Arizona State ‘business-like’ in preparation for first road test

TEMPE, Ariz. – Coming off a big win. Short week. Unfamiliar opponent.

Challenges are lurking everywhere for the Arizona State Sun Devils this week.

For the first time this young season, ASU finds itself packing its bags for a road trip for a Friday night matchup against the University of Texas at San Antonio, a team out of Conference USA.

It’s the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

“They’re a very solid football team,” said junior running back Kalen Ballage, the reigning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week who scored eight touchdowns against Texas Tech. “They’re known to give people a run for their money and they have great athletes. We just have to play like we would any other week, play extremely hard.”

UTSA is led by first-year head coach Frank Wilson, who joined the program after spending six years as the running back coach and recruiting coordinator at LSU.

Wilson took over a 3-9 team and through the first two weeks has played a total of 10 first-time starters between a season-opening win over Alabama State and last week’s loss at Colorado State. It’s made the preparation difficult.

“They were more spread last year and not much pro style,” head coach Todd Graham said, referring to the Roadrunners’ offense. “We had to reintroduce our guys to tight ends this week and stuff and learn how to line up again. Very, very different than what we’ve played.”

Junior quarterback Dalton Sturn, whom Graham compared to Northern Arizona’s Case Cookus, has passed for 450 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Ten different receivers have caught at least two passes.

Defensively, UTSA ranks 15th nationally against the pass (125.0 yards per game) but only 94th against the run (182.5 yards).

“They’re really sound, really good,” Sun Devils offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said. “Pete Golding is their defensive coordinator. He’s one of the best young defensive coordinators in the country. I worked with him at Southern Mississippi, so first hand I’ve seen him—obviously that wasn’t his defense at Southern Mississippi, but at the same time he’s a passionate guy, the players will play really hard for him. Very sound, very smart guy so we definitely got a big challenge.”

UTSA only began playing football five years ago. They didn’t become a bowl eligible full FBS member until 2014, so the program is still in the infant stages.

Graham, though, points to another number: 89. As in, the number of players on the UTSA roster from Texas.

“Obviously, they’re in a state that has a lot of Division-I talent and you can see that by the roster,” he said Wednesday. “Very capable personnel.”

Of course, on paper, it’s a game the Sun Devils should win, which if they do would give Graham his second 3-0 start in the last three seasons.

“We got to stay focused on us and what we’re doing no matter what,” he said. “The key is to focus on the next opponent, go to the next game, so they’ve been pretty business-like. Really worked hard. We’ve had a good week of preparation, and they know that you have to prepare every week. Every week. There’s not a team on your schedule that can’t beat you.”

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