Q&A: The State Press editor talks Arizona State season, predicts homecoming winner

UCLA football is hosting Arizona State at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. Daily Bruin Sports reached out to The State Press to get a read on the Sun Devils ahead of the homecoming matchup. Sports editor Sam Connon spoke with one of The State Press Sports editors, Kaleb Martinez, about Arizona State’s season so far, and what may lie ahead this weekend.

Daily Bruin: ASU’s offense scored three points against Utah last week, and UCLA’s defense held Stanford to under 200 yards Thursday. Does the Bruin defense pose as big a threat to the Sun Devils as to the Utes?

Kaleb Martinez: As far as UCLA, I really haven’t seen them play all that much. I know that ASU’s offense, at times, can be explosive. Obviously, I’m sure you’ve heard about freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels, he’s looked pretty impressive. Obviously Eno Benjamin is (one) of the best running backs in the Pac-12 I think. So they’re capable of putting up a lot of points but I think, sort of, their identity is winning those low-scoring, kind of ugly games. They beat Michigan State earlier this year 10-7, and this past game against Utah was kind of ugly, rainy, and they got beat pretty bad, but that’s kind of their identity. (Arizona State coach Herm Edwards) has actually kind of talked about that in recent weeks, winning ugly, leaning on their defense a lot. I think the game could end up like that possibly.

DB: How has Jayden Daniels looked as a true freshman this season? Has he met or exceeded expectations?

KM: In a way, I think he’s almost exceeded expectations. Around here, you heard this really talented freshman’s coming in, he could be here three years – you hear all that. But he’s led game-winning drives against Michigan State, he had a couple nice runs on fourth down actually too, he used his legs, he used his arm. Against Washington State, he put up a lot of points and a lot of yards. So I think in a way he’s exceeded expectations, not only on the field but just his poise in the pocket. He never seems to get rattled, he’s got kind of a reshuffled offensive line in front of him. So all things considered, I think he’s actually exceeded expectations.

DB: UCLA coach Chip Kelly and Arizona State coach Herm Edwards were both high-profile Pac-12 hires two years ago. Kelly has worn kind of thin on the Bruin fanbase after a 5-14 start, but what’s the feeling in Tucson toward Edwards and his 12-8 start?

KM: You know what, I think he’s actually created a lot of buzz on campus. Coming from when he was at ESPN, and I feel like kind of the overall feeling when he got hired was, “This guy hasn’t coached in the NFL in a long time, it’s been even longer since he’s been in the college game.” So the hire kind of came out of left field is what everyone was thinking. But last year, I think the program did better than it was expected to, and then this year I think starting 5-1, it was a lot of the same. Obviously the HBO special came out with ASU, so I think that’s a huge recruiting tool. Kids get to see how he runs the program – he always throws around the term that it’s a pro model, he wants to get guys into the NFL. He’s got guys like (recruiting coordinator and assistant coach) Antonio Pierce who’s running the recruiting side, so he wants to get NFL guys to kind of create that NFL model. So I think the ASU community is really embracing Herm Edwards.

DB: Who wins the running back battle: Joshua Kelley or Eno Benjamin?

KM: That’s a tough one, because I know Kelley was hurt for a while but he’s really starting to break out a bit. Obviously Eno Benjamin had a huge year last year. ASU has had some issue with the offensive line, but I think Eno Benjamin has been really consistent this year. He had a couple of slow games to start but he’s really hit his stride, so I could definitely see (Benjamin) going for over 100 in this game. Like I said, I know Kelley’s a good back also, but I’ll go ahead and go with (Benjamin) on that one.

DB: ESPN’s Football Power Index actually favors UCLA over ASU by about 1% for Saturday, despite the Sun Devils being ranked and the Bruins still reeling from a disappointing start to the season. Why do you think that is?

KM: That’s a good question. Obviously it helps UCLA is at home, and I know the record is not good – the 2-5 record, obviously – but being in that (Los Angeles) area, they have good players everywhere. They recruit well, and they have good players. I can see why there would be such a close line like that, but I keep mentioning this – ASU’s offensive line, they’re starting two true freshman on the offensive line and I know Utah really teed off on them last week and was able to put some pressure on Jayden Daniels. So I think if UCLA can generate a pass rush, I think that’d be huge for them in containing the ASU offense.

DB: How do you think the game is going to play out? Any score predictions?

KM: I’ve been going back and forth about this one because sometimes you don’t really know what you’re going to get from ASU. Sometimes they’ll go back and forth with Washington State and pull it out in the end but then they’ll lose to Colorado – which isn’t a great team – and that was at home. But I think ASU will lean on their defense a lot, like I said before, kind of neutralize UCLA’s offense. I think it’ll be fairly competitive, I’ll go 26-17 ASU.