ASU defense gives up 52 points in Sun Bowl loss, Graham’s final game

More than a month had passed since Arizona State last played a game.

And in those 34 days, the head coach was fired and a new head coach was hired. In addition, the offensive coordinator left for a head coaching job of his own, but not before he had agreed to stay only 10 days earlier; and the defensive coordinator decided to leave, even though he was asked to remain.

In other words, the Sun Devils dealt with their fair share of distractions following the Territorial Cup win. Too much perhaps for one last performance in 2017.

It showed.

In Todd Graham’s final game, ASU dropped a 52-31 decision to N.C. State in front of an announced crowd of 39,897 in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

The Sun Devils never led, and really, they were never in the game.

N.C. State (9-4) scored on its second possession and three more times in the first half to take a 28-10 lead at halftime.

Overall, the Wolfpack scored on eight of 11 possessions, not counting the final kneel down to close out the game.

Ryan Finley, the former Paradise Valley High product, torched ASU for 318 passing yards and one touchdown, while Nyheim Hines and Reggie Gallaspy combined for 149 rushing yards and five touchdowns.

ASU (7-6) turned the ball over four times, including three interceptions by Manny Wilkins, who despite struggling early finished with 352 yards and three touchdowns.

Wilkins’ favorite target was, of course, N’Keal Harry. He had nine catches for 142 yards and one score.

Frank Darby and Kyle Williams also caught touchdowns.

The Sun Devils had won two straight.

THE GOOD

With his 10-yard second-quarter run, Demario Richard went over 1,000 rushing yards for the season, which he’s now accomplished twice in his career. Richard became the first Sun Devil with multiple 1,000-yard seasons since Freddie Williams in 1974-75 and thus the first Sun Devil in the Pac-12 era to do so and the third player overall.

With his 14-yard second-quarter completion to Harry, Wilkins went over 3,000 passing yards for the season. He became only the ninth in Sun Devil history to reach that milestone. In addition, later on that same drive, Wilkins (5,440) moved into the top-10 in school history for career passing yards.

Held without a catch through the Sun Devils’ first five possessions, Harry made up for lost time with four catches for 65 yards and a touchdown on drive No. 6. His six-yard score pulled ASU to within 21-10 at the 2:08 mark of the second quarter. Harry passed Jaelen Strong (76) for fifth place on the single-season receptions list.

In the first 10 minutes of the game, Jay Jay Wilson recorded six tackles. He had seven at halftime and finished with 13, setting a new career-high. His 13 total tackles were a team-high, and of those tackles six were solo. In addition, the Sun Devils defense recorded two sacks, one each by D.J. Calhoun and Khaylan Thomas.

THE BAD

For only the second time this season, the Sun Devils were held scoreless in the first quarter. Colorado was the other game. It was not a good opening period as ASU gained only 55 yards on 12 total plays compared to the 179 yards (Hines 51 all-purpose yards) on 26 total plays by N.C. State. By the way, the Sun Devils had averaged 12.3 points per first quarter over their last three games.

Three times in the first half, Hines scored touchdowns. All five-yard runs. All on successsive possessions. His first score made it 7-0 N.C. State at the 2:40 mark of the first quarter; his second extended N.C. State’s lead to 14-0 at the 14:13 mark of the second quarter; and then his third put N.C. State ahead 21-3 at the 4:42 mark of the third quarter. Hines carried the ball 12 times for 63 yards in the first half.

Twice in the third quarter, Wilkins was picked off. The interceptions came within three possessions, and both led to N.C. State points. The first was off a deflection and led to a field goal. The second was a poor decision as Wilkins threw into double coverage in the end zone. N.C. State then marched 80 yards on 12 plays in 7:14 for a touchdown and 38-10 lead at the 14:54 mark of the fourth quarter.

STAT OF THE GAME

10-15: N.C. State went 10-of-15 on third down, including twice scoring touchdowns.

HE SAID IT

“No excuses. A lot of distractions. I wanted our guys to play better than that. We didn’t stop them. We didn’t play very good defense,” said Graham, who went 46-32 in his six seasons at ASU.

NOTED

Harry now has at least one catch in all 24 games played at ASU.

Graham called the offense following the departure of Billy Napier.

The Sun Devils recovered only one of their four onside kick tries.

Christian Sam did not dress; he had started every game this year.

George Lea did not dress; he underwent surgery on his shoulder.

UP NEXT

Nothing until spring football.

And then, of course, the 2018 season kicks off on Saturday, Sept. 1 with a home game against University of Texas at San Antonio.

The Sun Devils’ first two games will be played in Tempe.

Next year’s schedule features six total home games, including a non-conference matchup with Michigan State (Sept. 8) plus visits from Pac-12 opponents Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA and Utah.

Follow @CraigAZSports