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After a victory against the Sun Devils’ biggest rivals, Herm Edwards is indeed keeping his job.
There wasn’t any angry mob out with pitchforks clamoring for a head coaching change, there was joy surrounding yet another territorial cup win, but there was also a feeling of nothingness.
That nothingness was knowing that this was supposed to be a special season. Players and coaches told the Sun Devil faithful this would be a special season, that the magic of 1996 would be captured once again. Instead, the Sun Devils couldn’t capture lightning in a bottle and turned in a year that can be thrown in with every other year in recent history.
Fans just got more of the same.
Herm Edwards voiced his appreciation for the university’s support, and Chase Lucas called out the media for speculating about his coach’s job, but what Lucas failed to realize was that in a year where expectations were built up to be sky high ASU couldn’t even get off the ground.
That being said, let’s get into the good, bad, and ugly.
The Good - Rachaad White (Again)
White was sensational all season, and the Wildcats defense put together a decent game plan for stopping all-purpose back. White compiled 98 yards on the ground and a touchdown, a good but modest outing for ASU’s best player.
However, Arizona defensive coordinator Don Brown built an entire game plan based around slowing White down and just barely kept him from reaching 100 rushing yards.
In a year of disappointment and let downs, White was sensational. White finishes 2021 with 185 carries for 1,006 yards and 15 touchdowns while adding 43 catches for 456 yards and another score.
The Bad - Arizona
They stink. They got blown out, and Will Plummer and Stanley Berryhill actually had nice outings, but man the Wildcats are a program that has a long way to go.
Jedd Fisch has his work cut out for him, and man does the team down south look like a program that’s been (and is still) going south.
The Ugly - ASU football
As bad as Arizona Wildcats football is, ASU is atrocious for an entirely different reason. Every week, Herm Edwards serves up a different type of word salad about winning and culture and being close to contending without actually addressing the actual issues.
No matter how ASU spins it, the Wildcats have played in a Pac-12 championship more recently than the Sun Devils. The Wildcats have had a team in the top-10 more recently than the Devils, and that was close to a decade ago. The days of the Wildcats success are long gone, which shows how embarrassing of a program ASU has been. They can’t beat ranked teams when it matters, they can’t beat bad teams when their season depends on it, they struggle with the same issues week in and week out, year after year.
Herm Edwards is not the right man for the job, but Ray Anderson will never fire him. They’re friends!
ASU is a program going nowhere, and things are only going to get worse from now. The Herm train left the station a long time ago, and now the tank is empty. Not even the best used car salesman could sell a product like that.