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ASU's Taylor Kelly played injured halfway through season

The sophomore quarterback battled hip, knee and back pain during the middle of the season.

By Riley Breckenridge

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Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona St. Sun Devils' sophomore Taylor Kelly went from a third-string quarterback in last year's spring camp to the team's starter in 12 games in 2012, and he did so while playing through injuries, according to Doug Haller of azcentral.com.

Sun Devils' head coach Todd Graham is hoping that his young quarterback can improve his communication skills. Apparently, Kelly was struggling with knee, hip and back pain for a good portion of the middle of the season and didn't speak up about the severity of his injuries. When asked why he didn't speak up and tell his head coach about the pain he was in, Kelly said, "I'm a competitor."

Kelly threw for 2,772 yards and 25 touchdowns in 12 games for the Sun Devils and hung on to the starting job despite having two talented young quarterbacks -- freshman Michael Eubank and sophomore Mike Bercovici vying for playing time behind him.

Kelly will be the team's starter in 2013, but the competition for the starting spot should be awfully stiff.