Washington Football: 3 Takeaways from ASU’s Herm Edwards 9/17 presser
By Ed Stein
ASU Coach Herm Edwards talked about Washington Football ahead of Saturday night’s game. Here are three takeaways about the Huskies from his weekly press conference.
The Washington Huskies (2-1, 1-0) face another tough test this week in their quest to bring home a PAC-12 title and maybe an invite to the four-team playoff. Arizona State (2-1, 0-0) heads to Huskey Stadium Saturday night for another ESPN Game.
ASU has won 10 of the last 11 meetings between the teams. Here are three takeaways from Sun Devils head coach Herm Edwards press conference on Monday about the Washington Huskies.
1) Playing on the road/Husky Stadium
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After losing at San Diego State last week, ASU is 4-12 on the road over the past three years, and they have to do better. Edwards knows it won’t get any easier going to Husky Stadium.
"It’s going to be spectacular. Night game again, these are the types of venues you want to play in with this excitement and all that stuff,” he said “I think I’m going to be forced to go into the bubble one day this week just for crowd noise. Put us in the bubble so we can get used to the noise. It’s going to be noisy for our offense."
His younger players haven’t experienced Husky Stadium but opening at Michigan State helped. Still, the Sun Devils will need all hands on deck because of how good Washington is.
2) UW Defense
Edwards didn’t say too much about the defense, but when he did the respect the former defensive back had for it was in his voice. The coach said the Huskies defense was outstanding and one of the better units in college football. Edwards likes the Huskies defensive scheme and how Chris Petersen’s defense is built especially in the secondary.
3) UW Offense
In his opening remarks, the Sun Devils coach praised UWs talent, saying they had a veteran offense with good wide receivers and good running backs. He likes the Huskies balance. I found this interesting not because of what Edwards said, but for what he didn’t say. Edwards did not mention Washington Huskies senior quarterback Jake Browning, who is one of the top two or three QBs in the conference when he was talking his opponent.
Edwards was asked again about Washington’s passing game. He mentioned how the Huskies like to stretch the field and take “vertical shots” because of their explosive players. This time he at least acknowledged Washington had a “veteran quarterback.”
While the Washington Huskies passing game is a concern for him, so is the running game. UW had 172 yards on 41 carries against a very good Utah run defense. Last week San Diego State gained 311 yards on the ground against ASU. Edwards went into detail about the how San Diego State receivers sucked in his corners, who then got hit by a pulling guard which allowed SDSU to run the ball around the outside. Obviously, he is worried about UW halfback Myles Gaskin running wild on his defense.
Next. BBK is the PAC-12 Defensive Player of the Week. dark
It’s going to be a good one Saturday night, ASU is a better team than they showed last week.