Edwards: 'We Played Hard. Sometimes When You Get Down Like That You Don’t See Energy'
There's no beating around the bush: Arizona State played some of its worst football in recent memory in their 34-21 loss to Washington State.
Sun Devils head coach Herm Edwards, who has come under great scrutiny following Arizona State's back-to-back losses, spoke with reporters following the game on a variety of issues surrounding the team.
Edwards in his own words:
Opening Statement
“We did not play well. Opening this game up in the first half, we didn’t play very well on either side of the ball. The take away I take from it is obviously the turnovers and miscues.
"Five turnovers is way too many, and defensively they beat us on the 50-50 ball, they threw it up, they caught it. We had some opportunities to catch some balls and we didn’t. It became one of those games where all of the sudden they got up early and we were playing catch-up football, and that’s always hard to do. Then, it puts you in a position where you can’t control the tempo of how you want to play the game, or run the football in a sense that we’re trying to keep their offense off the field.
"They did a nice job of getting out early to an early lead against us and I think our players took this home venue for granted, thinking that if we play at home then everything is going to work out. But it doesn't work out when you turn the ball over, and drop balls, and give big plays in the passing game. We have a lot of fixing to do.
"Second half was a little bit better defensively. I thought we did some things early. We got off the field, but offensively we kind of got going in the second half but it was just way too late. A lot of work to do, that’s what we’ve got to do.”
Arizona State facing adversity
“What’s kind of funny about that, or what’s really strange is that there’s a lot of guys that have played a lot of football here. It’s not like it’s young guys. I think sometimes their intentions are really good and when something happens they have to get through it and let it go; don’t hold on to it.
"I think sometimes we hold on to it a bit too long and that’s my assessment of it, that’s how I look at it. It’s a resilient group of guys, they’re hurting that’s no doubt. They’re hurting bad in the locker room. It’s going to hurt and it should hurt; it’s not fun when you lose. You lose two in a row, that sense of accomplishment that you haven’t had in a couple weeks, it’s been three weeks because we had a bye, we have to find a way to win a game so we can get some joy back in the locker room.”
Sun Devils effort
“I thought we played hard. I think sometimes when you get down like that, you don’t see energy, but I don’t think our players don’t play hard. I hear that a lot in football, 'players don’t play hard,' but I think it’s energy.
"When you’re down you’re kind of stunned, like ‘wait a minute, what just happened?’ But I thought our guys for the most part (gave great effort). Defensively, we were behind the 8-ball early with a couple turnovers and stopped them. But offensively we could never get out of our own way. We dropped some big-time balls on third down and didn’t get in the red zone. We got down there and didn’t score.
"You have to catch those balls when you’re playing a game like this and (when) you’re behind you can’t make those glaring errors and that’s what kind of happened to us.”