TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State football has home-field advantage for the first four games of this season, but the Sun Devils’ schedule only gets more challenging by the week. After a 27-15 loss to future Big 12 Conference opponent Oklahoma State, ASU welcomes Fresno State to Tempe this Saturday. The Bulldogs are riding an 11-game winning streak dating back to last season and it’s the second-longest active winning streak behind the Georgia Bulldogs, the two-time defending National Champions. ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham knows his defense has some dogs of their own with high-energy players and leaders at all three levels. Senior defensive back Chris Edmonds has been one of the notable impact players so far this season and on Wednesday he praised the defensive line for its performance against the Cowboys.
“The whole D-line the last game, those boys they were hunting the entire game. They were getting great pressure; we didn't have to cover that long because they would just get back to the quarterback and they had him flushing. Man, our D line played a great game last game,” Edmonds said. “So, I gotta do my 1/11th, or I’m letting those guys down because I know they're gonna do their jobs… We preach accountability. We preach effort and just do your 1/11th.”
Doing your “1/11th” is as simple as doing your job as one of the 11 players on the field for your team. Edmonds noted how the defense has yet to put together a full game this season, letting off the gas in the second half of both games so far this year. When asked how to achieve playing a full 60 minutes of good ball, Edmonds recalled a quote that coach Dillingham likes to go to often: “Be consistently good, not occasionally great.” Dillingham admitted he felt the energy was low during Monday’s practice as the players were coming off their first loss of the season but overcoming that slump is part of the growth he’s looking for from his team.
“You've got to learn how to lose in order to win. You've got to learn how to take failure just as much as you got to learn how to handle success. There's two sides of it... Our guys got to learn how to get out of the funk quicker. I hate to lose more than anybody. I was the one that didn’t sleep at all on Saturday night, but it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t do anything moving forward,” Dillingham said. “But us as a football team, I did see a little bit of growth Tuesday-ish when we hit the field which was better than how we showed up on a Monday. I thought there was a little bit of response there Tuesday and I think the guys are putting a good week of work.”
Arizona State hosts Fresno State on Saturday at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
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The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made the State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers also play at the Footprint. Phoenix has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Cactus Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the Waste Management Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall; and Cactus League Spring Training.