Hot Seat Watch, Week 1: Winners and losers

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TEMPE, AZ – AUGUST 31: Head coach Todd Graham of the Arizona State Sun Devils watches his team warm up before the college football game against the New Mexico State Aggies at Sun Devil Stadium on August 31, 2017 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Loser – Todd Graham

Yes, the Arizona State Sun Devils won their first game of the season this week. It could have went a lot better than the close win that it ended up being. While the Sun Devils did hold a sizable lead over New Mexico State, a series of decisions made it a close one.

The team essentially didn’t sub anyone in on defense and forced their starters to go deep into the second half without much rest. On a hot night in the desert, that really wore them down and allowed the Aggies to make a run at things.

While they came away with the win and that’s all the matters, it wasn’t a win that is going to inspire a lot confidence as they move forward. If they struggle against New Mexico State, then they’re going to have quite the time once they get to conference play or even against San Diego State and Texas Tech in the next couple of weeks.

Graham needs to hope that his team is much more like the one that took the lead before letting it slip away. Otherwise it’s going to be a long season and the questions about his tenure are really going to arise.

The Sun Devils don’t need to finish with nine or more wins for him to keep his job. He could definitely keep it with seven wins in all likelihood. Still, they need to show a little more than they did on Thursday night.

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