TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona State will evaluate quarterback Taylor Kelly's injured right foot this week but does not expect the third-year starter to return against No. 16 USC at the Coliseum on Saturday.
"We'll just kind of wait and see," ASU coach Todd Graham said. "We're going to take a look at it Wednesday and kind of see where we're at."
ASU will presumably make a decision based on those tests. Asked Sunday if he expected backup Mike Bercovici to start a second consecutive game, Graham remained somewhat ambiguous while suggesting Kelly is not expected back.
"Yeah, I mean right now I'd say it'd be pretty questionable," Graham said. "It depends on what happens with the picture we take on Wednesday, and we'll see where we're at."
In Kelly's absence against UCLA, Bercovici made his first career start and set school records for completions (42) and passing attempts (68) in a game. He threw for 488 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which was returned 95 yards for a touchdown right before halftime.
Graham praised Bercovici's effort after the 62-27 loss but said the redshirt junior had improving to do, particularly eliminating turnovers (Bercovici also turned the ball over on a fumble).
Kelly suffered his foot injury, which has not been further explained, against Colorado on Sept. 13. Initially, it was expected he would miss at least one game and possibly return against USC or at least be back for Stanford on Oct. 18. He remains on that timeline, and Graham said Kelly is making progress.
"He's got the boot on and stuff that's precautionary, but he's running in the pool, he's exercising in the pool, has no pain," Graham said. "He's doing really well."
Kelly, who is still using crutches to walk, attended Sunday's practice and did some light throwing on the sidelines.
In the 11 days between ASU's win over Colorado and its game against UCLA, much was said about the importance of the contest in the Pac-12 South race. It was billed as "the biggest game of the year" and the game that "determines the Pac-12 South champion."
With that game now lost, where does ASU go now? How does the message about the South race change?
"It's must win," Graham said. "It's just like how Stanford was the first conference game last year. We were 0-1 and we said, 'must-wins' here on out.
"You want to win the South, you've got to beat UCLA (and) you've got to beat USC. Obviously we lost to UCLA so we've got to go win this one."
ASU's hopes to repeat in the Pac-12 South are far from dashed. But the Sun Devils are now playing from behind and will need help.
"You can't have any mishaps or anything like that," said senior offensive tackle and team captain Jamil Douglas. "Every game matters. Not to say that it didn't in the first place, but now more than ever you have to win your games in the South to put yourself in position to play for that Pac-12 South championship."
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Graham stressed to the team Sunday it can only worry about its own games and how to win those so they would be in position to take advantage of other teams' missteps.
"I remember last year having a bad game against Stanford on the road, and we responded pretty well to that," Graham said. "And that's what it's all about. Nothing in this world worth accomplishing is easy."
ASU's response to that embarrassing early-season loss to Stanford last year: A romp over USC and an 8-1 stretch to close out the regular season.
With USC up next followed by Stanford and Washington, such a response this year will be a challenge. It would require major fixes and strong veteran leadership, but ASU hasn't counted itself out of the South.
"I just think guys need to mature," Douglas said.
"You tell them the importance of the games, and the hard thing about it when you have young guys on your team they don't understand until after the season's over when they say, 'Oh, OK, if we'd won that game we'd be in this position.'
"But the thing is, we have guys that have been here a long time and we're able to tell them these games are what's going to determine our fate toward the end of the season. It's just a matter of maturing and making sure they understand every game from here on out is important."
When ASU returned to the practice field Sunday, it was still searching for an explanation for the tackling issues that plagued its defense against UCLA and led to a few game-changing plays.
"We have not tackled like that," Graham said. "I don't know if we were too emotional or were trying to knock guys down or knock the ball out instead of securing the tackle."
Following Thursday's loss, Graham called ASU's tackling "atrocious." He did so again Sunday, but seemed to put some of the blame on himself and his coaching staff.
"There was too much of the missed tackling where we were just out of control," Graham said. "That's coaching and that's maybe us getting them too hyped up or I don't know what it is, but we talked a lot about that."
Graham also discussed ASU's four turnovers against UCLA at length. If not for those, Graham said, it would have been a "whole different game." The four turnovers were tied for ASU's most in a game under Graham. ASU also committed four turnovers in a 43-21 loss to Oregon in 2012.
-- After Thursday's loss, ASU fell from No. 15 in the AP poll to unranked. UCLA moved up three spots to No. 8, and USC moved up two spots to No. 16.
-- Spur linebacker Laiu Moeakiola practiced Sunday in a green non-contact jersey despite starting against UCLA. Moeakiola suffered an undisclosed arm injury against Colorado.
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