Colorado Buffaloes Football: Tuesday Notebook
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MacIntyre previews Arizona State's offense
It's hard to argue that Arizona State hiring Herm Edwards wasn't out of left field. He was a TV personality for ESPN for the past 10 years and hadn't coached in the collegiate ranks since the last 80's when he was a defensive backs coach.
Through five games of the 2018 season, the Sun Devils have played fairly well and hope to improve to 4-2 against the Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday afternoon.
"Coach Edwards has done a good job with the team," Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "Todd Graham left him a lot of talent there. They had that tough game at Washington that could have gone either way, same way with San Diego State. They could easily be undefeated."
Arizona State running back Eno Benjamin is the No. 2 in the Pac-12 in rushing yardage. He's ran for 595 yards and five touchdowns on 98 carries. Benjamin holds the single game rushing record in ASU history, as he ran for 312 yards and three touchdowns just last Saturday against Oregon State.
"Benjamin is an excellent runner," MacIntyre said. "They ran the ball it seemed like for a 1,000 yards watching the film against Oregon State. A lot of the runs, he made people miss. They did an excellent job blocking, but when he gets to the second level, he would spin and make them miss and he has great speed.
"We're going to have to tackle him well ... If you get pushed in the wrong gap, he has great vision. When he gets in the secondary, he has tremendous speed. Our ability to tackle and fit up the run in the correct spots will be a huge key in being able to win the football game."
Quarterback Manny Wilkins has been very efficient throwing the ball for the Sun Devils, as he has thrown ten passing touchdowns compared to just one interception.
"Manny is an excellent quarterback," MacIntyre said. "He's truly what you call a dual-threat quarterback. The thing that Manny can do is make the deep throw, make the intermediate throw. He can beat you with his legs ... He's played a lot of football. He sees a lot of things and he's extremely calm out there. He has a good quarterback demeanor ... We have to keep him from beating us."
In the 2019 NFL Draft, N'Keal Harry may be the first wide receiver taken off the board. He's a dynamic playmaker and is used a lot like the Buffs use Laviska Shenault. Don't be surprised to see Harry taking wildcat quarterback snaps.
"N'Keal Harry is an excellent player," MacIntyre said. "They move him around a lot. We've got to know where he is. We have to understand what they're doing when he's in those positions. The thing that he does really well is his run after catch ... If you let him get running, he's hard to bring down. He's big and powerful."
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