Todd Graham sent the Sun Devils home for the holidays after Monday's practice. They'll return to Tempe on Saturday, Dec. 26, to resume preparations for the Jan. 2 Cactus Bowl game vs. West Virginia at Chase Field.
Graham acknowledged that the late date of the bowl game and its location as a virtual home game presented some challenges in the team's pre-bowl practice schedule, but he said it's a good problem to have.
"It's been a long grind," Graham said. " To have the opoortunity to fly 'em all home and fly 'em all back because we're playing here is really a luxury you only have by playing in your hometown.
"I think the kids are all excited about that. We just got to make sure they don't sit around and eat."
Graham said the Sun Devils will have a total of 18 or 19 practices between the end of the regular season and the bowl game.
"We've gotten an awful lot of work done," he said. "They need a break."
The team concluded pre-holiday practice Monday with the scout team's Sun Devil Bowl. Graham said freshmen Brady White and Bryce Perkins each got in about 25 snaps at quarterback, and safety Colton Gerhart was the game's MVP.
"It was good to work the young guys," Graham said. "I'm anxious for spring. This has been a good pre-prelim for us of the evaluation process."
