Arizona State Football: 3 takeaways from Las Vegas Bowl loss to Fresno State

3. Fresno State defense made a big difference against Manny Wilkins

Fresno State showed why it has been one of the most fearsome secondaries in the country, as they held Arizona State’s Manny Wilkins to 129 yards despite 19-of-31 passing. The Bulldogs allowed Wilkins to chip away with short completions, but without N’Keal Harry he had a difficult time hitting on longer shots downfield.

Wilkins did throw a touchdown along the way, but he was also error-prone. No mistake was quite as impressive as the pick-six in the first quarter returned 70 yards the other way by Anthoula Kelly. It was Fresno State’s fourth interception return for a score this season.

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That was the most readily apparent contribution. Wilkins had another interception along the way, and he found it harder to hit his receivers for bigger gains the quarterback also started to get run-happy. After one successful hurdle, he kept going to the move with diminishing returns. Even with a sack added in, he did finish with 25 yards on the ground.

When it came down to a sober evaluation, though, Wilkins was bested by the Fresno State defense.