ASU Football: Sun Devils conquer Spartans in defensive bout

(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)

Arizona State came back from a 10-point, fourth quarter deficit to upset No. 15 Michigan State 16-13 on a walk-off 28-yard field goal from Brandon Ruiz.

The Sun Devils sputtered on offense all night, but the defense kept them in the game. ASU forced Michigan State to punt on its last three drives and held the Spartans to a field goal on two of their three longest drives of the night.

“Going into this I knew this wasn’t going to be a high scoring affair,” coach Herm Edwards said. “It was comfortable for me- I’m used to being in games like this. I just thought we kept our poise at the end and we were able to get a good win for our fan base.”

ASU’s rushing attack was stifled, averaging a yard and-a-half per carry and only rushing for more than five yards once amongst the running backs.

The result was a pass-heavy offense, especially in the second half. Senior quarterback Manny Wilkins threw for 380 yards on 30-48 passing- good for a 131.7 passer rating- but the stat line didn’t quite translate to the scoreboard.

“Personally, I’m very disappointed. I don’t think I played nearly as good as I could have played tonight,” Wilkins said. “But that’s just because I’m hard on myself and I expect to do great things because I worked too hard to get to where I am today.”

The offense had only put three points on the board by the end of the third quarter, despite 279 passing yards and nearly as many total yards as MSU to that point. The unit was able to move the ball on most drives but struggled to sustain them once approaching field goal range.

Although the offense made few big plays until late, Wilkins spread the ball effectively throughout the night. He hit eight different receivers, all of whom had multiple catches, and Kyle Williams led the way with seven catches for 104 yards.

“That’s something I’ve been stressing since preseason,” junior wide receiver N’Keal Harry said. “I feel like if they really want to take me away…we have so many other weapons.”

Harry still made the biggest catch of the night on a perfect back-shoulder throw from Wilkins- a 27-yard touchdown that ensued a 38-yard grab by Kyle Williams- concluding a two-play, 65-yard drive that tied the game with 8:45 to go.

The offense may have been clutch while the defense played strong (again), but ASU benefited from some things that won’t be on the stat sheet.

For one, MSU was playing in an unfamiliar time slot. Over the prior three seasons, the Spartans have only played one game that started later than 8 p.m. eastern time, their 2017 bowl game for which they had a month to prepare. Tonight’s game kicked off at 10:50 eastern.

“We needed to use that to our advantage,” Edwards said. “I told these guys in the locker room (at halftime) I said ‘guys it’s 12:30 right now, they got to go play a second half of football’ that’s hard for people to do.”

Additionally, ASU was much more adapted to playing in the 100-degree heat than the Spartans, who seemed to be battling fatigue as the game wore on. With this win, ASU improves to 10-0 against Big Ten opponents at home.

“Them taking a knee, waiting, and then calling a timeout (before halftime)- that was their coach making the smart situational call to give his guys some more rest time,” Wilkins said. “The halftime is not that long and you could tell they needed it…it told us that they’re tired.”

Lastly, Edwards coached the last drive perfectly. MSU burned its last timeout with 2:09 to go with the Sun Devils six yards from the end zone. With the game tied and one timeout left, Edwards elected to have Wilkins take a knee and kill those final minutes, so that ASU could kick the winning field goal as time expired.

“No. Why?” Edwards said about having any thoughts of going for the touchdown on the final drive. “How many games have been lost doing that- that silliness?”

In the end, the victory was an ugly one, but ASU has found a way to start the season 2-0.

The Sun Devils will take on San Diego State next Saturday, September 15 in their first road game of the Herm Edwards era.