Multiple distractions on the horizon as Arizona State heads into bye week

TEMPE, Ariz. — With one less distraction of preparing for an upcoming football game, for college football programs, the bye week is a perfect time to get players rested, while fine-tuning their plans of attack for the rest of the year.

Down in Tempe, however, it’s a bit of a different story.

There may not be a game on the docket this week, but that’s not stopping distractions from creeping into the Arizona State Sun Devils’ bubble.

“HBO will be here next Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons will be here for a week on Monday,” head coach Herm Edwards said Tuesday. “There’s a lot of things swirling right now that we have to make sure we don’t get caught up in all that stuff and just focus on what we need to do to get better these next seven weeks.”

Not only does the team have HBO coming out to the Valley as part of the new sports series 24/7 College Football, the Sun Devils are also hosting the Atlanta Falcons ahead of their matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.

Focus will be undoubtedly key as ASU looks to set itself up for the remainder of the season.

Mid-season distractions can throw off a team’s psyche. But TV cameras in every room and an NFL team sharing the field with you? That’s a whole other level.

Edwards isn’t looking at the bad, however, as the added wrinkles provide a mental test for his players, while also aiding the team in another department.

“It lets recruits look at what you do behind the scenes a little bit in how you coach,” Edwards said. “I think they get a good feel of how we do things. That’s the good part. The other part is I’ve been involved in these things before and I’ve said it, players that don’t talk all of a sudden they start talking. Because it’s television, they want to see themselves on television.

“I’ve been with pro players that hadn’t talked in years. … I just think to handle all that, for our staff too, these guys have never been through that. It’s never happened here to be quite honest. It hasn’t happened in hardly anywhere in college football. This is new. Pro football has happened, I dealt with it. You can’t get involved in all that stuff.

“And then Atlanta’s coming” Edwards added. “I told then players, ‘hey, they’re going to be practicing in the bubble. If you have any aspirations go over there and watch how they practice. Watch how fast they do things.’ I think all those things help you as far as recruiting. Those are all things that you can use in the proper way and I think it helps us.”

Outside of the noise, the Sun Devils are at a point in the season where they know what they have. It’s just about making the adjustments to fully utilize ASU’s talent to the best of its abilities.

While freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels continues to find his footing, one point of emphasis throughout the season has been getting the running game established behind junior running back Eno Benjamin.

Through five games, Benjamin has ran for 392 yards and six scores on 106 carries. He’s also chipped in as a pass catcher early on, recording 13 catches for 151 yards and two scores. As a team, the offense is averaging 22.8 points per game, with 12 total touchdowns on the season.

Though there’s been shuffling along the offensive line, the rushing attack has began to settle in. Edwards hopes the trend continues, as it will help elevate the team on the scoreboard.

“The more we go down this road, the more we find ourself and what type of running team we’re going to become but here again, points are important,” Edwards said. “Look, we ran the ball last year and we were averaging around 34 points. We’ve got to get our point total up.

“Now, our defense can help on that by giving us a short field, by intercepting some balls, getting some more turnovers. That helps, but we’ve got to score more, we’ve got to score more. College football allows you to score more and we’ve got to score more points.”

Follow @Tdrake4sports