We want that top spot in the PAC-12 South and you can tell by the atmosphere just how bad we want to win the PAC-12 Championship.”
Graham believes the atmosphere in Sun Devil Stadium gives the team not only motivation but also an advantage in this weekend’s matchup.
“This place will be electrifying, and when (the Trojans are) on offense it needs to be deafening. Our crowd does a great job of that,” Graham said. “Sun Devil Stadium is a very difficult place to come in to play, I think. It’s that way because of the crowd and the passion that they have, so it’s going to be big.”
Even with two big wins, players say they are determined to be focused and disciplined when they step on the field. That all starts with habits during practice.
“We all know the goal. We all know what we need to do as a team,” senior defensive tackle Tashon Smallwood said. “ So for us, it’s just keeping each other humble. Being on each other to the point to where we just stay focused, making sure that we have our assignments right. Just the things that we practice and we work on each and every week, harping on those even more.”
And no thin skins allowed, Harry said.
“Don’t take offense to any coaching point they’re trying to make and to just make sure we’re sound and we out physical them on Saturday,” he said. “I think in the past two weeks we’ve proven we can continue with anybody, no matter what your ranking is.”
“Our coach always says that the next game is the biggest game,” Smallwood said. “This is the game that we’ve got in front of us, and it’s the biggest. There’s a lot at stake, but as players, we can’t get caught up in the hype.”
Graham says the team’s ability to find its identity and culture has helped it beat teams like Oregon, Washington and Utah.
“Our deal is character smart, discipline tough and our guys are playing that way.” Graham said. “I told our guys today that to win a championship, you’ve got to have a quarterback, first thing. You’ve got have a quarterback. If you don’t have a quarterback, then it’s not gonna happen. But you’ve got to have championship defense, and then we choose to play everything else with a defensive mentality, so that’s the key for us. I think we do a great job of complimenting each other offensively and defensively.”
The biggest part of the culture is the family-like bond among the players and coaches. They refer to it as the Sun Devil Brotherhood, and their strong relationships lead to improved performance on the field. One of the way they have been able to cultivate this is by going to chapel together.
“Everybody goes to chapel,” linebacker D.J. Calhoun said. “At first, it was only five people. Then it was half of the team. Now it’s a majority of the team. You can see, day by day, how we all just come together and ball out.”
