(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)
His team was up 12 points with 2:30 remaining, but Arizona State head coach Todd Graham was on the verge of tears.
It wasn’t because ASU was playing poorly. It wasn’t because of something painful, but rather nostalgia.
Redshirt senior cornerback Lloyd Carrington had just intercepted Arizona’s redshirt freshman quarterback Brandon Dawkins and took the ball 38 yards the other way for a touchdown.
And that, on senior day, was a perfect way to stick a fork in ASU’s 52-37 Territorial Cup victory in Carrington’s final game in Sun Devil Stadium.
Graham and Carrington’s relationship is built on trust, history and proximity as Graham recruited Carrington to Pittsburgh, and then Carrington followed him to Tempe in 2012.
“Just really proud of Lloyd,” Graham said. “Me and Lloyd go way back. Lloyd’s been with me five years. I recruited Lloyd to Pitt from the same hometown. Grew up probably about three miles apart, something like that. I’m going to miss Lloyd.”
The interception was Carrington’s first of the season and second in two years, but while he doesn’t often show up in the box score, his leadership and experience in the secondary has been critical to the Sun Devil defense throughout his career.
“He doesn’t really do anything spectacular,” ASU defensive coordinator Keith Patterson said this week in practice. “He doesn’t do anything that you go, ‘Wow.’ He just does what he’s supposed to do, and he does it every day – every day in meetings, every day on the field in practice, and it just translates to Saturdays.”
However, some of the quiet nature stems from the position. It’s rare to hear a cornerback’s name called unless the player was doing drastically well or drastically wrong, and for Carrington, he has been a cornerstone in the secondary.
His 58 total tackles in 2014 earned him All Pac-12 Honorable Mention as a redshirt junior, and through 11 games this season, he has racked up 49 tackles, all but seven of which were solo.
“You hardly even notice him out there,” Patterson said. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just like, ‘Is Lloyd in the meeting? Yes, he’s sitting right there on the front row.’”
Against Arizona, Carrington tied for second on the team with seven tackles, and it was a nearly perfect way to end his time at Sun Devil Stadium.
Carrington comes off as levelheaded as anyone else on the team, and coming into the 89th installment of the Territorial Cup matchup, keeping his emotions in check was vital to the team’s success.
With that in mind, he was very well aware of his development during his career in Tempe.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling, but I’m excited for the future,” Carrington said. “The main thing really is just understanding what I take away from being here with the program, and that’s learning – I say the fundamentals – of just being a man. Being a man of great character, integrity and just being a hard worker, and coming out learning and learning how to fight through adversity no matter what the situation is.”
After the game, Carrington embraced his fellow defensive backs, and redshirt senior Solomon Means embraced each other and celebrated having amended for ASU’s loss in Tucson last season.
In that moment, the Dallas-native exclaimed he wasn’t going to cry, but nonetheless, in that moment, the emotional exuberance couldn’t be ignored. The Cup had come back to Tempe, and Carrington’s pick-six all sealed the deal. Although the interception return may have come as a surprise to most, the emotional rollercoaster of the moment was something he was fully anticipating this week in practice.
“I can say I truly say I bleed maroon and gold,” Carrington said. “It’s been a great ride, something I’ve truly just enjoyed and I’m grateful to be a part of, so it’s going to be a surreal moment. It’s going to be bittersweet.”
Now that ASU is bowl eligible – something most assumed during the preseason would be a done deal a month prior – two games remain in Carrington’s career. Graham made it clear how much he will miss Carrington in the press conference following the win over Arizona, and the ties between the two is something that has come up a number of times.
The ultimate goals of the season haven’t been reached, but leading up to senior day, Graham reiterated the goals of the program: building character, strong men and prepping those men to have “championship lives.” Graham eluded to senior D.J. Foster saying he became a man while at Arizona State, and in that sense, looking at the seniors who were honored to day, the goals were met.
And more than any other senior on the team, Carrington has been with Graham since before their migration to the desert. And potentially more than senior on the team, Carrington has been influenced and molded by the culture and mindset Graham has instilled in the program.
“When I look back and think about the ride I’ve had here the past four years just being at Arizona State has been great, something I’m grateful for and has truly impacted my life,” Carrington said.
You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com
