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Welcome to our new summer series. A lot has happened over Todd Graham's first three seasons as Arizona State's head football coach. Over the next two weeks, we will be ranking 15 of Graham's 28 total wins so far before the 2015 season, which has potential to send the program to new heights. Today we have No. 8 in our countdown, when ASU destroyed a ranked Washington team when they needed a win most.
No. 8: October 19, 2013- ASU vs. Washington: D-line wreaks havoc, Sun Devils shock Washington in 53-24 win
This game was said to be one of the most dominant of Todd Graham's reign at ASU.
The Huskies were on the board first but were later outscored 26-0 in the second quarter, with the Sun Devil defense crumbling the Huskie offensive game plan for the remainder of the game to notch the domineering 53-24 victory.
The Washington Huskies came to Tempe ranked No. 20 in the AP Poll and armed with a highly acclaimed rushing offense and the nation's leading rusher Bishop Sankey, who was averaging 149.8 yards a game.
If the threat of a powerful offensive line wasn't enough, the Sun Devils were coming off a devastating 37-34 loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, a game in which they were favored, the week before.
The Sun Devils went into the game with a 4-2 record, following the loss to the Fighting Irish, and were in dire need of a win on home turf in an effort to avoid shifting their record closer to .500.
And win they did.
ASU's defensive line erased the Huskies, holding a team that was averaging 248 yards per game to negative five. Seven Sun Devils registered a sack and the team totaled 12 tackles for a loss. Sankey mustered only 22 yards on the ground.
Arizona State linebacker Carl Bradford was the defensive catalyst in this matchup, being deemed by Graham as "unblockable" with his unabated presence in the pass rush and accruing a sack, a pass break-up and two tackles for loss.
Running back Marion Grice paved the way for the Sun Devils on the other side of the ball, rushing for 158 yards with three touchdowns. In a game where Jaelen Strong added only seven yards due to an ankle injury, the Sun Devil offense gained 585 yards to Washington's 212.
WHAT IT DID FOR ASU: This was a crucial win for ASU because it allowed the Sun Devils to re-establish themselves as a Pac-12 contender heading in to the midpoint of the season. After a tough loss to Notre Dame, ASU received credibility once again by cooling off a hot Washington team that was also considered as a conference dark horse. Rather than going 4-3, the Sun Devils upped their record to 5-2, tying the UCLA Bruins for first place in the Pac-12 South and would go on to win the remaining five games of the season.