ASU coach Todd Graham considering change at kicker
Oct 9, 2012, 5:35 PM | Updated: 6:48 pm
Through five games this season, things have gone pretty well for Todd Graham and his Arizona State Sun Devils.
ASU is 4-1, is just outside the Top 25 and has remained relatively healthy.
In their last game, the Sun Devils accomplished something they hadn’t done in 15 years: winning in Berkeley against California.
In that win over Cal, there was one area of deficiency. Alex Garoutte missed three field goals. It didn’t hurt the Sun Devils in the long run, as they defeated the Golden Bears 27-17. But Garoutte’s struggles did at least plant a seed in Graham’s mind that maybe a change at the position is coming.
“Right now I would tell you, if we kicked today, Mora would probably kick,” Graham said following his team’s Tuesday practice session.
Mora is Jon Mora, a redshirt sophomore from Pima Community College who also played at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix. He has attempted just one field goal in his career, a missed 40-yarder in the Sun Devils’ win over Utah last month.
Garoutte’s numbers overall don’t look bad. The sophomore has connected on 6-of-10 field goal attempts and all 24 of his extra point tries. But where the misses are coming from are cause for concern. Garoutte has made just 2-of-5 attempts from 30-39 yards.
“I’ll be real honest with you, we’ve got three guys I think that can do it,” Graham said, adding junior Dillon Jackson into the conversation. “But we need one that makes them all the time.”
The Sun Devils return to the field following their bye week at Colorado in a nationally-televised game Thursday night.
Arizona Sports’ Craig Grialou contributed to this report
