Arizona State Head Coach Herm Edwards
On coming out tonight with a win…
“You have to give Sacramento State a lot of credit. I told their coaching staff that they had a great plan, especially defensively. We have a lot of work to do for next week, that’s for sure.”
On Sac State’s defense on their run game…
“They lined up in the Bear and hit a bunch of gaps on us, and really penetrated into the backfield. Eno (Benjamin) was getting hit half of the time in the backfield before he could even get started. You have to give them credit. They did a nice job. I think when that happens, you have to be able to throw the ball and back them off that because that’s what they were doing. They were sending six guys a lot of the time and crowding the run lanes. We just never got it going.”
On ASU’s defense tonight…
“We really kept them out of the end zone and held them to seven points. This is a team that scored 77 last week. You hold someone to seven points, and you feel like you should win a football game. That was the case here. Going forward, we’re going to have to play a lot better, especially offensively. We have to sustain some drives and that’s what’s so disappointing with us right now. We’re not sustaining any drives. We have a lot of three-and-out’s and we’re punting the ball. Our kicking game really saved us again. The punter is creating long fields for those guys and then the field goal kicker came in and kicked them all through. That was basically the game. We scored one touchdown off a great catch-and-run by Eno. We had one call back on a foul. Just silly things that you can’t do. We had a bunch of those things happen tonight.”
On their lack of offensive identity so far…
“Just trying to figure it out. When you don’t run the ball consistently, you almost get into a panic mode of all of a suddenly wanting to throw it. You never get any rhythm and that’s our problem. We had no rhythm throwing the ball. 15 first downs, that’s not a lot of first downs in a football game. We should be in the high 20s if you’re going to continue to mount drives. We have a lot of work to do.”
On Michigan State next week…
“No doubt. They have seven returning starters on defense. They’re a powerful group, especially defensively. Quarterback is coming back and he’s a good football player. It was a close game last year, and the turnovers really spoiled it for them. They were in our territory twice and we got two turnovers. We got down in one quarter – I’m not sure if it was the second quarter – we threw an interception as well, so turnovers paid big dividends in the last game with them.”
Arizona State DL DJ Davidson
On the offense struggling, but the defense picked up the game on themselves…
“I just think as a team, we are held accountable as a defense. Coach (Danny) Gonzales holds us to a high standard to not let anyone score, so it is our responsibility to keep the offense going and build momentum for them and field position for them.”
Arizona State QB Jayden Daniels
On what was going on with the offensive line…
“We had some missed assignments, but it is not solely their fault. It’s my fault too obviously. I need to get the ball out faster. I missed a couple easy throws to (Brandon Aiyuk). I missed slug. I missed some other throws, so I just have to be better for myself as an offense and as myself. We need to be better on third down. We weren’t good on third down today, but other than that we have some things we need to clean up and get ready for next week.”
On what could have made the run game go better…
“Me probably taking some more shots on the offense and completing the ball to loosen up the defense for the run game. Like I said, there are some plays that I missed that could’ve probably opened up the run game a little bit more. I couldn’t pull to help Eno (Benjamin) out. I just have to be better myself and go back and watch the film.”
On what he is thinking when he goes into a scramble…
“Sometimes when I scramble, I’m actually looking to see if they are coming back for the ball if they’re open. Other than that, I just try to get what I can and get mostly just positive yards or positive plays because as an offense, we don’t want to go backwards. I feel like if I’m able to make the play and I move my legs or I don’t, that’s solely on me because I let the offense go backward, not forward.”
On the wide receivers…
“They did their job. They got open when they needed to get open. Make plays. Like you said, that post was a good play by Brandon (Aiyuk), the deep ball to Frank (Darby). As the offense myself, I feel like we need to play to the standard that we set for ourselves. We got complacent, really. Not playing how we really could play, to the standard we set. Coach Herm talked all week about how we have to set the tone and we didn’t really do that as an offense. I didn’t do that myself. The receivers did their job for the most part. I didn’t do my part.”
Arizona State LB Merlin Robertson
On the message the linebackers received...
“He basically said to step our game up, beat up the offense, get our bodies in place, get the calls down and be faster to get lined up. That was pretty much it.”
On the defensive message at halftime…
“Just step our game up, keep it going. Keep setting the tone. Just be really physical and play fast.”
Arizona State WR Brandon Aiyuk
On the blindside block called…
“That’s just bad football. I was going on the lane and I let the game get to me. It was a bad play when the touchdown got called back. It was a horrible feeling, but just a bad play. I need to play better football on my part.”
On his punt returns…
“Watching the film from last week, I fair caught almost every single ball. A lot of these punters are getting a lot of height on these balls and not a lot of distance, so I saw last week on film there was a little bit of space and I wanted to take a chance. I just wanted to try even though they are in front of me and get off to my spot quick. Even talking to (Antonio Pierce) yesterday, he told me these punters are giving you a lot but make the most of it. If you see an opening, you got to take it.”
Sacramento State Head Coach Troy Taylor
On his biggest takeaway…
“Our guys played hard. They hung in the game and had a chance to win it at the end. I am proud of how our guys prepared and how they competed.”
On defensive strategy…
“That is all Coach Andy Thompson (defensive coordinator) his staff. They are challenging because they do a lot of different things and give a lot of different looks. They did a great job. They really did.”
On finding offensive success in fourth quarter…
“Hats off to them. I am very familiar with what they do on defense. It is very good. It is very challenging. They tackle really well. I do not know that they missed a tackle until the second to last drive. They tackled really well and closed on the ball. That is what good defenses do. They just do not give up a lot of yards after the catch. We just did not throw it and catch it. That is a credit to them. They challenged us and our wide receivers. They broke on the ball. We have to throw and catch the ball better. I thought we protected pretty well. We knew running the ball was going to be difficult, but we were hoping we would throw it a little bit better than we did.”
On what you saw from Kevin Thompson…
“There was a couple of throws that got away from him. He made some throws and he missed a few throws. He will come back from it and learn from it. He has a lot of ability. It is a big stage and he will play better.”
On what it means to play a Pac-12 team close on the road…
“Obviously, there are no moral victories. Our guys came in, expected to win and wanted to win. We were in the game and had an opportunity. We are really mindful of being moment to moment. We are not looking past or looking forward to anybody. So, if we would have found a way to win, we would have treated it the same way. We are going to get ready for Northern Colorado. I think what we have seen is that our team is pretty resilient. If we execute, we have a chance to beat anybody."
On coming out tonight with a win…
“You have to give Sacramento State a lot of credit. I told their coaching staff that they had a great plan, especially defensively. We have a lot of work to do for next week, that’s for sure.”
On Sac State’s defense on their run game…
“They lined up in the Bear and hit a bunch of gaps on us, and really penetrated into the backfield. Eno (Benjamin) was getting hit half of the time in the backfield before he could even get started. You have to give them credit. They did a nice job. I think when that happens, you have to be able to throw the ball and back them off that because that’s what they were doing. They were sending six guys a lot of the time and crowding the run lanes. We just never got it going.”
On ASU’s defense tonight…
“We really kept them out of the end zone and held them to seven points. This is a team that scored 77 last week. You hold someone to seven points, and you feel like you should win a football game. That was the case here. Going forward, we’re going to have to play a lot better, especially offensively. We have to sustain some drives and that’s what’s so disappointing with us right now. We’re not sustaining any drives. We have a lot of three-and-out’s and we’re punting the ball. Our kicking game really saved us again. The punter is creating long fields for those guys and then the field goal kicker came in and kicked them all through. That was basically the game. We scored one touchdown off a great catch-and-run by Eno. We had one call back on a foul. Just silly things that you can’t do. We had a bunch of those things happen tonight.”
On their lack of offensive identity so far…
“Just trying to figure it out. When you don’t run the ball consistently, you almost get into a panic mode of all of a suddenly wanting to throw it. You never get any rhythm and that’s our problem. We had no rhythm throwing the ball. 15 first downs, that’s not a lot of first downs in a football game. We should be in the high 20s if you’re going to continue to mount drives. We have a lot of work to do.”
On Michigan State next week…
“No doubt. They have seven returning starters on defense. They’re a powerful group, especially defensively. Quarterback is coming back and he’s a good football player. It was a close game last year, and the turnovers really spoiled it for them. They were in our territory twice and we got two turnovers. We got down in one quarter – I’m not sure if it was the second quarter – we threw an interception as well, so turnovers paid big dividends in the last game with them.”
Arizona State DL DJ Davidson
On the offense struggling, but the defense picked up the game on themselves…
“I just think as a team, we are held accountable as a defense. Coach (Danny) Gonzales holds us to a high standard to not let anyone score, so it is our responsibility to keep the offense going and build momentum for them and field position for them.”
Arizona State QB Jayden Daniels
On what was going on with the offensive line…
“We had some missed assignments, but it is not solely their fault. It’s my fault too obviously. I need to get the ball out faster. I missed a couple easy throws to (Brandon Aiyuk). I missed slug. I missed some other throws, so I just have to be better for myself as an offense and as myself. We need to be better on third down. We weren’t good on third down today, but other than that we have some things we need to clean up and get ready for next week.”
On what could have made the run game go better…
“Me probably taking some more shots on the offense and completing the ball to loosen up the defense for the run game. Like I said, there are some plays that I missed that could’ve probably opened up the run game a little bit more. I couldn’t pull to help Eno (Benjamin) out. I just have to be better myself and go back and watch the film.”
On what he is thinking when he goes into a scramble…
“Sometimes when I scramble, I’m actually looking to see if they are coming back for the ball if they’re open. Other than that, I just try to get what I can and get mostly just positive yards or positive plays because as an offense, we don’t want to go backwards. I feel like if I’m able to make the play and I move my legs or I don’t, that’s solely on me because I let the offense go backward, not forward.”
On the wide receivers…
“They did their job. They got open when they needed to get open. Make plays. Like you said, that post was a good play by Brandon (Aiyuk), the deep ball to Frank (Darby). As the offense myself, I feel like we need to play to the standard that we set for ourselves. We got complacent, really. Not playing how we really could play, to the standard we set. Coach Herm talked all week about how we have to set the tone and we didn’t really do that as an offense. I didn’t do that myself. The receivers did their job for the most part. I didn’t do my part.”
Arizona State LB Merlin Robertson
On the message the linebackers received...
“He basically said to step our game up, beat up the offense, get our bodies in place, get the calls down and be faster to get lined up. That was pretty much it.”
On the defensive message at halftime…
“Just step our game up, keep it going. Keep setting the tone. Just be really physical and play fast.”
Arizona State WR Brandon Aiyuk
On the blindside block called…
“That’s just bad football. I was going on the lane and I let the game get to me. It was a bad play when the touchdown got called back. It was a horrible feeling, but just a bad play. I need to play better football on my part.”
On his punt returns…
“Watching the film from last week, I fair caught almost every single ball. A lot of these punters are getting a lot of height on these balls and not a lot of distance, so I saw last week on film there was a little bit of space and I wanted to take a chance. I just wanted to try even though they are in front of me and get off to my spot quick. Even talking to (Antonio Pierce) yesterday, he told me these punters are giving you a lot but make the most of it. If you see an opening, you got to take it.”
Sacramento State Head Coach Troy Taylor
On his biggest takeaway…
“Our guys played hard. They hung in the game and had a chance to win it at the end. I am proud of how our guys prepared and how they competed.”
On defensive strategy…
“That is all Coach Andy Thompson (defensive coordinator) his staff. They are challenging because they do a lot of different things and give a lot of different looks. They did a great job. They really did.”
On finding offensive success in fourth quarter…
“Hats off to them. I am very familiar with what they do on defense. It is very good. It is very challenging. They tackle really well. I do not know that they missed a tackle until the second to last drive. They tackled really well and closed on the ball. That is what good defenses do. They just do not give up a lot of yards after the catch. We just did not throw it and catch it. That is a credit to them. They challenged us and our wide receivers. They broke on the ball. We have to throw and catch the ball better. I thought we protected pretty well. We knew running the ball was going to be difficult, but we were hoping we would throw it a little bit better than we did.”
On what you saw from Kevin Thompson…
“There was a couple of throws that got away from him. He made some throws and he missed a few throws. He will come back from it and learn from it. He has a lot of ability. It is a big stage and he will play better.”
On what it means to play a Pac-12 team close on the road…
“Obviously, there are no moral victories. Our guys came in, expected to win and wanted to win. We were in the game and had an opportunity. We are really mindful of being moment to moment. We are not looking past or looking forward to anybody. So, if we would have found a way to win, we would have treated it the same way. We are going to get ready for Northern Colorado. I think what we have seen is that our team is pretty resilient. If we execute, we have a chance to beat anybody."