Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/184773
✦ quoting kelly "They're not walking around campus flashing their 12-0 rings. They don't have a 12-0 ring. They're not wearing a conference championship ring. They have an immense amount of pride in what they accomplished by playing so well and winning games. What drives them is winning, and they want to win. They want to win football games, and they want to play good football week in and week out." On Arizona State senior running back Marion Grice: "There are a lot of similarities in terms of how we've used [junior running backs George Atkinson III and Amir Carlisle]. They're coming out of the backfield, catching the football. "They like to keep their backs involved in the passing game, free releasing them out of the back, getting them involved in screens, and obviously in their running game. You have to account for them at all times." On how to slow down the Sun Devils' explosive passing attack: "If you look at the Oklahoma game, the two big plays that we gave up were critical. We can't afford to give up any big plays. "They catch the ball very well. They're a team that will challenge you on the perimeter throwing the football, and you have to keep [junior quarterback Taylor] Kelly in check running the football, as well. He's very capable through their zone read package of running the ball. "Containing the quarterback and not giving up the bigchunk plays. We gave up a ball that got over our head in cover three and then the 56-yard slant. Eliminating the big plays defensively is absolutely crucial to our success." On how freshman cornerback Cole Luke has earned early playing time: "His skill first, and then the capacity to pick up what we're asking him to do, but [freshman corner- To view this video you must log in at BlueGoldOnline.com with your print subscription username and password VIDEO: Head coach Brian Kelly spoke to the media Oct. 1 about the loss to Oklahoma and Saturday's game against Arizona State. back] Devin Butler has been able to do that, too. You'll see a little bit more of Devin this weekend. "Both of those freshman corners have shown not only the physical ability but the mental capacity to be able to go in there and compete, and you'll see that from both of them. "Cole has done a nice job, and early on we went with him because he was able to pick up and grasp some of the concepts a little bit earlier. "Devin has done a really nice job. This week he was our special teams player of the week for his physical play on special teams. We see a young man there that's growing quickly." On what message from the coaching staff is keeping the team together: "These guys have been together for four years, and it's the constant day-in and day-out relationships, everybody knows what's expected, everybody knows what to do on a day-to-day basis. You're talking about a program that has won a lot of football games over the last couple years, and they just want to go out and play better football. That's really their goal. ✦ Page 9 "It's interesting, and we talked a little bit about this: They're not walking around campus flashing their 12-0 rings. They don't have a 12-0 ring. They're not wearing a conference championship ring. They have an immense amount of pride in what they accomplished by playing so well and winning games. What drives them is winning, and they want to win. They want to win football games, and they want to play good football week in and week out." On the characteristics of teams led by Arizona State head coach Todd Graham: "They are aggressive defensively. You're going to get a lot of different pressures. … You're going to get the quarterback lined up in an offensive set punting the football, they'll use the swinging gate and offensive misdirection. "I go back to [Graham's previous coaching stops] Tulsa and Pittsburgh and now at Arizona State, you've got a lot of different offensive and defensive looks. You're not going to get a cookie-cutter approach to playing the game in any one of those facets, and that's been his kind of philosoph, and what he's staked his success on. He's done a great job at it." ✦