Redshirt senior quarterback Taylor Kelly runs with the ball in a game against Oregon State in Corvallis on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2014. ASU lost against OSU 35-28. (Photo Courtesy of Justin Quinn - Daily Barometer)As is the nature of college sports, every year, a class of athletes plays its final game, turning the page in the long-running narrative of sports. This Saturday, 11 seniors will take the field for the final time at Sun Devil Stadium for the ASU football team.
Coach Todd Graham praised his group of seniors and how they transitioned coaching staffs at the beginning of their careers at his Monday press conference.
"This group of 11 guys are really, really special," Graham said. "These guys have been so awesome to buy in to a different way of doing things and they've been great leaders to the other guys, to the people we've recruited and brought in that don't know anything other than how we do it."
Graham said that he preaches to every player to stay and graduate and experience the day with a specific goal in mind.
"Every year, Senior Day is very, very important," Graham said. "We've talked about the most important thing, that everybody that comes here we want them to experience graduating, we want them to experience Senior Day and what we do on Senior Day is we win."
ASU has won its last two Senior Days under Graham, including last year's 58-21 drubbing of UA in the Territorial Cup.
Redshirt senior quarterback Taylor Kelly said that he is looking forward to the moment, but also trying to cherish each moment left with the team.
"I'm excited," Kelly said. "It's going to be an exciting moment. I'm just cherishing every opportunity I can on this field. It's crazy to think it's my last Wednesday to prepare for Sun Devil Stadium. You've just got to attack it and take the most that you can."
Kelly said that the most important thing that he'll miss is not the games, but being with his teammates and roommates.
"Being with my teammates and going out into the community and serving kids, I love that type of stuff," Kelly said. "Our locker rooms after games, my roommates, I cherish those moments that we've had and it's going to be a relationship that I have for the rest of my life."
Kelly believes that this class will be remembered most for what they did on the field, which was bring the Sun Devils to their first Pac-12 Championship Game appearance and four bowl games.
"(We'll be remembered) as winners," Kelly said. "We've done some incredible things while we've been here. We had about 20-something and now we're at 11, six that was in my recruiting class and so it's just crazy to think about how far we've come and the guys that have stuck around."
Graham agreed, saying how proud he is of the class as a whole.
"I'm really proud of what our team, especially these seniors, have been able to accomplish in their time here," Graham said. "When you take where we were, not just on the football field, in every regard I'm really proud of what they've been able to accomplish."
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Tonis_The_Tiger
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