ASU hits road with Pac-12 title still in its sights
Arizona State football hits the road in continued pursuit of a Pac-12 South title this week, and coach Herm Edwards knows it won’t be easy. His team has won just once away from Sun Devil Stadium, that victory coming at USC two weeks ago.
But Edwards is downplaying that factor.
“I always liked going on the road,” Edwards said, during his weekly Monday press conference. “It’s just you and your guys — no distractions.”
The Sun Devils (6-4, 4-3) head to Oregon’s Autzen Stadium with a modest three-game win streak. They turned back a challenge from UCLA in a 31-28 win on Saturday while Oregon (6-4, 3-4) is coming off a loss to Utah that sealed its fate in the North. The Ducks have lost three of their past four contests.
ASU is just 1-3 on the road this season with seven-point losses to San Diego State, Washington and Colorado and a three-point win over USC.
It will be a different atmosphere than what the Sun Devils have become accustomed to. ASU has played three straight day games and this one will be played at night. Then there is the weather, likely to be cold and rainy, neither element in which the Sun Devils have played much this season.
Edwards said what he might do is have his players work with some wet balls if rain is part of the forecast, but he isn’t overly concerned.
“I don’t make a whole big deal out of all of that stuff,” he said. “You don’t worry about all that nonsense. I’ve never seen too many games canceled. You go out and play. I played in some really cold, cold games and they don’t cancel it. You start talking and all that, why? You’re going to play, so why worry about it? Just go out there and play. It’s not like they’re playing in a bubble and we’re playing outside.”
Edwards acknowledged that his team, like most, has several players nursing minor injures. The most serious injuries appeared to be to senior safeties Jalen Harvey and Demonte King, both of whom left Saturday’s game in the first quarter with shoulder ailments.
Harvey’s was an aggravation of a stinger he first suffered in the USC game. He practiced lightly, only competing in non-contact drills but played the following week against Utah.
Edwards said King probably could have gone back into the game Saturday but they chose to keep him out. Both players will practice on Tuesday which is normally a non-contact drill day and their status will be reevaluated then.
“You can play hurt; you can’t play injured,” Edwards said. “That’s football. The position (coaches) have the final say. Both of those guys, what’s good about Tuesday is there’s no pads. We’re not hitting anybody tomorrow. I think they’ll be fine to practice. Now can they play or not? I don’t know. We’ll find out. They’ll be able to practice and that’s a good thing.”
ASU lands California defensive lineman
Defensive end Alonzo Hall (Reseda High School, Calif.) became the latest player to commit to ASU, doing so Monday. He was one of more than 30 recruits on hand for Saturday’s game against UCLA.
Hall, 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, had 13 offers. Among those were Pac-12 offers from UCLA and Arizona.
This season he helped his team to a 10-2 record and a berth in the CIF City Section Division 1 quarterfinals where it lost to San Pedro 24-14. Hall tallied 67 tackles, 26 of those for a loss. He had 15.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, one recovered fumble and 16 quarterback hurries.
He also had a stellar junior season with 94 tackles, 31 for a loss.
The addition of Hall gives ASU 17 commitments for the 2019 class.
Harry named award semifinalist
ASU junior N’Keal Harry been named one of 11 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, presented annually to the nation’s top receiver. It is the second honor in as many weeks for Harry, who was named a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award last week.
Harry has 61 receptions for 928 yards and nine touchdowns which ranks him first in the Pac-12 and 17th nationally. He is also 17th in yards per game (92.8) and 25th in receptions per game (6.2.).
He has a reception in all 35 games of his career at ASU — tied for the 10thlongest active streak among FBS players — and is on pace to join school record holder D.J. Foster (53 straight games with a catch) as the only other Sun Devils player to log a reception in every game of his career.
Harry has been named a Pac-12 player of the week three times, twice on offense for his exploits at wide receiver and once on special teams for his performance as a punt returner.