Edwards keeping ASU’s focus on now despite potential division title
Nov 5, 2018, 6:41 PM
FILE - In this Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, file photo, Arizona State head coach Herm Edwards gestures during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Boulder, Colo. Arizona State got off to a strong start in its first season under Herm Edwards, opening with two victories, including one over then-ranked Michigan State. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
Herm Edwards is not here to fall into the narratives associated with his Arizona State Sun Devils football team after an upset 38-20 win over No. 15 Utah on Saturday.
If the Sun Devils win out the rest of the way in their last three games, they will be the champions of the Pac-12 South.
His team is also on a roll now. They followed up on an important win on the road the week prior at USC, making this the first time his team has won two games in a row since the opening of the season. That level of sustained success, perhaps, represents a hurdle this team was unable to overcome until now.
At his weekly media availability on Monday, Edwards was asked about those two storylines.
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He shook them both off. Quickly.
“I’m gonna coach my team the way I think is necessary and I think that this week is only this week,” Edwards said. “And I’ve always coached that way. I don’t get involved in all that other stuff because it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. When it shows up, an opportunity, you take it.”
That short-term opportunity is winning three games in a row, something the Sun Devils have failed to do this season. Anything beyond that is not on Edwards’ mind in the slightest.
“This is too much to handle. It’s too much to explain and all of that,” he said. “Win. You win, it takes care of itself.”
Fortunately for ASU, they are home for the second game in a row and play UCLA. The Bruins are 2-4 in the conference and 2-7 overall, putting them at the bottom of the division.
Saturday, though, is also the Sun Devils’ last home game of the year, meaning it is senior week.
That’s where distractions can come and Edwards doesn’t want his team to become trapped by them.
“Senior week is always big,” he said. “Lots of distractions. Lot of family coming into town, players being pulled here or there. They’re hearing about all these things that they can accomplish — can’t accomplish anything unless you’ve got the right mindset and that’s go to work, go to practice.
“We’re gonna make sure we get focused on practicing well this week so we have an opportunity to win the game.”
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