ASU’s Edwards looking to run first
Arizona State had only 104 yards passing in its 27-20 loss at No. 10 Washington last week, but coach Herm Edwards is not fretting over that because of the Sun Devils’ run production.
Edwards said Monday during his weekly press conference that he would rather have a run-first offense than a pass-happy one. He believes a ball-control offense, hopefully getting chunks of yards on the ground, will help ASU’s defense stay off the field.
“You have to play complementary football,” Edwards said. “Right now we have a young defense. What do you do to help them? You take time off the clock.
“If you can run the ball consistently, to me those are tough football teams. Now you become multi-dimensional. We can dictate the terms of how we want the game played. That’s what we’re going to become. We have to continue to develop things going down the road, and running the ball is going to be part of it.”
ASU heads into this week’s game against Oregon State at Sun Devil Stadium with Edwards feeling confident a ground game can be a team strength.
The Sun Devils had 164 yards rushing against the Huskies on 40 carries, which was 60 percent of their plays (quarterback Manny Wilkins attempted 27 passes).
Edwards is preparing for the future and not coaching to only please Wilkins, a senior, by allowing him to pad his passing stats this season.
“We’ve got an eight-game season. We’ve got to continue to do that (run more) because whoever plays quarterback here next year, guess what? He’s going to play in that system,” Edwards said.
Heading into the Washington game, 73 percent of ASU’s total offense was via the pass (958 of 1,304 yards). The Sun Devils averaged a scant 1.5 yards a carry against Michigan State and San Diego State. They managed to rally to beat the Spartans 16-13 but lost 28-21 to the Aztecs.
After the loss to San Diego State, Edwards met with his offensive staff to make sure they design more running plays.
“You have to do things sometimes as a head coach,” he said. “I make people uncomfortable. I do it in a way where it’s never pointing a finger. I try to make good suggestions.”
What about future NFL wide receiver, N’Keal Harry, who had only 20 yards receiving on five catches against Washington?
“N’Keal is always in our plans every week,” Edwards said. “We do our best to try to get him the ball. We’re smart enough to move him around. Sometimes they’re doubling him and you can’t throw it to him. You’ve got to throw it to somebody else.”
