Herm Edwards, ASU preparing for hostile environment at Washington

TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona State Sun Devils got a feel of what it could be like when they head up north to take on the Washington Huskies.

Instead of dealing with the usual heat, the players and coaches were met with gloomy skies on Wednesday.

“We got a little rain today which I don’t know if it’s a good omen or a bad omen,” ASU head coach Herm Edwards said after Wednesday’s practice. “It says it might rain up there so it was good to get to practice in that.”

On Saturday, the forecast is calling for 66 degrees with a 20 percent chance of rain.

But there’s more than just the weather to deal with on the road.

“It’s going to take great concentration and discipline to go up there and win a difficult, difficult game against a really good football team in a really hostile environment which I kind of like,” Edwards said.

“I like these environments where you go on the road. They got a crowd similar to our fanbase that really gets excited for football and I’m looking forward to it and our players are as well.”

One way the Sun Devils hope to practice that concentration and discipline is through repetition.

Before they travel up to Washington, ASU’s offense will get some reps inside with the team pumping in crowd noise.

“Crowd noise will be tomorrow, so we got the wet-ball drill today so that helped us,” Edwards said. “But tomorrow we’re actually going to go in the bubble with the offense and crank up the noise. The defense will stay outside.”

No. 10-ranked Washington brings a lot to the table.

Washington’s quarterback Jake Browning is a proven quarterback in the Pac-12.

He’s had some issues this year, however, with turning the ball over.

Through three games, the quarterback has thrown for 765 yards for four touchdowns, but also has four interceptions. In last year’s matchup between the two schools, the Sun Devils limited Browning to just 139 yards, completing 17-of-30 through the air with no scores.

ASU’s defense has had some success in the turnover game in 2018. They’ve accumulated five through three games, two being picks.

“A lot of people say we’re smoke and mirrors, which that doesn’t bother me,” defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said. “I think that’s a good thing because they have no idea what your doing, no idea where you’re coming from. They struggle with it.

“We need to create some situations where he’s not comfortable so we’ll give them some different looks that they’ve never seen before and get them to play hard and see if we have a chance.”

But it’s not just the signal caller ASU has to worry about.

Running back Myles Gaskin has compiled over 1,000 yards for the Huskies in each of his last three seasons. He’s currently at 271 yards with two scores.

While it’s almost certain the Huskies will rely on those two to set the tone of their offense in a big Pac-12 matchup, don’t sleep on ASU’s playmakers.

“These guys have been under the spotlight for three weeks,” Edwards said. “When the stage gets bigger and the lights are brighter, the players, they like that atmosphere.

“You’re playing a top 10 team in the country on the road and they know what they’re doing, they know who they’re playing.”

Extra Points

– Quarterback Manny Wilkins on playing on the road in Washington: “Washington is personally one of my favorite stadiums to play in just because the atmosphere is unlike any other in college football. It’s just a very unique experience. You’ve got the stadium on the lake, you’ve got rain here and there so it’s just different then anywhere else and it’s just a cool environment.”

– ASU has won 11 of its last 12 games against Washington.

– With a win on Saturday, the Sun Devils will have won three straight Pac-12 openers for the first time in conference history.

– Edwards on feeling any pressure: “I live my life in a world that you compete. You’re the coach and you deal with it trying to get your team in the position to win a game and you do that on the practice field. All week we prepare, so I don’t feel a whole lot of pressure because I prepare and when you prepare you live with the results that happened.”

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