What ASU Head Coach Herm Edwards Said About Playing Utah

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – In his short time as the head coach of Arizona State, Herm Edwards knows what to expect when the Sun Devils play the Utes.

Utah didn’t play Arizona State in 2020 due to COVID-19 cases within the Sun Devils program. In 2019, the Utes beat ASU 21-3 at Rice-Eccles Stadium on October 19. Zack Moss broke the all-time rushing record in Utah football history that night.

With both teams entering the game as the only undefeated conference records this season, the stakes are higher but coach Edwards knows it will be a big challenge to get a win in Salt Lake City.

“Pac-12 game, anything can happen. So that’s kind of what we anticipate this week,” Edwards said on Monday. “We play a tough opponent in Utah. They haven’t lost any conference games in the south. They’re kind of sitting like we’re sitting right now. Very physical football team in all three phases, very well coached. There’s a blend of young talented players on both sides. They have some really good running backs, big powerful guys. I think the quarterback has given them a spark. He does a nice job of running with the ball at times, throwing the ball down the field. The defense is very stingy with points. They’ve always been really good defensively. Play good in the red zone. Good on third down. Tough place to play, really tough place. They have a nice fan base. We anticipate it will be loud. We’ll make sure that we work on that this week as we have worked on it since we left BYU so hopefully it’ll help us when we go.”

Road whites 🤝 #MaroonMonsoon

The look for Week 7. pic.twitter.com/97bD3bBEVq

— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) October 15, 2021

Utah Facing Tragedy After Passing Of Aaron Lowe

This will be the first game at home for Utah since the tragic passing of Aaron Lowe. Coach Edwards was asked if emotions of that could play a factor in the game.

“I can’t speak for them, I can’t speak for the team, their situation,” stated Edwards. “I think that it brings a different side to it for everyone. I think it brings a lot of reflection. They’ve done a great job of really handling this. Coach (Whittingham) has done a really good job of really being the voice of speaking to young men and that’s important when you get in situations like this. We’re all praying for them. There’s no doubt about that. We’ll just see how it manifests, but they’ve done a really good job, I think of dealing with a lot of things when you’re talking about something like this.”

Ready for it. pic.twitter.com/YdMGgOsUzr

— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) October 14, 2021

Utah and Arizona State will square off on Saturday, October 16 at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Kickoff is at 8 p.m. MT on ESPN.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com, Co-Host of Faith, Family and Football podcast with Clark Phillips III and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports.