ASU’s Todd Graham opens up on defending Air Raid offense

In his postgame press conference following a wild, 68-55 win over Texas Tech two weeks ago, Arizona State head coach Todd Graham asked how hard it was to defend the Red Raiders’ attack with prolific quarterback Patrick Mahomes at the controls.

“Not hard anymore,” Graham joked with more than a hint of relief in his voice. “I’m done with that deal.”

Except, he’s not.

The 3-0 Sun Devils open up Pac-12 play against Sonny Dykes’ Cal Golden Bears (2-1) in Tempe Saturday night, and any relief Graham and his defensive staff felt following the Texas Tech win is a memory.

That’s because Cal runs the same Air Raid offense as the Red Raiders. The Bears come into the game ranked second in the nation in passing yards per game (behind, you guessed it, Texas Tech) averaging 453 yards per contest. They translate those yards into points as well. Cal has posted an average of 47 points per game in non-conference tilts against Hawaii, San Diego State and Texas.

There are several connections between Cal and Texas Tech. Dykes served under head coach Mike Leach at Tech from 2000 to 2006, taking over co-offensive coordinator duties (alongside Dana Holgorsen) for his last two seasons in Lubbock.

Cal’s quarterback, Davis Webb, started his career at Texas Tech and is well-versed in the Air Raid — as was evidenced in 2013 when he threw for 403 yards and four touchdowns in a 37-23 Holiday Bowl win over the Sun Devils.

“I think (Mahomes) might be as good as anybody in the country,” Graham told Doug and Wolf Friday morning on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “The Webb kid this week is a proven, very good quarterback who knows this system very well. It’s helped them to have him come in.”

Webb has been outstanding for the Bears in 2016 after landing in Berkeley as a graduate transfer. He’s completed nearly 64 percent of his passes for 1,359 yards and 13 touchdowns against only three interceptions. He’s thrown for at least 396 yards and four touchdowns in each of Cal’s three contests.

Obviously, tasked with defending two Air Raid teams in a three-game span has kept the defensive-minded Graham on alert to the tendencies of the offense.

“It’s like a fast-break offense in basketball,” he said. “It spreads you from sideline to sideline with mostly four and, a lot of the time, five wide receivers. It makes your linebackers get out in space, who are not used to covering. It’s a lot like the run-and-shoot from back in the day, the difference is just the tempo and the pace.”

Through three games, Cal’s pace has been blistering. The Bears have run 263 offensive plays — or 87.7 per game — a figure that trails only Syracuse, Baylor and Houston among teams who have played three games.

“You get into a game, and you really need to play with six defensive backs, but that’s difficult with your scholarship numbers and everything,” Graham said. “You’ve got to be able to bat balls on them and knock balls down and you’ve got to tackle really well in space because they’re going to get their best guy on your lesser guy.

“It’s the hardest passing offense to defend, but I would never run it because I don’t believe that you can win a championship if you can’t run the football. It’s one of those offenses that every year has all of these yards, and it’s a good system and very, very difficult (to defend).”

Graham did credit Dykes with actually adding a running component to his version of the Air Raid by using two backs at times. Cal averages 127.3 yards per game on the ground, a figure that ranks 106th out of 128 FBS programs.

“(Dykes) is trying to do it a little different — everybody has a different version,” he said.

Saturday’s game kicks off at 7:00 p.m. and can be heard on ESPN Phoenix 620 AM with Tim Healey, Jeff Van Raaphorst and Derek Hagan on the call. Pregame coverage starts at 5:00.

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