ASU football still searching for first road win ahead of USC game
Oct 24, 2018, 4:36 PM
Arizona State quarterback Manny Wilkins (5) scrambles with the ball as Washington linebacker Benning Potoa'e (8) closes in during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, in Seattle. Washington won 27-20. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
TEMPE, Ariz. — Sun Devils redshirt senior quarterback Manny Wilkins knows time is running out.
“I’m starting to count my practices,” Wilkins said. “We’ve got five weeks left guaranteed. That’s four practices, three practices a week, I don’t have that many practices left here. It means too much for me to let it slide.”
Wilkins has said before that his team has been close: close to winning, close to national relevance, close to greatness. Just a few touchdowns have made the difference this season for the Sun Devils, who enter their Saturday contest against USC with a 3-4 record.
All of ASU’s losses in 2018 have been by just one touchdown.
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“I had a long talk with N’Keal [Harry] yesterday and just reflecting back on what we’ve done this year,” Wilkins said Wednesday. “I talked with him probably an hour and a half on the phone. I just told him it’s time for us to just flip the switch. We’ve got to do more. Even if we feel like we’re doing what we’re supposed to do, we’ve got to do more because we want it too much, we work too hard. We put too much time into this to let something fade right out of our hands.”
Next up, ASU will go to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in search of its first road win of 2018.
“Going into the coliseum is always fun,” head coach Herm Edwards said. “It’s a historical building obviously, and when you walk down that tunnel, I think if you’ve just been a fan of football or sports in general, you understand when you walk into that stadium all the rich history that has been in there. And I’ve been fortunate enough to coach in there and play in there as a collegiate player as well as a professional player.
“When you walk in there, there’s always a good team you’re facing, for some reason. So that’s interesting as well.”
USC is 4-3 and in second place in the Pac-12 South. Sun Devils win would tie the two teams with an even overall record of 4-4, though the Trojans would still have more conference wins.
“We haven’t fared well on the road,” Edwards said. “We have to find a way to win a road– it’d be fun to win a road game. I don’t know how these guys would act. I haven’t seen them win a road game yet. I haven’t won road game with them, either. We’ve been close. But it’d be kind of fun.”
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