(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)
Arizona State’s quest for the Pac-12 South title continues Saturday in Eugene as the Sun Devils (6-4, 4-3 Pac-12) travel to take on the Oregon Ducks (6-4, 3-4 Pac-12).
For the first time this season, ASU is riding a three game win streak. In order to win the Pac-12 South title, the Sun Devils will likely have to win their final two more games on the road.
To do that, they will have to defeat one of the highest touted quarterback prospects in Justin Herbert.
“Offensively, I think they have one of the better offenses,” coach Herm Edwards said Wednesday. “They have a very talented quarterback. He can really throw the football. They’re very balanced, with some good wide receivers. They run the football.”
“Great quarterback,” defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said. “They’ve got some offensive options that are scary.”
The Ducks are led by Herbert’s favorite weapon in wide receiver Dillon Mitchell. Mitchell has 1,002 yards and eight touchdowns so far on the season.
“Dillon Mitchell is one of the best, most unique wide outs we’ve faced,” Gonzales said.
The duo of Mitchell and Herbert isn’t all ASU has to worry about. The Ducks boast the nation’s 68thoverall defense, allowing nearly 403 yards a contest.
“Defensively, they have athletes in the back end of their defense,” Edwards said. “They’ve got a good punt returner. So all those things are a factor when you go on the road. I think our guys are starting to tune in on what it’s going to take for us to win a football game.”
“They’re an athletic team,” quarterback Manny Wilkins said. “They got some guys that make plays. They’re a little beat up, but they got guys that are going to step up.”
The Ducks will be without linebacker Kaulana Apelu who is second in tackles on the team with 58. He fractured his leg is Oregon’s loss to Utah last week.
The last time the Sun Devils played Oregon at Autzen Stadium was in 2016, where Wilkins was held out due to injury. The Sun Devils lost in a 54-35 game behind backup quarterback Dillon Sterling-Cole’s three interceptions.
With all of the outside noise of ASU’s Pac-12 South title chances, Edwards has stuck to a simple approach: take it one game at a time.
“If you get caught up in all that other stuff, people try to build games up,” Edwards said. “They’re all important because they all count in the win and loss column.
Wilkins, however, is well aware of the opportunity in front of him in his final season.
“We can’t start slow. We understand the situation.”
