ARIZONA STATE

Manny Wilkins finishing ASU career with Pac-12 South implications

Nov 14, 2018, 6:59 PM | Updated: 11:00 pm

(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)...

(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

TEMPE, Ariz. — Manny Wilkins might be rewarded for his patience.

The California native came to ASU and redshirted his freshman year in 2014. He appeared in only four games as a redshirt freshman in 2015. In 2016, he played 10 games under offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and led ASU to a 5-1 start before finishing 5-7. In 2017, Wilkins beat out Alabama transfer Blake Barnett for his own job and played under a new offensive coordinator in Billy Napier.

Then, after finishing 7-6, ASU changed head coaches from Todd Graham to Herm Edwards, and Napier left for Louisiana at Lafayette. That brought about yet another OC, Rob Likens, who was previously the Sun Devils’ receivers coach for a season.

Now, in his final season of eligibility, Wilkins is the quarterback of a 6-4 Sun Devils team that controls its destiny in the Pac-12 South.

“I think that’s just a great way for him to end his career,” Likens said. “He deserves to be in a position to have a chance at this late in the year to have that. To have that possibility. If there’s anybody I’ve ever coached, that guy has — he deserves the chance to have what he has before him.”

Likens may be yet another coordinator in a line of several for the veteran Wilkins, but their relationship doesn’t reflect that.

“I will remember this year –,” Likens said, pausing. “Manny trusts me. To know where he came from, his background, his growing-up and the different people he’s had in his life just here, it’s very easy for that young man not to trust people. And I think he trusts me. You can ask him that question, that’s the one thing that I’ll take away from our relationship.

“Football means nothing to me compared to that, just knowing that. That I was a part of his life and spoke into his life, and I’ve seen him take some things that I’ve told him and apply them to his life. That means everything to me.”

It might help that Wilkins and Likens have similar personalities.

“We’re both the same. He’d probably tell you, there’s some points where both of us, we can get pretty psycho. Just the passion and the competitiveness that we present ourselves with. And it can be a fault sometimes. It’s not always a positive. But the majority of the time, being that competitive as he is is a positive.

“When we mess up against the defense in the team period, he loses his mind because he just absolutely hates losing. But he’s a competitive person, I’m a competitive person, and that’s kind of where you start to mesh well and start to gel is when you have similar traits.”

This season, Wilkins and Likens are enjoying the benefits of having wide receiver N’Keal Harry, who has a good shot at being a high pick in this year’s NFL draft; and running back Eno Benjamin, who set a school record for single-season rushing yards in the Pac-10/12 era with two games left in the season.

If things go right for the Sun Devils, they may also enjoy a longer season than they originally may have thought.

Before a road game against USC, ASU had started the year 3-4 and had lost four of its last five games. Then, the Sun Devils got the win against the Trojans for their first road win of the season, and won back-to-back home contests against Utah and UCLA.

They now ride a three-game win streak.

“So when the picture was taken away from us from going to a Pac-12 Championship and all these things, our attitude — guys were like, ‘Dang, well now we’re playing to go to a bowl,'” Wilkins said. “When that picture was now presented to us again and we have an opportunity, and it’s in our hands, we control it, what are you going to do with that?”

If ASU wins this week at Oregon, then wins its regular season finale at Arizona, it will clinch the Pac-12 South title and play in the Pac-12 Championship Game. They would still have a bowl game after that, thus giving them the chance to win 10 games this year in the final season of Wilkins’ career.

It all starts with coming out strong against Oregon.

“We can’t start slow,” Wilkins said. “We understand the situation. … Like I said, the quote I always tell the offense especially is the biggest enemy to success is complacency. So we’ve gotta just can’t get complacent with anything and just keep pushing.”

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