ASU Quotes
Head Coach Herm Edwards
On the win today
“Well, it started with our fanbase. It was homecoming obviously, and they really got into the game. The crowd got into it and that helped us especially on third downs. But, going in, I thought we had good focus this week knowing that we were playing the 15th ranked team in the country, and coming off a win against USC, how would we handle that. We kept our focus. The congratulation has to go to the coaches and the players, they did a great job of really getting them ready to play this week.”
On the offense today
“We rushed the ball 50 times, and we only threw it 24. We made it count when we threw the football, I thought (Manny Wilkins) was spot on for the most part. He made that one bad decision with the ball but, other than that, we possessed the ball for almost 37 minutes. That’s good football for us when we can do things like that against a team that really likes to run the ball. They did a nice job in the first half of running the ball on us and then I thought (Danny Gonzales) and his crew did a nice job with the players adjusting to the run fits. Once we got a lead, it put them in a position that they don’t like as much and they had to throw the football.”
On Utah QB Tyler Huntley leaving the game with an injury
“Our prayers go out to that young man.”
On the pass protection today
“I kept going and talking to the offensive line about the protection and how (Manny Wilkins) sat in the pocket and had time to throw the football. They’ve done a nice job, and they did a nice job last week against USC as well. The protection is good, and it’s like anything else in football, when you can run the ball enough, it slows those rushers down and they get tired. Then, when you pass, it becomes more efficient when you can run it because it slows those guys down some because they’re always constantly trying to play the run.”
On the key offensive players today
“(N’Keal Harry) had a great day, three touchdowns and 160 something yards and nine receptions. Brandon Aiyuk had a nice day for us, he had six catches for 100 yards so that was nice to see him. He’s a JC guy and he’s starting to learn how to play at this level. The passing game was efficient enough to when N’Keal got the ball in his hands, he scored. Obviously, our running back Eno Benjamin, you can’t say enough about him, two TDs again today and, like you said, 183 yards rushing.”
On converting on first downs
“What helped us was that they get you in those situations where after first downs your behind the chains and we made positive yards on first downs. We had some third downs that we could convert and Manny was very accurate with the ball and made some nice throws.”
On what factored into the win
“I think the longer we stayed on the field, the heat kind of helped us as well. It was hot that first half and you could see was those guys tiring after long drives, so that helped us as well. All of those things played a factor for us and it’s good to win another home game, because the last time we played at home not so much and we didn’t win. So it’s good to win another home game in front of the fans.”
On the three interceptions today
“We really talked about that, we weren’t taking the ball away enough. We talked about that Thursday night actually and I thought tonight (Aashari Crosswell) with the big interception, good for him, he’s one of our fabulous freshmen as we call them around here and in the locker rooms. The takeaways are critical. When you can take the ball away, you give possessions to your offense and with almost 37 minutes of possession time and about 74 plays, you can win a lot of football games when you do that.”
On the importance of wins against ranked opponents
“It helps you, it really does. Beating USC obviously was important when you’re going after California players because they’re recruiting the same players we’re recruiting. When you beat Utah, a ranked team, that helps you because we were the underdog at home and we knew that. It’s kind of ironic, Michigan State was a ranked team as well and we fared well against them. We’ve played two really good opponents when they were ranked very high and we’ve been able to win games like that. Now all we have to do is string some together. We haven’t won three games in a row so far, so that should be our next goal to try to win three in a row and see if we can do that.”
#41 Tyler Johnson
On putting defensive pressure on the quarterbacks
“All week we’ve been practicing keeping the running back and the quarterback in the pocket because you know (Tyler Huntley), he has a history of running the ball. He can make people miss, he’s slippery. Same with (Zack Moss) the running back; he just lowers his shoulder and booms it. So that was the main thing for us and what we were trying to accomplish this week. We just wanted to keep him in the pocket and make him run into his own guys, slow him down and get tackles for loss.”
On their energy and mentality today and what felt different
“That’s another thing that Coach Herm preaches especially after the recent games. As you guys probably already know, we have had trouble in the third quarter, so coming out of halftime we had to stay warm and keep the energy. The fans helped us out a lot, we kept pushing and pushing and the more turnovers that we got, the more tackles for losses, we just kept the energy going.”
On Aashari Crosswell’s pick
“Honestly, I forgot what play we had called, but we got pressure because he started to scramble a little bit. He got nervous and just chucked it down the field, and then I just turned around and I honestly didn’t think Aashari would catch it. But good thing he did because I turned and he had made something happen.”
On how the win feels
“It feels good knowing that we played a very good team and we did our assignments. We had some mental errors but we came back and we stopped them so it’s a good team win. Everyone was doing their jobs and when we work all together, it feels different.”
#16 Aashari Crosswell
On his interception
“The rush was great, everything was going fine and then I saw that the ball was in the air. The sun was in my eye and I couldn’t see at the end so it was just a great play all around to give me my first pick.”
On getting his first pick
“I’ve dropped too many so this first one is something. Manny told me to enjoy this moment, so I’m enjoying it right now.”
#5 Manny Wilkins
On what his teammates were saying after he threw a pick
“’We got you’. That’s what they said. ‘We got you.’ I came out and went down the sideline and everybody was like ‘We’re good’ There were no down faces, there was no negative energy at all. I think that’s what lets this team be able to persevere.”
On the defense having several underclassmen
“They are going to be really special here within the next couple years. They just have to continue to trust the coaching, trust what they are telling them, believe that when things start to execute. I really think they are starting to get their head on their shoulders the right way in playing fast, playing hard and doing the right thing.”
On building on the lead and stepping on Utah while they were down
“We told ourselves throughout the week that no matter what when we came in at halftime we needed the energy in the locker room. We needed to be positive about everything and come out swinging. The defense did a hell of a job getting a turnover. I turned the ball right back over or else we would’ve been really rolling. But I think we performed up to what we wanted to.”
On what the team’s mindset has been to continue working toward their goals
“No matter what happens (we) continue to play and have fun. One thing we can’t let be taken away from us is our love and happiness for this game and the reason why we play is because we love it. No matter what was going to happen we were going to continue to play hard. The dominoes (have started) to fall in the right place a little bit but we can’t be too high off of this. We have to come back to work this next week with the same attitude that we had this past week, that mindset. Just stay the course.”
On Brandon Aiyuk’s performance
“It’s been great. Brandon’s one of those guys where he just hasn’t had a whole lot of coaching in his lifetime, like good coaching I want to say, very detailed things. So he’s starting to really pick up the details of everything: lining up at a certain alignment, taking the right amount of steps on routes and things like that. When he stops thinking, he’s as good as anybody. He works hard in practice, he doesn’t talk a lot, he makes plays and he’s a hell of a football player.”
On how it feels to have things going the way they are after things going up and down for the past few years
“(N’Keal Harry) could tell you, we talk about it all the time. We’ve put too much work in together; I’ve worked countless hours with (him) and for him to have moments like this and it’s very special for me because I know how hard he works. I know how much this sport and this game means to him. I know how much it means to him for his family. Having a guy like that to be able to throw the football to, it’s very special. I have a lot of respect for him.”
On his pride in this team as a leader
“So proud. I saw the look in everybody’s eyes this week at practice that we were going to be ready to roll and that started on Tuesday. I didn’t have to come out of the locker room questioning anything. I knew that my guys were going to be ready to roll. A lot of guys came up to me before the game and looked me in my eyes and said ‘Let’s go do this.’ To have that and have guys that care - that’s what I love to be around. It’s a hell of a feeling. We’re going to enjoy this now, after this press conference we’ll probably go hang out with everybody, celebrate, but then it’s time to get this rolling. We have some more football games to win.”
On preparing for bigger opponents
“It doesn’t matter who we play. We have to treat every team like they’re the best team in the country because if you have that attitude, there’s no excuses. That’s what this team has not done once this year is make excuses. That’s what we have to do. We just have to play football. You guys can see it, we’re having fun out there. That’s the type of team you guys want to watch play.”
#1 N’Keal Harry
On putting more focus on the offense in practice recently
“I mean a little bit, but I’m not really too worried about that. I just go out there and do whatever it takes to come out with the win.”
On how it feels to have a big performance in an important game
“It’s nice. I’m just glad we came out with the win.”
On coming back in after getting shaken up in the first half
“I just had to kind of check myself mentally, make sure I was in it. I was going through a little bit of pain but I knew in the second half I had to be tough. On that last touchdown Manny (Wilkins) did a great job of staying in the pocket and he took a hit while he threw it so it was just a great all-around performance by our offense and our defense tonight.”
#3 Eno Benjamin
On N’Keal Harry’s performance
“No surprise really. That’s N’Keal, that’s what he does. You guys know that as well. I think he played his role, I think we all did a great job playing our roles in this game and just like Manny (Wilkins) said, we came out and did what we had to do to get this win.”
On his performance late in the game after taking big hits in the first half
“I guess it’s a mental state, not really thinking much about the big hits, just getting up and (thinking) ‘What’s the next play? What’s the next call?’ Like I’ve always said, our offensive line does a really good job of communicating on and off the sideline so when we get on the field it’s that much easier.”
On the game plan for going up against a strong run defense in Utah
“I think we’re a much more physical and dominating team than we were earlier in the season. We were still trying to put some pieces together early in the season and I think now we’re up and rolling.”
On trying to reverse the field on screen passes
“It’s really just in the moment. Usually when I make one guy miss the defense usually over-pursues so I just try to get as many yards as I can.”
Utah Quotes
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
Opening statement
“We didn’t play well and a lot of that is due to Arizona State. They’re a good football team It was the first time in a long time that we got pushed around the line of scrimmage. Their offensive line pushed our defensive line around. We turned the ball over on offense three times and getting pushed around the line of scrimmage, that was really our own doing. After four weeks of playing very well in all three phases we didn’t play particularly well in any phase this afternoon.”
On ASU’s offense
“Their three top players on offense had a nice game – their quarterback Manny Wilkins, running back Eno Benjamin, and wide receiver N’Keal Harry played well today.
On Tyler Huntley’s status
“It looks like he’s most likely done for the season. Jason Shelley is our quarterback. It’s something we will definitely know tomorrow.”
#1 Jaylon Johnson
On facing ASU’s wide receivers
“We lost the matchup. They came to play today and we didn’t.”
#2 Zack Moss
On the team’s offensive performance
“We caught rhythm, we lost rhythm. We couldn’t convert on third downs and they did.”
#15 Jason Shelley
On being confident about being the starting quarterback for the rest of the season
“I was confident this game. I’m always confident. I’ll get ready next game.”
#22 Chase Hansen
On being counted out before and the situation now
“The (Pac-12) South is a dog-fight. Every single game counts and that’s why this one hurts, but we’ve got two games that are still in our hands. We just have to focus on next week.”
On the mentality going into this game
“Beat Arizona State. We don’t try to think too much about future implications, let’s just try to beat a really good football team and now we’ve got to move on from there.”
On if ASU’s offense was different then they thought
“No, we understood who we were going up against. This is a team with a lot of talent – a really good football team who a lot of plays. Unfortunately, we didn’t and made a lot of mistakes, myself included.”
On getting past this game
“We’ve got to come together. We can’t let this affect team morale, momentum, and confidence. We have to understand that we are still a good football team. A really good football team and we’ve got to play like it. So we’ve got to come together and fix some things.”
Head Coach Herm Edwards
On the win today
“Well, it started with our fanbase. It was homecoming obviously, and they really got into the game. The crowd got into it and that helped us especially on third downs. But, going in, I thought we had good focus this week knowing that we were playing the 15th ranked team in the country, and coming off a win against USC, how would we handle that. We kept our focus. The congratulation has to go to the coaches and the players, they did a great job of really getting them ready to play this week.”
On the offense today
“We rushed the ball 50 times, and we only threw it 24. We made it count when we threw the football, I thought (Manny Wilkins) was spot on for the most part. He made that one bad decision with the ball but, other than that, we possessed the ball for almost 37 minutes. That’s good football for us when we can do things like that against a team that really likes to run the ball. They did a nice job in the first half of running the ball on us and then I thought (Danny Gonzales) and his crew did a nice job with the players adjusting to the run fits. Once we got a lead, it put them in a position that they don’t like as much and they had to throw the football.”
On Utah QB Tyler Huntley leaving the game with an injury
“Our prayers go out to that young man.”
On the pass protection today
“I kept going and talking to the offensive line about the protection and how (Manny Wilkins) sat in the pocket and had time to throw the football. They’ve done a nice job, and they did a nice job last week against USC as well. The protection is good, and it’s like anything else in football, when you can run the ball enough, it slows those rushers down and they get tired. Then, when you pass, it becomes more efficient when you can run it because it slows those guys down some because they’re always constantly trying to play the run.”
On the key offensive players today
“(N’Keal Harry) had a great day, three touchdowns and 160 something yards and nine receptions. Brandon Aiyuk had a nice day for us, he had six catches for 100 yards so that was nice to see him. He’s a JC guy and he’s starting to learn how to play at this level. The passing game was efficient enough to when N’Keal got the ball in his hands, he scored. Obviously, our running back Eno Benjamin, you can’t say enough about him, two TDs again today and, like you said, 183 yards rushing.”
On converting on first downs
“What helped us was that they get you in those situations where after first downs your behind the chains and we made positive yards on first downs. We had some third downs that we could convert and Manny was very accurate with the ball and made some nice throws.”
On what factored into the win
“I think the longer we stayed on the field, the heat kind of helped us as well. It was hot that first half and you could see was those guys tiring after long drives, so that helped us as well. All of those things played a factor for us and it’s good to win another home game, because the last time we played at home not so much and we didn’t win. So it’s good to win another home game in front of the fans.”
On the three interceptions today
“We really talked about that, we weren’t taking the ball away enough. We talked about that Thursday night actually and I thought tonight (Aashari Crosswell) with the big interception, good for him, he’s one of our fabulous freshmen as we call them around here and in the locker rooms. The takeaways are critical. When you can take the ball away, you give possessions to your offense and with almost 37 minutes of possession time and about 74 plays, you can win a lot of football games when you do that.”
On the importance of wins against ranked opponents
“It helps you, it really does. Beating USC obviously was important when you’re going after California players because they’re recruiting the same players we’re recruiting. When you beat Utah, a ranked team, that helps you because we were the underdog at home and we knew that. It’s kind of ironic, Michigan State was a ranked team as well and we fared well against them. We’ve played two really good opponents when they were ranked very high and we’ve been able to win games like that. Now all we have to do is string some together. We haven’t won three games in a row so far, so that should be our next goal to try to win three in a row and see if we can do that.”
#41 Tyler Johnson
On putting defensive pressure on the quarterbacks
“All week we’ve been practicing keeping the running back and the quarterback in the pocket because you know (Tyler Huntley), he has a history of running the ball. He can make people miss, he’s slippery. Same with (Zack Moss) the running back; he just lowers his shoulder and booms it. So that was the main thing for us and what we were trying to accomplish this week. We just wanted to keep him in the pocket and make him run into his own guys, slow him down and get tackles for loss.”
On their energy and mentality today and what felt different
“That’s another thing that Coach Herm preaches especially after the recent games. As you guys probably already know, we have had trouble in the third quarter, so coming out of halftime we had to stay warm and keep the energy. The fans helped us out a lot, we kept pushing and pushing and the more turnovers that we got, the more tackles for losses, we just kept the energy going.”
On Aashari Crosswell’s pick
“Honestly, I forgot what play we had called, but we got pressure because he started to scramble a little bit. He got nervous and just chucked it down the field, and then I just turned around and I honestly didn’t think Aashari would catch it. But good thing he did because I turned and he had made something happen.”
On how the win feels
“It feels good knowing that we played a very good team and we did our assignments. We had some mental errors but we came back and we stopped them so it’s a good team win. Everyone was doing their jobs and when we work all together, it feels different.”
#16 Aashari Crosswell
On his interception
“The rush was great, everything was going fine and then I saw that the ball was in the air. The sun was in my eye and I couldn’t see at the end so it was just a great play all around to give me my first pick.”
On getting his first pick
“I’ve dropped too many so this first one is something. Manny told me to enjoy this moment, so I’m enjoying it right now.”
#5 Manny Wilkins
On what his teammates were saying after he threw a pick
“’We got you’. That’s what they said. ‘We got you.’ I came out and went down the sideline and everybody was like ‘We’re good’ There were no down faces, there was no negative energy at all. I think that’s what lets this team be able to persevere.”
On the defense having several underclassmen
“They are going to be really special here within the next couple years. They just have to continue to trust the coaching, trust what they are telling them, believe that when things start to execute. I really think they are starting to get their head on their shoulders the right way in playing fast, playing hard and doing the right thing.”
On building on the lead and stepping on Utah while they were down
“We told ourselves throughout the week that no matter what when we came in at halftime we needed the energy in the locker room. We needed to be positive about everything and come out swinging. The defense did a hell of a job getting a turnover. I turned the ball right back over or else we would’ve been really rolling. But I think we performed up to what we wanted to.”
On what the team’s mindset has been to continue working toward their goals
“No matter what happens (we) continue to play and have fun. One thing we can’t let be taken away from us is our love and happiness for this game and the reason why we play is because we love it. No matter what was going to happen we were going to continue to play hard. The dominoes (have started) to fall in the right place a little bit but we can’t be too high off of this. We have to come back to work this next week with the same attitude that we had this past week, that mindset. Just stay the course.”
On Brandon Aiyuk’s performance
“It’s been great. Brandon’s one of those guys where he just hasn’t had a whole lot of coaching in his lifetime, like good coaching I want to say, very detailed things. So he’s starting to really pick up the details of everything: lining up at a certain alignment, taking the right amount of steps on routes and things like that. When he stops thinking, he’s as good as anybody. He works hard in practice, he doesn’t talk a lot, he makes plays and he’s a hell of a football player.”
On how it feels to have things going the way they are after things going up and down for the past few years
“(N’Keal Harry) could tell you, we talk about it all the time. We’ve put too much work in together; I’ve worked countless hours with (him) and for him to have moments like this and it’s very special for me because I know how hard he works. I know how much this sport and this game means to him. I know how much it means to him for his family. Having a guy like that to be able to throw the football to, it’s very special. I have a lot of respect for him.”
On his pride in this team as a leader
“So proud. I saw the look in everybody’s eyes this week at practice that we were going to be ready to roll and that started on Tuesday. I didn’t have to come out of the locker room questioning anything. I knew that my guys were going to be ready to roll. A lot of guys came up to me before the game and looked me in my eyes and said ‘Let’s go do this.’ To have that and have guys that care - that’s what I love to be around. It’s a hell of a feeling. We’re going to enjoy this now, after this press conference we’ll probably go hang out with everybody, celebrate, but then it’s time to get this rolling. We have some more football games to win.”
On preparing for bigger opponents
“It doesn’t matter who we play. We have to treat every team like they’re the best team in the country because if you have that attitude, there’s no excuses. That’s what this team has not done once this year is make excuses. That’s what we have to do. We just have to play football. You guys can see it, we’re having fun out there. That’s the type of team you guys want to watch play.”
#1 N’Keal Harry
On putting more focus on the offense in practice recently
“I mean a little bit, but I’m not really too worried about that. I just go out there and do whatever it takes to come out with the win.”
On how it feels to have a big performance in an important game
“It’s nice. I’m just glad we came out with the win.”
On coming back in after getting shaken up in the first half
“I just had to kind of check myself mentally, make sure I was in it. I was going through a little bit of pain but I knew in the second half I had to be tough. On that last touchdown Manny (Wilkins) did a great job of staying in the pocket and he took a hit while he threw it so it was just a great all-around performance by our offense and our defense tonight.”
#3 Eno Benjamin
On N’Keal Harry’s performance
“No surprise really. That’s N’Keal, that’s what he does. You guys know that as well. I think he played his role, I think we all did a great job playing our roles in this game and just like Manny (Wilkins) said, we came out and did what we had to do to get this win.”
On his performance late in the game after taking big hits in the first half
“I guess it’s a mental state, not really thinking much about the big hits, just getting up and (thinking) ‘What’s the next play? What’s the next call?’ Like I’ve always said, our offensive line does a really good job of communicating on and off the sideline so when we get on the field it’s that much easier.”
On the game plan for going up against a strong run defense in Utah
“I think we’re a much more physical and dominating team than we were earlier in the season. We were still trying to put some pieces together early in the season and I think now we’re up and rolling.”
On trying to reverse the field on screen passes
“It’s really just in the moment. Usually when I make one guy miss the defense usually over-pursues so I just try to get as many yards as I can.”
Utah Quotes
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
Opening statement
“We didn’t play well and a lot of that is due to Arizona State. They’re a good football team It was the first time in a long time that we got pushed around the line of scrimmage. Their offensive line pushed our defensive line around. We turned the ball over on offense three times and getting pushed around the line of scrimmage, that was really our own doing. After four weeks of playing very well in all three phases we didn’t play particularly well in any phase this afternoon.”
On ASU’s offense
“Their three top players on offense had a nice game – their quarterback Manny Wilkins, running back Eno Benjamin, and wide receiver N’Keal Harry played well today.
On Tyler Huntley’s status
“It looks like he’s most likely done for the season. Jason Shelley is our quarterback. It’s something we will definitely know tomorrow.”
#1 Jaylon Johnson
On facing ASU’s wide receivers
“We lost the matchup. They came to play today and we didn’t.”
#2 Zack Moss
On the team’s offensive performance
“We caught rhythm, we lost rhythm. We couldn’t convert on third downs and they did.”
#15 Jason Shelley
On being confident about being the starting quarterback for the rest of the season
“I was confident this game. I’m always confident. I’ll get ready next game.”
#22 Chase Hansen
On being counted out before and the situation now
“The (Pac-12) South is a dog-fight. Every single game counts and that’s why this one hurts, but we’ve got two games that are still in our hands. We just have to focus on next week.”
On the mentality going into this game
“Beat Arizona State. We don’t try to think too much about future implications, let’s just try to beat a really good football team and now we’ve got to move on from there.”
On if ASU’s offense was different then they thought
“No, we understood who we were going up against. This is a team with a lot of talent – a really good football team who a lot of plays. Unfortunately, we didn’t and made a lot of mistakes, myself included.”
On getting past this game
“We’ve got to come together. We can’t let this affect team morale, momentum, and confidence. We have to understand that we are still a good football team. A really good football team and we’ve got to play like it. So we’ve got to come together and fix some things.”