ASU Football: How much will last year’s upset of Washington play a factor?

ASU football hopes experience and recent history will help them knock off No. 10 Washington on Saturday night.

There was no reason for it to happen. But it did.

Arizona State’s upset of No. 5 Washington last season in Tempe may have been the most bizarre moment in college football. The Sun Devils, who lost to San Diego State and Texas Tech in consecutive weeks, knocked off a Husky team that won 18 of their last 20 games while qualifying for the College Football Playoff a season ago.

They did it by limiting reigning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year Jake Browning to 139 passing yards and zero touchdown throws. ASU sacked Browning five times in that game, matching the number of times he hit the turf the previous six games.

Keep in mind – that effort came from a Sun Devil defense that couldn’t stop anyone. Phil Bennett’s defense had given up 36.4 points and 484 yards per game before UW. By all means, the Pac-12’s most explosive player – and best offense – should’ve ripped them apart.

Yet they didn’t. And it makes perfect sense.

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In recent history, the Sun Devils have dominated the Huskies. ASU has won 11 of the last 12 meetings, including last year’s upset, a trend the team hopes to maintain come Saturday night.

Coach Herm Edwards wasn’t a part of last year’s win but expects the challenge to be more difficult this weekend.

“That’s a sense of confidence, but now you have to go on the road and try to beat them up there,”  Edwards said. “Anytime a good team has a standard of play, you can expect them to play like that. And that’s how these guys play – that’s why they’re so consistent. That’s why they win the way they win.

“Every game is big to them, because when you win, you want to continue to win. And that’s what we have to deal with. We had a little winning streak, we had some momentum, now we we got to try to build it back.”

Defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales hopes to dictate a similar performance to the 7-point outing the Sun Devils pitched a year ago.

“We need to create some situations where he (Browning) is uncomfortable,” Gonzales said. “So we’ll give them so different looks they haven’t seen before and get them to play hard and see if we have a chance.”

It’s one thing to watch the experience unfold, but it’s another thing to live it. In the game’s final drive, senior quarterback Manny Wilkins completed a 30-yard reception to Ceejhay French-Love on fourth-and-3 to set up three kneels to close the upset victory.

While last year’s experience helps, Wilkins says the road atmosphere will make things different at Husky Stadium.

“[It] is one of my favorite stadiums to play in just because the atmosphere is unlike any other in college football,” Wilkins said. “It’s a very unique experience. You got the stadium on the lake, rain here and there, so it’s just different than everywhere else.”

To simulate the crowd noise, Edwards had the offensive practice inside the Verde Dickey Dome, or the “bubble,” this morning. The defense remained outside.

Although the history is favorable, the preparation remains the same. Edwards hopes it’ll help his team start 1-0 in Pac-12 play.

“It’s going to take great concentration and discipline to go up there and win a difficult game against a really good football team,” Edwards said. “I’m looking forward to it. I think our players are as well.”

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.