LAS VEGAS -- With a bevy of trainers watching his every step, Manny Wilkins rose from the Sam Boyd Stadium turf. He limped to the ASU sideline, seeking something to balance on so he could grab at his ailing right knee.
He reached his arm out, finding support, like he and many others in Tempe have learned, on the shoulders on Herm Edwards.
As the Devils 31-20 loss to No. 21 Fresno State (11-2) in the Las Vegas Bowl became more imminent, Edwards stood there as Wilkins exited the field for the final time in his collegiate career. Minutes later, the first-year head coach was there again.
He patted the back of Wilkins as the redshirt senior quarterback described the foundation Edwards has set for ASU (7-6).
“You know we’re in the right direction,” Wilkins said. “You just see it in guys’ eyes on the field, there’s a want to play for him. And when you have a group of guys that want to play for your head coach, the sky’s the limit.”
Time will tell on that.
But as Wilkins sat with Edwards at the podium, expanding upon what the future will look like for the Sun Devils going forward, the paradigm seemed like it had fully swung to the right.
Saturday was the last dance for the Wilkins’ era of ASU, which includes numerous players that played a big role under Todd Graham, and perhaps the springboard for the Edwards’s era to finally kick off. No more questions of ‘How did that compare to last year?,’ ‘What are the differences between Herm and Graham?’
It’s all gone. The awkwardness of a 64-year old former ESPN anchor roaming the sidelines has faded. The ‘firsts’ that Edwards and ASU had to experience dwindled down by the week.
Maybe the paradigm didn’t swing from the Wilkins’ era to the Edwards, maybe that’s not a thing. But somehow, from a public consciousness sense, it feels like after one full season that Edwards and ASU showed it was capable of attaining some of the goals most scoffed at a year ago.
"Well, we built somewhat of a foundation due to Manny and some of the seniors,” Edwards said. “I think going forward now with Eno and some of the seniors coming back we kind of set a standard of what we try to accomplish, we didn’t accomplish our number one goal and that was to try to play for a Pac-12 Championship.”
In a sense, Saturday felt like a loss for ASU and head coach Herm Edwards, not a loss for Herm Edwards and ASU.
“I told the team after the game that I’m thankful for these guys in entrusting me to be their head coach and following my lead along as the rest of the coaching staff,” Edwards said. “These guys, Manny (Wilkins) and the seniors, I can’t thank them enough for setting the foundation of what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to accomplish going forward.”
Though the Sun Devils finished with the same 7-6 record they did a season ago under Graham, with both including a win over Arizona and a bowl-game loss, there was a different vibe around the program. One everyone noticed. One that makes people eager for next season.
Saturday didn’t provide another Top 25 win for the Sun Devils. It didn’t allow them to grab their eighth win of the season, or send Wilkins and the senior class out on the right note. But it did allow them to glance into the future, one that won’t include Wilkins or receiver N’Keal Harry, who sat out the bowl game to prepare for the NFL Draft.
Across the board, the big plays ASU was making were coming from guys that will return in 2019, and in some cases, freshman.
Sophomore running back Eno Benjamin led the way for ASU. Operating in the run-heavy offense that Edwards has tried to establish in Tempe, Benjamin carried the ball 23 times for 121 yards and a 17-yard scamper that gave ASU a 14-10 lead in the second quarter.
Oh, and a play before that, Benjamin had a 13-yard run the gave him the record for most single-season rushing yards in ASU history, surpassing the 1,565 that Woody Green scampered for in 1972.
“You work as hard as he does, his effort shows up on the field and obviously that’s how he broke the record,” Edwards said
After the game, though, Benjamin wasn’t keen on talking about the record. He stared blankly at the media in front of him, never allowing his frown to disappear.
“It doesn’t matter,” an angered Benjamin said. “I don’t know. I have a long time to think about that. Right now, I’m disappointed.”
Edwards only had great things to say of his workhorse tailback, describing him as a “pro’s pro.” What the first-year head coach wasn’t too thrilled with, however, was his offense’s response following defensive turnovers.
The Sun Devils managed just three total points on the ensuing drives after Fresno State quarterback Marcus McMaryion threw interceptions to a pair of defensive backs ASU will welcome back next year, freshman Aashari Crosswell and redshirt sophomore Chase Lucas.
Both came in another third quarter that ASU would kindly describe as a disappointment. After receiving the second-half kickoff following a tied 17-17 first half, the Sun Devils managed just one field goal.
“You know you’ve got to score points especially when you get the ball where we possessed it,” Edwards said. “These guys got a great defense; we said that coming in. They played very well in the red zone. They did some things and got us in some bad downs.”
Fresno State quickly regained the lead and ASU was no longer able to play it’s run-first, wind-the-clock-down offense. They had to rely on Wilkins … and a whole bunch of receivers that had limited experience.
Among a wide receiver corps that gave a larger role to the scarcely-used freshman Geordon Porter, sophomore Curtis Hodges, and redshirt junior Terrell Chatman, Wilkins decided to rely on a little bit of familiarity.
Junior Kyle Williams ran numerous sweeps, even finding the end zone on a three-yard jet sweep in the first quarter. Despite the fact that redshirt sophomore Frank Darby failed to catch a pass, Wilkins threw his way on a good amount of deep balls. And junior Brandon Aiyuk caught a career-high nine passes for 61 yards playing the ‘X-’receiver’ position that was designated for Harry.
“He did a nice job, yes he did,” Edwards said of Aiyuk. “We’re going to rely on him next year. There are some other young ones, Porter and some guys like that; so, when you lose a guy like N’Keal, he can tilt the field for you when he lines up. When he’s not in there, I thought the young guys stepped up and played well.”
Each of those guys will likely be back in Tempe next season, aiding an offense that will boast a new starting quarterback that very well may be a freshman. (Quarterbacks Ethan Long, Joey Yellen and Jayden Daniels have all committed to ASU and are expected to sign on Wednesday’s signing day.)
The Sun Devils now move into somewhat of an unknown, tasked with finding Wilkins’ and Harry’s replacements in recruiting. Chalk it up as just another ‘first’ for ASU and head coach Herm Edwards.
“Now with recruiting is about to take place, I think bringing in more guys to add to Eno and the rest of the guys that we brought in last year, we have the ability to build something pretty nice around here," Edwards said.
