ASU rally will stand as Wilkins’ career high
TUCSON – No matter what happens in Arizona State’s bowl game, it won’t get any better than Saturday for senior quarterback Manny Wilkins.
Wilkins might never have another “mic drop” moment in his life to match leading ASU back from a 19-point deficit in the fourth quarter for a 41-40 victory at Arizona Stadium.
It was the same place where the Sun Devils were crushed 56-35 two years ago, ending their bowl chances in Wilkins’ first year as a starter.
“As a senior that doesn’t have an opportunity to come back, it’s always awesome to go out beating this football team,” Wilkins said in the quiet of Arizona Stadium once the mixed roars of disbelief and delight had subsided. “I just stayed the course. There’s never a point this season where we’ve let up. It is an honor to be part of something like that, to be the captain of a team that just trusts and wants to be coached.”
Wilkins vowed earlier in the week not to go out with a rivalry loss, but that’s where ASU was headed, down 40-21 at the end of the third quarter.
Then Arizona went conservative on offense and defense, breathing life into an ASU team that now has played nine one-possession games and believes nothing ends until the Sun Devils make it dramatic one way or the other.
Even after a field goal with 13:05 left, ASU still faced a seemingly insurmountable climb, needing two touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions to tie.
But the Wildcats ran J.J. Taylor six consecutive times before punting, and then the miracle began.
During an 80-yard touchdown drive, Wilkins threw underneath to Eno Benjamin for 16 yards, to Brandon Aiyuk for 23 and back to Benjamin for 17 on three consecutive plays then covered the final 11 yards himself untouched.
“I don’t want to say I was meditating on the field,” before that drive began, Wilkins said. “But just slowing my breathing down, collect myself, understand the situation and go play football. I got in the huddle and let them know let’s go down and score, and we did that.”
The Wildcats couldn’t get Wilkins down on the point-after, allowing him just enough time to get a completion off to tight end Tommy Hudson.
“I just made something shake,” Wilkins said. “We won by one point so obviously it mattered. Tommy did a hell of a job just staying alive. Really smart by our offensive linemen for when they see me scramble to not go downfield.”
Offensive coordinator Rob Likens said, “Tommy was supposed to catch it way earlier than that. We had the numbers for the quick screen to the left. I don’t know why Manny didn’t see it that way, and there are four other possibilities. He went all four of them then went back to the original one and scored.”
With ASU down by only eight, 40-32, with 6:36 remaining, the defense came to life, first with an interception by safety Aashari Crosswell that led to a 39yard field goal then with linebacker Tyler Johson recovering a Taylor fumble for another short-field scoring chance.
“I looked the defense in the eyes and said, ‘Go get me the football,’ “Wilkins said. “Tyler came over to me and handed me the football, and we scored.”
The final points came on a 22-yard run by Eno Benjamin on the first play after the fumble recovery.
“We called a pass play,” Wilkins said. “I knew they were going to roll the coverage. I reloaded the cadence, saw the safeties looking they going to roll and I checked to inside zone to the right and tried to work away from them. We got blocks that we needed to get and he (Benjamin) did what he did and scored a touchdown.”
A pass attempt to Frank Darby on the two-point conversion failed so Arizona still had 3:03 left to get in position for a game-winning field goal. The Wildcats almost pulled it off, reaching the ASU 27-yard line before Josh Pollack’s 45yard try went wide right.