Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN
After months of waiting and predicting, the Herm Edwards era at Arizona State finally kicked off, and it kicked off with a bang.
After receiving the opening kick against the UTSA Roadrunners, Manny Wilkins led a four-play, 81-yard touchdown drive to take an early 7-0 lead. 79 of those yards went to N’Keal Harry, highlighted by the 58-yard scoring play.
Not wanting to be outdone, defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales’ unit came out firing. On the first play from scrimmage Chase Lucas brought down Jalen Rhodes for a three-yard loss, before Shannon Foreman intercepted a Cordale Grundy pass and brought it back 25 yards to put ASU ahead 14-0.
Following the early fireworks the Sun Devils came back down to Earth , in large part due to their mental mistakes. Six penalties were committed in the opening 15 minutes.
The penalty that loomed the largest for ASU came on UTSA’s first drive of the second quarter, when redshirt senior safety Jalen Harvey was called for targeting against Grundy, and subsequently ejected from the game. Harvey made the transition to defense this season after spending the last four as a wide receiver.
Harvey’s teammates rallied behind him however, as Darius Slade sacked Grundy and forced a fumble later on the same drive, for ASU’s second turnover of the half.
The Sun Devil offense immediately capitalized, putting together a 7-play, 64-yard scoring drive, highlighted by a 24-yard back-shoulder throw from Wilkins to Frank Darby that set up Eno Benjamin’s three-yard touchdown run.
Following a UTSA three-and-out highlighted by Lucas’ first sack of the season, the first half was capped off with another touchdown from the Sun Devils. Wilkins orchestrated a 5-play, 43-yard drive, culminating in a 10-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Chatman to put the Sun Devils ahead 28-0.
For the half, the Sun Devils out-gained the Roadrunners 300-76, with Wilkins completing 13-19 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns. Harry caught four passes for 93 yards and a touchdown, while Benjamin recorded 11 carries for an even 100 yards and a touchdown.
On the defensive side, Kobe Williams finished the first half with six tackles (five solo), while Lucas recorded four solo tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss.
SECOND HALF
The Sun Devils kept their foot on the gas pedal to open the second half, with second-string running back Isaiah Floyd leading the charge. On his first four carries of the night, the redshirt sophomore rattled off runs of 19, 9, 5, and 16 yards to set up a 7-yard touchdown pass from Wilkins to Benjamin, extending the lead to 35-0.
The highlight of the night came courtesy of Harry on ASU’s next drive.
The Chandler native ran a ten-yard hitch route on the left side of the field, received the pass from Wilkins, and proceeded to reverse field while shedding UTSA would-be tacklers for a 31-yard touchdown, his second of the night.
Floyd put a bow on his performance with a 5-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 49-0 early in the fourth quarter.
UTSA ended the ASU shutout bid with 6:03 to go on a B.J. Daniels 4-yard touchdown run on 4th down.
In an impressive performance across the board for Arizona State Wilkins finished the night 16-24 for 237 yards and four touchdowns, while also rushing for 28 yards on six carries. Benjamin finished with 16 carries for 131 yards and two total touchdowns, while Harry hauled in six receptions for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
The Sun Devil defense recorded 15 tackles for loss on the night while also registering nine sacks and three turnovers.
With a dominating 49-7 victory under their belt to start the season, the Sun Devils will now turn their attention to one of their biggest non-conference games in recent memory, as the #11 Michigan State Spartans will travel to Sun Devil Stadium next Saturday night, with kickoff scheduled for 7:45 P.M.
Bobby Kraus is a football beat reporter for the Walter Cronkite Sports Network. You can follow him on Twitter @bobbykraus22
