ASU ends season at Oregon State, says it won’t participate in a bowl game
Dec 20, 2020, 1:12 AM | Updated: 12:12 pm
Arizona State football’s 2020 season is officially over.
The team announced after its 46-33 win over Oregon State that even if offered, it won’t be participating in a bowl game this year.
“It’s tough, but when we make decisions, we make them thinking about the student athletes that are involved in this,” head coach Herm Edwards told reporters via Zoom. “We just felt like what this team has gone through and our student athletes have gone through … we feel like at this point, we’re going to give our athletes a rest.”
The Sun Devils end the season 2-2.
Edwards said he is proud of what his team accomplished this year, especially in the past two games, even if they weren’t able to play a seven-game shortened season like many other college teams did this year.
“This has been the hardest for me in my whole life — as an athlete playing football, as a coach, at every level,” Edwards said. “This has been very, very tough for everyone involved and I say that for all college coaches and all college student athletes that had to go through what we had to go through to try to play football.
“It’s a credit to the young people, their resolve and their ability to do something that’s very, very difficult. … I’m proud of them. I told them that I was proud to be their coach.”
With three of the team’s games canceled due to coronavirus concerns, it wasn’t an easy pill to swallow but defensive back Evan Fields said the schedule shifts brought the team together.
“We had to go through a lot of adversity and we came together as a team to get through it as best we could,” Fields said. “I’m proud of all the guys on the team and everything we’ve been through and finishing up the season the right way.”
The Sun Devils eyes now shift to next season, aiming to bring the success and offensive spark they’ve attained in the past two games into 2021.
“I think the guys are hungry,” offensive coordinator Zak Hill said. “It’s a good way to propel them into the next season. It’s been an interesting one. It is what it is and we’re moving forward.”
