ASU Football: Sun Devils battle Fresno State in Las Vegas Bowl

Quarterback Manny Wilkins and the rest of the senior class will look to finish their careers with a bowl win as ASU football faces No. 21 Fresno State.

Arizona State seeks their first eight-win season since winning 10 games in 2014 as they face Fresno State in the Las Vegas Bowl Saturday.

The Sun Devils finished the regular season winning four of their last five games including a thrilling comeback win against Arizona on Nov. 24.

Trailing 40-21 entering the fourth quarter, the Sun Devils pulled off a miraculous comeback scoring 20 unanswered points to pull out a 41-40 win to retain the Territorial Cup.

Quarterback Manny Wilkins and running back Eno Benjamin helped engineer the fourth quarter comeback as Wilkins scored on an 11-yard scamper to make it a one possession game after a successful two-point conversion.

After a Brandon Ruiz field goal and another Arizona turnover, Benjamin scored on a 22-yard run to give the Sun Devils a 41-40 lead with 3:08 remaining.

The Wildcats would go on to miss a game-winning field goal attempt in the waning seconds to cap off one of the biggest collapses in Territorial Cup history.

Arizona State finished the regular season with seven wins in Herm Edwards’ first season while stopping Arizona from qualifying for a bowl game.

The Sun Devils enter the Las Vegas Bowl facing a stiff opponent in the 21st-ranked Fresno State Bulldogs.

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Fresno State is coming off an 11-win season and a Mountain West championship after winning at Boise State in overtime of the Mountain West title game to claim their first conference title in five years.

The Bulldogs feature one of the best defenses in the country ranking 17th in total defense (323.8 yards per game allowed) and second in scoring defense allowing only 13.7 points per game.

Leading the Bulldogs defensive unit is Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Jeffrey Allison. The junior linebacker posted 121 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss this season.

Allison will be tasked to stopping Benjamin and the Sun Devil running game after the sophomore rushed for 1,524 yards and 15 touchdowns this season.

Assisting Allison is a talented secondary as the Bulldogs had four defensive backs earn All-MW honors.

Fresno State’s ball-hawking secondary features Anthoula Kelly, Mike Bell, JuJu Hughes and Jaron Bryant with the quartet combining for 10 interceptions this season.

In total, the Bulldogs defense recorded 17 interceptions good for the second highest total in the nation.

Arizona State’s offense will have their hands full breaking down Fresno State’s defense, especially with the absence of wide receiver N’Keal Harry who will be sitting out the game after declaring for the NFL Draft.

Offensively for the Bulldogs, they rely primarily on the passing offense in quarterback Marcus McMaryion.

McMaryion threw for 3,453 yards, 25 touchdowns and three interceptions this season to go with 253 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns.

One of McMaryion’s favorite targets is wide receiver KeeSean Johnson, who finished the season with 1,307 yards and eight touchdowns.

Fresno State doesn’t really rely on their running game that much with running back Ronnie Rivers the team’s leading rusher at 531 yards.

For Arizona State’s defense, according to the Arizona Republic’s Michelle Gardner, they will likely be down Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year Merlin Robertson due to a family matter.

Redshirt junior linebacker Khaylan Kearse-Thomas would be the man to replace Robertson.

It’s a huge blow for a Sun Devils defense who has relied on Robertson to be an effective run stopper and pass rusher. Robertson is the team’s leading tackler.

The keys of the game will be how ASU’s defense fares against a pass-heavy offense in Fresno State and how Arizona State’s passing attack fares against a talented and deep Bulldog secondary.

Chase Lucas, Kobe Williams and Aashari Crosswell will be tested often against Fresno’s pass catchers. To go with Johnson, the Bulldogs have an athletic tight end in Jared Rice.

Rice was second on the team with 624 yards and three touchdowns. Arizona State did not face many tight ends of his caliber this season and with the absence of Robertson, they will need to limit his production over the middle of the field.

For ASU’s offense, they obviously will rely heavily on Benjamin but they will need the wide receivers to step up to fill Harry’s void.

Brandon Aiyuk, Frank Darby and Kyle Williams will be the three main receivers with Terrell Chatman and Curtis Hodges expected to see increased roles Saturday.

Wilkins and the seniors hope to end their collegiate careers with their first bowl victory and ASU’s first since 2014.

Broadcast Information:

Kickoff: 1:30 p.m. MT

TV: ABC

Stream: ESPN.com or ESPN app

Broadcast Team: Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit and Tom Rinaldi

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Arizona State will make their second appearance on ABC this season with the first game coming against USC on Oct. 27. The Sun Devils won that game 38-35.

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