Despite big lead, ASU’s Herm Edwards was ‘nervous’ in win over Arizona

The Arizona State Sun Devils set a Territorial Cup record for points scored last Friday against the Arizona Wildcats.

The Sun Devils added nearly 500 yards of total offense in the 70-7 beatdown, while the defense came away with four fumbles and three interceptions.

ASU scored 14 of those points in the first 56 seconds of the matchup, including an opening kick return for a score.

But even though the Sun Devils turned in their best outing in Herm Edwards’ tenure down in Tucson, the head coach wasn’t doing a whole lot of cheering on the sideline.

“They had played well at home against USC and Colorado,” Edwards told Arizona Sports’ Doug & Wolf on Monday. “I told the team they are like us, they haven’t won a game yet. They’ll come out fast but we have to come out fast as well. I never anticipated a 108-yard kickoff return and then a fumble and get it on the five. And then before you know it’s 21-0.

“I was talking to Marvin in the third quarter and we were perplexed,” Edwards said. “We were like, “What do we do?’ I was nervous. You’re thinking these guys are going to let down and then all it takes is a score and then all of a sudden they’re back in the game.”

Let down they did not.

The Sun Devils poured on the points in the dominant win over the Wildcats, securing a fourth-straight Territorial Cup victory in the process.

The running game proved too much against a porous Wildcats defense, gashing the unit to the tune of 259 yards and seven touchdowns on 50 (!) carries.

Quarterback Jayden Daniels chipped in two more scores with his arm to go along with 203 passing yards on 9-of-11 passing (81.8%).

Edwards on Kevin Sumlin’s firing: “We’ve all been there”

There’s always a winner and a loser in college football.

On Friday night, the Wildcats were on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

It spelled the end to Arizona head coach Kevin Sumlin’s time in Tucson.

Losing 11 straight contests leading up to the Territorial Cup showdown, Sumlin’s job was seemingly already in jeopardy.

A monumental loss to in-state rival ASU was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

Following the game, Edwards had a moment to speak with Sumlin.

“I said, ‘You’ve done a great job this year under the circumstances that you had to coach under,'” Edwards said of his conversation with the former Wildcats coach.

“We’ve all been there. I was in that situation in Kansas City. I was trying to build the program without a quarterback. … We’ve all been there.”

Sumlin went 9-20 as the Wildcats head coach, including a 6-17 Pac-12 record. He lost all three Territorial Cups he was apart of and failed to make a bowl appearance in three seasons.

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