ASU Football: Who has the advantage in the Sun Bowl?
By Sam Ficarro
Quarterback
Arizona State and NC State both heavily rely on their quarterbacks to lead the offense.
The Sun Devils are led by Manny Wilkins with the Wolfpack led by Phoenix-native Ryan Finley.
This season has been Wilkins’ best as the junior quarterback threw for 2,918 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and five interceptions to go along with 269 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns.
Arizona State’s passing offense ranks 50th nationally and seventh in the Pac-12 averaging 247.7 passing yards per game.
On the other side, Finley threw for 3,200 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions while rushing for 195 yards and three touchdowns.
NC State’s passing offense placed them 29th nationally and third in the ACC averaging 271.8 yards per game.
This is a tough one to call for which team has an advantage as both quarterbacks put up similar numbers individually.
The difference between the two quarterbacks is that Wilkins is more of a duel-threat while Finley is more of a pocket passer.
Wilkins has done a much better job this season of going through his reads and looking for an open receiver before taking off and running. At times last year, he was too quick to take off and held on to the ball for too long. A nagging injury also played a part.
Despite Wilkins’ improvement this season, Finley has been a huge contributor for the Wolfpack with Wilkins not putting up big numbers in the second half of the season.