Sun Devil Spotlight: Todd Graham’s penalty turnaround for ASU football can’t be ignored

When ASU coach Todd Graham first came to ASU, he was clear about what he wanted to accomplish. Graham wanted championships. To do that, he needed his team to be disciplined, which would mean cutting down on penalties that haunted prior ASU teams.

From 2009-11, the three years before Graham took over, ASU was the most penalized team in the country (8.41 penalties per game and 78.05 penalty yards per game).

In three seasons at the helm, Graham has completely flipped the script, with his team comparable to the military academies in penalty yardage.

In 2012-14, Navy (25.2) leads the FBS in fewest penalty yards per game, with Air Force (32.3), ASU (32.85) and Army (32.94) right behind. The Sun Devils are ninth in fewest penalties per game (4.23) during those three seasons.

Also consider the conference ASU plays in. ASU’s opponents under Graham averaged 6.55 penalties for 56.5 yards and five Pac-12 schools ranked in the bottom 10 of the FBS in both penalties and penalty yardage.

Those schools: UCLA (8.5, 80.5), Oregon (8.05, 71.1), California (8.08, 77.6), Washington (7.78, 69.2) and USC (7.70, 66.1). When including transitional schools, nobody other than ASU in the Pac-12 ranks in the FBS top-50 in penalties or penalty yardage.

The one school that stands out from the list: Oregon. Obviously the Ducks are playing for the national championship despite the penalties.

Alone, they won’t derail a team. Committing a penalty can give an opponent new life by extending its drive or it can slow down a team's own drive.

In the college football playoff semifinal against Florida State, Oregon’s defense stood up twice after enduring penalties that could have changed the momentum of the game.

Oregon sophomore linebacker Torrodney Prevot had a personal foul on a field goal which extended the Seminoles’ drive and the Ducks were offsides on a third-and-goal. But Oregon’s defense held on both occasions.

In Tempe, even when the Sun Devils are called for penalties, they aren’t typically the personal foul variety or drive-killers. ASU is second in the FBS in fewest yards per penalty (7.78) in Graham’s tenure (schools with at least three seasons).

Aside from the on-field consequences of a penalty, the larger issue before the Graham era was the program’s image from after-the-play personal fouls. Graham has always said he wanted to win with character and the team to play disciplined.

If nothing else, ASU has done one thing really well; cut down on its penalties. And you can attribute that to Graham setting the expectation from the get-go.

Full list: Fewest penalty yardage per game from 2012-14 (Source: NCAA.com)

School	Games	Penalties	Per Game	Penalty Yards	Per Game
Navy	39	115	2.95	982	25.18
Air Force	38	143	3.76	1229	32.34
Arizona St.	40	169	4.23	1314	32.85
Army	36	141	3.92	1186	32.94
Boston College	38	153	4.03	1285	33.82
Iowa	38	153	4.03	1300	34.21
New Mexico St.	36	169	4.69	1343	37.31
New Mexico	37	158	4.27	1391	37.59
Alabama	41	186	4.54	1549	37.78
Kansas St.	39	172	4.41	1499	38.44
UTEP	37	171	4.62	1424	38.49
Michigan	38	158	4.16	1470	38.68
Wisconsin	41	173	4.22	1597	38.95
Ball St.	38	160	4.21	1507	39.66
Mississippi St.	39	192	4.92	1566	40.15
Ole Miss	39	203	5.21	1570	40.26
La.-Monroe	37	184	4.97	1495	40.41
Georgia Tech	41	200	4.88	1663	40.56
Tennessee	37	191	5.16	1529	41.32
Central Mich.	38	177	4.66	1579	41.55
Notre Dame	39	202	5.18	1635	41.92
Arkansas	37	189	5.11	1570	42.43
Clemson	39	192	4.92	1661	42.59
Maryland	38	185	4.87	1619	42.61
Duke	40	204	5.10	1710	42.75
Penn St.	37	193	5.22	1587	42.89
South Carolina	39	202	5.18	1675	42.95
Northwestern	37	178	4.81	1596	43.14
Iowa St.	37	180	4.86	1606	43.41
Fla. Atlantic	36	184	5.11	1571	43.64
Tulsa	38	178	4.68	1659	43.66
San Jose St.	37	181	4.89	1618	43.73
UCF	40	198	4.95	1754	43.85
Miami (OH)	36	204	5.67	1592	44.22
Minnesota	39	207	5.31	1727	44.28
Georgia St.	24	143	5.96	1083	45.13
Wyoming	36	183	5.08	1626	45.17
Wake Forest	36	184	5.11	1631	45.31
Old Dominion	24	118	4.92	1088	45.33
Vanderbilt	38	213	5.61	1732	45.58
North Carolina St.	38	219	5.76	1734	45.63
Purdue	37	195	5.27	1695	45.81
Boise St.	40	205	5.13	1846	46.15
UNLV	39	193	4.95	1800	46.15
Connecticut	36	186	5.17	1667	46.31
La.-Lafayette	39	207	5.31	1808	46.36
Missouri	40	241	6.03	1877	46.93
Kentucky	36	190	5.28	1691	46.97
Texas	39	212	5.44	1850	47.44
Georgia	40	244	6.10	1906	47.65
Southern Miss.	36	201	5.58	1725	47.92
Stanford	41	234	5.71	1965	47.93
Kansas	36	209	5.81	1742	48.39
Middle Tenn.	37	200	5.41	1794	48.49
Eastern Mich.	36	203	5.64	1753	48.69
North Texas	37	197	5.32	1810	48.92
Illinois	37	220	5.95	1827	49.38
Rice	40	223	5.58	1989	49.73
Kent St.	37	212	5.73	1843	49.81
Massachusetts	36	214	5.94	1816	50.44
Oklahoma	39	231	5.92	1969	50.49
Indiana	36	208	5.78	1819	50.53
Fresno St.	40	215	5.38	2027	50.68
Cincinnati	39	212	5.44	1989	51.00
Temple	35	214	6.11	1803	51.51
Florida St.	42	255	6.07	2171	51.69
Ohio St.	41	241	5.88	2123	51.78
Arizona	40	227	5.68	2075	51.88
SMU	37	231	6.24	1920	51.89
Rutgers	39	239	6.13	2024	51.90
Ga. Southern	23	124	5.39	1194	51.91
Northern Ill.	42	240	5.71	2198	52.33
Pittsburgh	39	245	6.28	2046	52.46
Louisiana Tech	38	224	5.89	2006	52.79
Ohio	38	215	5.66	2010	52.89
West Virginia	38	220	5.79	2013	52.97
Auburn	39	237	6.08	2066	52.97
Nevada	38	228	6.00	2018	53.11
LSU	39	255	6.54	2080	53.33
Texas A&M	39	229	5.87	2088	53.54
Utah	37	216	5.84	1984	53.62
FIU	36	232	6.44	1936	53.78
San Diego St.	39	238	6.10	2100	53.85
Virginia Tech	39	262	6.72	2105	53.97
Nebraska	40	239	5.98	2167	54.18
Western Ky.	38	230	6.05	2067	54.39
Western Mich.	37	228	6.16	2013	54.41
Charlotte	11	64	5.82	599	54.45
Michigan St.	40	231	5.78	2195	54.88
Colorado	36	211	5.86	1976	54.89
East Carolina	39	233	5.97	2155	55.26
Colorado St.	39	226	5.79	2156	55.28
Miami (FL)	38	252	6.63	2101	55.29
Bowling Green	41	275	6.71	2280	55.61
Hawaii	37	239	6.46	2065	55.81
Louisville	39	264	6.77	2180	55.90
UAB	36	236	6.56	2014	55.94
South Ala.	38	241	6.34	2143	56.39
Toledo	38	236	6.21	2162	56.89
Virginia	36	241	6.69	2058	57.17
Oklahoma St.	39	249	6.38	2257	57.87
TCU	38	250	6.58	2220	58.42
Arkansas St.	39	262	6.72	2286	58.62
Appalachian St.	24	169	7.04	1419	59.13
Buffalo	36	208	5.78	2136	59.33
Washington St.	37	256	6.92	2204	59.57
Idaho	35	239	6.83	2087	59.63
Houston	38	256	6.74	2295	60.39
Oregon St.	38	268	7.05	2340	61.58
Tulane	37	258	6.97	2303	62.24
Marshall	40	281	7.03	2499	62.48
Florida	37	274	7.41	2316	62.59
Texas St.	36	249	6.92	2270	63.06
South Fla.	36	254	7.06	2275	63.19
Syracuse	38	287	7.55	2408	63.37
North Carolina	38	285	7.50	2424	63.79
Akron	36	280	7.78	2309	64.14
Utah St.	41	276	6.73	2641	64.41
UTSA	36	254	7.06	2368	65.78
Southern California	40	308	7.70	2642	66.05
Memphis	37	258	6.97	2464	66.59
BYU	39	292	7.49	2606	66.82
Troy	36	254	7.06	2415	67.08
Washington	40	311	7.78	2766	69.15
Oregon	41	332	8.10	2920	71.22
Baylor	39	334	8.56	2982	76.46
California	36	291	8.08	2794	77.61
Texas Tech	38	316	8.32	3029	79.71
UCLA	40	340	8.50	3220	80.50

Reach the sports editor at jmjanss1@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @jjanssen11

Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter

---

---

Subscribe to Pressing Matters

Email