ASU head coach Todd Graham: Taylor Kelly, Sun Devils ready for big test against Notre Dame

Arizona State head coach Todd Graham has said it before and he repeated it Monday.

“You have to have adversity to really grow and develop into a championship-caliber team.”

What about a championship-caliber quarterback?

Taylor Kelly has struggled in his return; it’s no secret.

Against Washington, he completed just over half of his passes. He was picked off. In the brutal wind and chilly rain, he floundered.

Against Utah, Kelly again completed just over half of his passes. Again, he was picked off. This time, when it counted, he moved the chains on the last drive of the game to set up kicker Zane Gonzalez for the game-tying field goal.

Neither were pretty — both wins were the equivalent of peeling off a pair of pants that are stuck to a scab on your leg; pain, pain, pain, then sudden relief — but here’s the point: Kelly is an undefeated quarterback.

And Graham says he wouldn’t trade how the Sun Devils won both games for anything, because it “builds character.” Through the tests, Kelly and his team found a way to win.

“You miss six weeks, and also you’re coming back and playing against really good people,” said Graham. “Taylor’s our guy, and he’s the only quarterback in the Pac-12 right now I think that’s undefeated, that has not started a game and lost it.”

It could be a blessing that Kelly has been thrown into two tough, high-pressure situations. Maybe he’s stronger for it. Maybe experiencing both an elemental and pass-rush gauntlet each week will have finally brought him back to the high level of consistency expected of a championship-caliber quarterback.

It’d be a perfect time for that, with the biggest game of the season thus far glinting off Notre Dame’s golden domes, right in Arizona State’s face.

Yet Kelly’s play probably won’t ultimately decide the game, according to his coach.

“He’s not our team, but a part of our team,” said Graham.

Instead, Graham fully expects every single player to perform this week when No. 8 Notre Dame comes to Tempe.

“I just want them to step up as a unit, and I think they will,” he said. “They’re playing better and better each week.

“They’re special. They really show incredible heart.”

Still, the memory of last year’s three-point loss in Texas to the Fighting Irish is fresh in Graham’s mind, and something to focus heavily on as Kelly has thrown an interception in each of the last two two games –especially because in his mind, last year’s matchup was decided by a turnover.

“I think we turned the ball over, and that was the difference in the game,” said Graham. “It was a hard-fought game, and it’s going to be the same type of game this year…but the big focus has got to be on not putting the ball in jeopardy.

“It’s just so important that you prepare and are putting team first in every decision that we make, and I’ll always talk to them about that, and Taylor (Kelly) will tell me ‘you know Coach, it does happen a little faster than the way you’re describing it,’ and I’ll say ‘still…let’s don’t turn the ball over.'”

Kelly and the Sun Devils will have to protect the ball against Notre Dame’s massive attacking defense, one that has intercepted their opponents 12 times on the season, and accumulated 15 sacks for 119 yards and 45 tackles-for-loss for 207 yards, despite being fairly young.

“They’ve played on some very, very big stages and obviously their defense has responded well,” said Graham. “They’re big, they’re physical and their defensive backs are very strong. They do blitz about 35 percent of the time, and they’re very well coached.

“I will tell you that this line here on both sides of the ball is probably the best we’ve seen to this point.”

Graham tempers himself when discussing Notre Dame, but underneath his maroon-and-white Nike zip up there’s a kid about to open the biggest Christmas present under the tree.

“I think it’d be silly to say it’s just like any other game,” he said. “Growing up a football fan and getting an opportunity like this…this is the kind of games you want to coach in. It’s the kind of games our players want to play in and our fans want to see. I’m looking forward to seeing a packed house and creating a memory.

“They’re one of the best teams in the country, and were about one play, I think, from beating the number-one team in the country.”

There’s a lot on the line. How Kelly and the Sun Devils handle still another chunk of adversity will determine whether they’re actually championship-caliber, like Graham says they are.

“We’ve got an opportunity,” he said. “In November, we want to be playing for championships…This is an out-of-conference game, but it’s one that means a lot to our fan base and a lot to our players — and a lot to me personally.

“These guys are going to figure out a way to win.”

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