“Own the ball.”
“Ball security.”
“No turnovers.”

Within Todd Graham’s ever growing lexicon, these are a few gems we can count on hearing each and every week.

Whether reviewing the last game or preparing for the next, turnovers will always be emphasized by ASU’s Football coach. This facet of the game goes hand in glove with “disciplined football,” a term that has rapidly become synonymous with Sun Devil Football both the Pac 12 and the nation.

In reality, the topic of turnovers is emphasized to different degrees by every coach in the country in the quest to win football games. Some like Graham are just more vocal than others.

Sun Devil Football moves to 2-0

But in such an imperfect game, how important is an interception or a fumble lost to the other team? At DieHardDevil.com, we decided to create what we call the DieHard Turnover Report.

Each week, we will collect information on the topic for all Pac 12 teams to see what indications the turnover battle holds in the outcome of football games. In addition to the weekly report, we will present a cumulative season report for each Pac-12 team and the conference as a whole.

As the season progresses with conference play, the figures will become more telling for each game winner and loser.

Below are both the Week #3 report and 2013 Season report along with any interesting developments. Enjoy, and don’t hesitate to reach us to enhance these figures to give other fans the best perspective on the “loose ball.”

Week #3 Turnover Report

Week #3 Notes

1. Last weekend, Week #3, saw 11 of the 12 Pac-12 Teams in action. All were non-conference games except for the match-up of Utah and Oregon St, which was a scoring clinic by both teams that finished with a 51-48 win for the Beavers.
2. Of those 11 teams, the Pac had 9 Winners and 2 Losers. Of the 9 Wins, 4 teams won the Turnover battle. 2 teams pushed, and 3 earned victories even though they were beat in the turnover column.
3. In the 2 losses, both teams lost the turnover battle.
4. The winning teams had an average turnover figure of +.5 , while the losing teams averaged -2 turnovers.

2013 Season Complete Report

2013 Notes

1. There are 7 undefeated Pac-12 teams. They are averaging +2.29 turnovers. Oregon is clearly dominating the turnover battle at +7, and we’ve seen how they’ve embarrassed opponents such as Tennessee, 59-14.
   
2. 4 one-loss teams are averaging +1.25 turnovers.
3. The only 2-loss team is Cal who is averaging -2 turnovers over 3 games.

Turnover of the Week

The most significant turnover in the Pac-12 happened in Tempe, AZ on Saturday night. And make no doubt about it, ASU left Frank Kush field with a victory because of the attention to detail that Coach Graham and his staff instills in each Sun Devil player.

As seconds counted down to the end of regulation, Wisconsin’s quarterback uncleary dropped his knee before akwardly laying the ball on the field to set up a more centered last-second field goal attempt. No one in the stadium, including Badger fans, could determine if the ball was down or was still live.

At that moment, ASU’s defense played exactly as they were trained, with discipline, urgency and attention to detail. LB Anthony Jones beat out his teammates when he pounced on the football and effectively took possession during a very confusing situation. Wisconsin hurried to line up over the ball when the clock ticked to 00:00, and the Sun Devil players and fans errupted in what was one of the strangest finishes in college football.

At just the right moment, the Sun Devils “Owned the ball” and the game.

Stay tuned for the next….

Weekly Report