TEMPE, Ariz. -- A bye week would have seemingly offered Arizona State a leg up in its preparation to play No. 23 Stanford on Saturday, but coach Todd Graham insists the Sun Devils have kept things simple.
"Sometimes you tend to try to do too much stuff," Graham said at his weekly press conference Monday. "We haven't tried to do that. Obviously we're pretty familiar with them. We played them twice last year. Each year there's different matchups and different things you have to be able to do."
Graham does have a point: Stanford is one of the most consistent teams in the Pac-12 and perhaps in the nation in terms of the brand of football it plays. The Cardinal have developed a big, tough, physical identity often referred to as "football in a phone booth."
The punishing style, which in Stanford's cases is also disciplined, is typically toughest in the trenches. ASU has been overmatched in that regard the past two matchups, but might at least be in better position on the offensive side this season.
"I think with the additions of Christian (Westerman) and Nick (Kelly), I feel like that's helped us a great deal," senior left tackle Jamil Douglas said Sunday.
On the defensive side, ASU may be worse off, having lost its entire starting line from 2013 to graduation and the NFL. In practices last week, ASU seemed to be looking for more size, working Demetrius Cherry (6-foot-5, 300 pounds) at defensive end and Mo Latu (6-foot-2, 360-plus pounds) at 3-technique defensive tackle.
"(Latu) did a heck of a job against Stanford (last year)," defensive line coach Jackie Shipp said. "And Mo's in better shape now, and he has a better understanding of things so I look for him to get even better."
While ASU may be trying to get bigger up front this week, Graham said ASU has been most focused on itself and its own fundamental development. After two losses to Stanford last season, the Sun Devils know what to expect and should already have an idea what they must do to win this time around.
And as ASU prepares to take its third shot at Stanford under Graham, first since the Pac-12 title game in Tempe last year, Graham brought back a phrase he broke out about this time last season.
"Every week is a single-elimination tournament," Graham said. "Obviously we're in control of our own destiny."
Though it has not been officially confirmed, redshirt junior Mike Bercovici is expected to make his third consecutive start this week in place of starter Taylor Kelly, who's been sidelined a month now with a right foot injury.
Kelly dressed for ASU's Sunday practice but was very limited in the portion of practice open to the media.
In two starts, Bercovici has completed 69 of 113 passes for 998 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions. Asked Monday what the biggest difference was in ASU's offense with Bercovici running it, Graham said this:
"Taylor's got a lot of years of experience winning football games and being able to move the down markers in very different ways, whether it be with his legs, whether it be with the run, (or) whether it be making great decisions. I think Berc's just a great extension of him. He obviously brings a lot to it from a standpoint of his ability in the rhythm passing game. They complement each other very well."
If there's anything to take from that, it's perhaps that ASU is less dynamic with Bercovici under center. He can't make or extend plays with his legs the way Kelly can, which hampers the running games as well because defenses don't have to account for the quarterback as a running threat. But Bercovici does seem to have the ability to make some throws Kelly might not.
As he praised ASU's offense Monday, Graham made an unsolicited point about one position from which the Sun Devils need more production.
"We have made marked improvement throughout the year at the tight end position, but that's a position that really needs to continue to progress at a great pace," Graham said. "And I think we can because De'Marieya (Nelson) is finally getting healthy. So he's healthy and ready to go, and we look for him and Kody (Kohl) to really step up at that position."
There had not previously been anything known about any health issues for Nelson, and he has not been visibly limited in practice. It could be that Nelson was dealing with general wear and tear associated with playing both sides of the ball -- he has also played Devil-backer -- and special teams.
Through five games, Nelson and Kohl have combined for 10 receptions. Kohl, a redshirt sophomore, has seven catches for 71 yards and a touchdown. Both were praised early in the season for their blocking.
After a strong performance returning kickoffs against USC, redshirt senior running back Kyle Middlebrooks could take on more special-teams responsibilities.
"We're going to work Kyle some on punt return as well," Graham said. "I think he provides a lot and he's a guy that really wants to be great at it and understands the significance of special teams and his role in it."
Senior safety Damarious Randall has returned punts for ASU so far.
Against USC, Middlebrooks took over return duties from freshman running back Kalen Ballage and opened the game with a 47-yard kickoff return, the longest ASU had seen since Rashad Ross returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown in 2012. Middlebrooks, who returned 33 kickoffs between his freshman and sophomore seasons, finished the day with five kickoff returns for 131 yards for an average of 26.2 yards per return.
"We knew he could do it from the past and his history," Graham said. "He's just had a lot of injuries, a lot of setbacks and things like that. He really has a lot of confidence."
-- Against No. 23 Stanford, ASU will face its third straight opponent ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the third time in school history. The last time it happened, in 2000, ASU went 0-3 over the stretch. The previous time, in 1994, ASU went 1-2.
-- ASU's road game against Washington will kick off at 7:45 p.m. PT and air on ESPN, the Pac-12 announced Monday.
Follow Tyler Lockman on Twitter
