Scouting Arizona State

Senior middle linebacker DJ Calhoun — The 6-foot, 234-pounder goes into the Sun Bowl with 94 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. He had a season-high 13 tackles in the opener against New Mexico State on Aug. 31, and a pair of sacks in the regular season finale against Arizona on Nov. 25. Calhoun has 232 career tackles, 37 tackles for loss and 18.5 sacks in 50 games played. He earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 this season.

Sophomore wide receiver N’Keal Harry — The physical former Rivals.com five-star prospect has lived up to his prep hype and earned first-team All-Pac-12 recognition in 2017. The 6-4, 216-pounder caught 73 passes for 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns this season. Harry pulled in 13 passes for 148 yards in a 52-45 loss at Texas Tech on Sept. 16, and followed up the next week with seven catches for 170 yards and a score in a 37-35 win over Oregon on Sept. 23.

Redshirt junior weakside linebacker Christian Sam — He leads the team with 127 tackles, and has added 9.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, one interception and one forced fumble. The 6-2, 237-pounder has reached at least 10 tackles in 10 games this season, including a career-high 15 and two sacks in a 48-17 loss vs. USC on Oct. 28. He bounced back from getting injured in 2016 to earn honorable mention All-Pac-12 this season. Sam has 242 tackles and 17 tackles for loss in 40 career games.

Junior defensive end JoJo Wicker — The 6-3, 273-pound Wicker earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors for the second consecutive year. He had 39 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, six sacks, one forced fumble and one recovered fumble in 2017.

Redshirt junior quarterback Manny Wilkins — The 6-3, 200-pounder had a quality season, passing for 2,918 yards, 17 touchdowns and five interceptions, despite being sacked 38 times. Wilkins went 235-of-370 passing for a 63.5 percent completion rate, and is a threat on the ground, rushing for 269 yards and six touchdowns. He has passed for 5,247 yards and 29 touchdowns in his career, and has topped 300-plus yards in six games the last two years. He was named honorable mention All-Pac-12.

Make life difficult for ASU quarterback Manny Wilkins: The redshirt junior quarterback has proven that if he gets into a rhythm, he can make life difficult for an opposing defense.

Wilkins also has some weapons to throw to with sophomore wide receivers N’Keal Harry and Kyle Williams presenting different skill sets. Harry is 6-4 and 216 pounds and has the look of a prototype future NFL wide receiver. He had 73 catches for 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns during the regular season, and likes to win jump ball battles in a similar manner as NC State sophomore wideout Kelvin Harmon.

Williams is the shorter, shiftier type at 5-10 and 180 pounds. He has 59 receptions for 678 yards and six touchdowns, and has topped 100 yards in a pair of contests.

Junior wide receiver Jalen Harvey is the third option at 6-1 and 203 pounds, and he has 33 receptions for 558 yard and a score.

Wilkins has been sacked 38 times, which is telling because he is not a statue in the pocket. If NC State star defensive end Bradley Chubb elects to not play or perhaps plays a limited number of series, the Wolfpack will have to get more creative in pressuring Wilkins. Helping in that vain would be to limit the ground game of running backs Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage and turn the Sun Devils’ offense into being one dimensional. Richard ended the regular season with a flourish, rushing for at least 119 yards in each of the last four games.

Test the Arizona State secondary: The Pac-12 is littered with elite quarterbacks this season. UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen, USC's Sam Darnold, Washington's Jake Browning, Oregon's Justin Herbert and Washington State's Luke Falk are all accomplished players.

it makes sense for NC State redshirt junior quarterback Ryan Finley to challenge the Sun Devils secondary. Four different quarterbacks passed for at least 345 yards, including Rosen from the previously mentioned group of quarterbacks.

Texas Tech quarterback Nic Shimonek set the bar in the third game of the season when he passed for 543 yards and six touchdowns in a 52-45 Texas Tech victory.

New Mexico State quarterback Tyler Rogers had a field day in the opener, passing for 398 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, but Arizona State held on to win 37-31.

One player that NC State could be cautious in attacking is redshirt freshman cornerback Chase Lucas, who earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors. The 6-0, 178-pounder enters the Sun Bowl with 53 tackles, seven pass breakups and two interceptions.

Protect the kicker and punter on special teams: Arizona State and NC State are two of the very best at putting pressure on kickers or punters this season.

Arizona State is tied for first with Virginia Tech, Florida State and Northern Illinois with six blocked kicks this season. NC State is tied for fifth with five.

Arizona State freshman running back Eno Benjamin blocked a punt against UCLA and returned it nine yards for a touchdown that tied the game at 34-34. UCLA eventually won 44-37.

Six-foot-7 freshman wide receiver Curtis Hodges blocked a punt against Arizona that the Sun Devils recovered at the five-yard line in the third quarter. ASU scored two plays later to cut the Arizona lead to 24-21. Arizona State went on to win 42-30.

Hodges also blocked a punt against playoffscontender Washington, giving the Sun Devils possession at the UW 35-yard line. Arizona State parlayed that into a 52-yard field goal by freshman kicker Brandon Ruiz to take a 10-0 lead in the second quarter. ASU shocked Washington in a 13-7 upset.

How have you been able to prepare for the bowl game after being fired by Arizona State?

“I’m just focused on the bowl game. One of the things I talked to our staff about was there are a lot of distractions and things, but it is still very important for our seniors, this team and for this program. We are playing a very good football team in North Carolina State.

"I told our team that they remind me a lot of Stanford — big, physical guys. They’ve played some of the best teams in the country. My deal is being focused for this 2017 team and going to get this bowl win. That has been my No. 1 focus.”

How effective has the punt coverage team been, especially in blocking a nation-best six kicks this season?

“We have gotten better. The big thing has been the punt team. The coverage has been solid. We have had one breakdown in protection all year. Our kickoff coverage has been good because we have kicked it off pretty good.

“One thing I’ve been excited about is our punt-block team. We have taken some unique approaches to that, like with Curtis Hodge and his frame [6-foot-7]. We have taken great pride in that. We have made good progress there.”

On his tenure at ASU:

“I’m really proud of what we’ve done here. We have won every day I’ve been here. I am so looking forward to seeing the great things ahead for this program. I’m fired up about going to get our eighth win and going to play."

On Arizona State:

“They are 7-5, but they’ve been hot. On offense, they are averaging 31.9 points per game and are up-tempo and use multiple formations. They have two receivers, N’Keal Harry, 1,000 yards, 6-4 and another receiver in Kyle Williams, who they use in the backfield at Wildcat and on jets.

"Their quarterback Manny Wilkins is really good on his feet and has six rushing touchdowns. A lot of those come in the red zone. Two running backs that are over 220 pounds each and are averaging over four years per carry.”

On the Sun Devils on defense:

“On defense, their front is very agile. I think their linebackers are really impressive. You watch those guys, they are disruptive. Arizona State has 35 sacks as a defense, which is three per game, and 76 tackles for loss. As a football team, they are plus-five in turnover margin team. They’ve gotten 11 interceptions defensively.”

What has been stressed leading up to the game?

“Our focus has now been to finish, and to do it against an athletic team that has played really good competition. We’ll be doing it on a national stage. It's, a great opportunity for our program, our young men and the senior class to go out the way they want to go out.”

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