How close is ASU football to being the team it thought it would be at the beginning of the season?
"We're very, very close," coach Todd Graham said Monday.
On Saturday against Washington State, Graham said the game came down to seven critical errors — occasions in which a man was left unmarked — each of which came at a critical juncture of the game.
Hope is not lost, however, despite the "disappointing" season that has been thus far for ASU.
"The season's not over," Graham said. "This has been a disappointing season to this point. It has been. The difference between being 7-2 and being 4-5 is (small), but we've got to coach better. We've got to play better."
The biggest surprise, Graham said, has been the team's inability to close out late leads. In each of the team's last three losses, the Sun Devils have led in the fourth quarter.
"I've always thought of our team as one that finishes and doesn't give up leads," Graham said. "Our guys are playing hard for us. ... In the critical times, we're making the critical mistakes that are the difference in the game. It's frustrating. I'm not going to lie to you and say I haven't been frustrated. But you can't sit around."
Graham said the biggest motivation for the rest of the season falls on finishing games for the team's seniors such as wide receiver D.J. Foster and quarterback Mike Bercovici.
"The guys that were here when I got here and sat down in that first meeting, just how those guys bought in to what we were doing — a philosophy and a vision," Graham said. "We're seeing those benefits. ... For our program and for them, we need to go finish this the right way, and that's to win out, and go win a bowl championship."
Bercovici said it's on the seniors to ensure that the team has a strong finish to the season.
"We're going to fight every single game from this point on like it's on the line, because it is," Bercovici said. "And there are a lot of people with a lot of investment. Coach talks about the guys in the front of this room, and the guys that have been here four, five years, it means a lot to us every single day."
Bercovici said he wants to make the most of what he has left in his college football career.
"We have three games left for this senior class, for this 2015 football team to go out and do it," Bercovici said. "There is limited time, but the corrections will be made because that's what this coaching staff does."
The Sun Devils need two wins to become bowl-eligible, with three games remaining. Their best odds likely fall on the next two, which come at home against Washington and Arizona.
ASU's quest to return to .500 and halt its three-game losing streak begins on Saturday against Washington, with kickoff at 1 p.m. local time.
Related Links:
Local product Chase Lucas commits to ASU football
ASU vs. Washington State: By the numbers
Reach the reporter at fardaya@asu.edu or follow @fardaya15 on Twitter.
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