Arizona State Football: Looking Ahead to San Diego State
In their third game of the 2018 season, the Arizona State football program will take on San Diego State.
What a beautiful time to be a supporter of the Arizona State football program! The Sun Devils have started off 2-0 with a blowout win against UTSA and a surprise upset of the Michigan State Spartans. Now in Week 3, Herm Edwards and the revamped Sun Devils will travel to California to play San Diego State.
It should be noted that the Sun Devils were handed a national ranking (No. 23) in the latest AP Poll.
Looking at the San Diego State Aztecs
Current Record: 1-1
Current Head Coach: Rocky Long
Career Record vs. ASU: 1-10-1
Although they have just one win against Arizona State, that win was in their most recent meeting. Last year, the Aztecs beat the Todd Graham-led Sun Devils on the road in Tempe by 10 points (30-20). This year, however, they’ll be facing a much-improved team under Herm Edwards
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It should be noted that SDSU beat No. 19 Stanford last year immediately after beating ASU.
Having said that, the Aztecs are a legit program. Under head coach Rocky Long, they’ve carved out a nice niche in the Mountain West Conference. They’re stingy on defense and are run-first on offense.
In 2018, they’ve split in their first two games: losing 31-10 at Stanford and winning 28-14 at home against Sacramento State.
The ground game they love so much has been featured exclusively this season. Junior tailback Juwan Washington has toted the rock 60 times already, good for the third-most rushing yards in the entire nation (314). Additionally, he’s tacked on four rushing touchdowns. Last year, the Aztecs ran wild on Arizona State (6.5 yards per carry) but as we’ve seen this year, the Sun Devils have a much better defensive unit.
Defensively, the Sun Devils shouldn’t have a difficult time scoring points if their passing attack is right. Their offense, one of the best in the Pac-12, will be able to throw the ball at will against SDSU. Stanford receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside went off in Week 1 versus the Aztecs, catching six balls for over 200 yards and three touchdowns. N’Keal Harry is better than Arcega-Washington; can you imagine his stat line in Week 3? Manny Wilkins looks for Harry regularly and numerous plays are designed specifically for him.
On the flip side, San Diego State held Stanford star Bryce Love to 1.6 yards per carry in their Week 1 loss. Then in Week 2, they held Sacramento State to less than two yards per carry. They are a very, very good defense against the run. If ASU can get their passing game cranked up, they should be able to hit some nice draws with Eno Benjamin, though. Plus, Manny Wilkins will likely be able to snag some yards when scrambling.
Read. Herm Edwards NFL Coaching Highlights. light
The ASU-SDSU game will be at 10:30 P.M ET on CBS Sports Network on Saturday, September 15th.