Video by Stefan Modrich | Assistant Sports Editor
Fresh off its eighth win of the season, the ASU football team realizes it has had a great season thus far, but its goals stretch much further.
The Sun Devils (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) have three goals written all over their facilities: Win the Pac-12, win the Rose Bowl and win the national championship. None of these have been achieved yet and coach Todd Graham knows his teams needs to keep focus.
"I think it's kind of a product of what you've done all year long," Graham said. "These guys have had a lot of emotional wins and close wins and so I think these guys understand that you better get ready in the Pac-12 because every team can beat you."
Graham said the way to do that is to maintain business as usual.
"We go about our business and really work hard on staying focused and trying to be proactive with that," Graham said. "I think it really boils down to our position coaches and those relationships you kind of reap what you sow and just keeping our guys humble and hungry is what we've focused on."
Graham said before the season that his third year at ASU would be his easiest because the players know exactly what to expect, and so far that has held true.
After jumping from eight to 10 wins in Graham's first and second seasons, ASU has a chance to up its win total for the third straight season with eight wins already and three games to play in the regular season.
"In year three I feel very confident that we just function so much better as a team and as a unit, even though we have a lot of youth and inexperience," Graham said. "This is the best team we've had and it should be the best team we've had because of our training and our efforts in personnel."
Graham said that personnel is not just about the best talent, but fitting pieces together to get the best end result, which this team has done to perfection.
"When people talk about personnel, they think it's just about talent," Graham said. "It's not just about physical talent. It's what I call the intangibles. Getting the right chemistry and the right combinations. This team has something very special."
Additional Notes:
-Graham said he is not sure whether junior defensive tackle Jaxon Hood will play Saturday. Hood missed last weekend's game taking care of personal issues.
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Tonis_The_Tiger
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