(Photo: Mia Bencich/WCSN)
TEMPE – Since Kenny Dillingham took over as head coach, Arizona State’s opening game has offered a clear early read on ASU’s season trajectory.
His head coaching debut in 2023 was a narrow 24‑21 win over FCS Southern Utah, an early sign of how incomplete the Sun Devils’ roster was. ASU ultimately finished 3‑9 that season. A year later, Dillingham’s squad opened with a 48‑7 rout of Wyoming and went on to win 11 games, capped by a Big 12 Championship victory.
Last season, the Sun Devils beat NAU 38‑19 in the season opener. Despite the three‑score margin, it was an underperformance considering ASU entered as a 30.5‑point favorite. The Sun Devils’ disappointing start proved to be the first sign of a letdown season, as they followed their conference title with an 8‑5 record.
If Saturday night’s game against Morgan State was any indicator, ASU (1‑0) could be in for a strong 2026 season after defeating the Bears (1‑1) 70‑7. Still, it’s hard to imagine many of the Sun Devils’ future opponents agreeing to shorten the final quarter from 15 minutes to 10 the way Morgan State did.
“I didn’t know that was legal; I learned something today,” Dillingham said. “The referees came over and said, ‘The coach on the other side asked if we could shorten the quarter.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, of course. Whatever he wants we’ll do.’”
Before the season, fourth-year transfers Omarion Miller and Reed Harris were widely lauded as the recruiting class’ crown jewels. From the game’s onset, both receivers lived up to the hype. Third-year quarterback Cutter Boley’s first 10 completions went only to them.
Harris was ASU’s leading receiver with 137 yards on six catches and a pair of scores. Miller caught eight passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. The duo accounted for 239 of Boley’s 387 passing yards, a total that set the record for most by a Sun Devil quarterback in their debut.
But catching passes wasn’t what Dillingham was most pleased with from their outings.
“A minimum expectation is to win a one‑on‑one if you’re those guys,” Dillingham said. “You can look at the stats … go watch our wideouts block tonight. That’s what I’m proud of.”
Harris is a 6‑foot‑5 with a large catch radius, but his skill set isn’t limited to contested catching. He was a state‑champion sprinter in high school, and that quickness showed up after the catch on multiple receiver screens.
His fluidity also showed up in his route running. He ran plenty of diagonal routes on Saturday night, mainly slants and posts. His first score came on a 28‑yard post route, and no defender was near him. His second touchdown was on a simple slant in the red zone.
“I think being my size definitely helps a lot,” Harris said. “Being physical is what it all comes down to. Being able to hand fight at the line of scrimmage, throw some (defensive backs) around, lay some blocks.”
Even without the ball in his hands, Harris was impacting the game. Fourth-year running back Kyson Brown’s 46‑yard touchdown on the opening drive broke open thanks to a strong perimeter block by Harris.
Harris’ blocking helped ASU score again with 14 minutes left in the second quarter. Second-year running back Grayson Rigdon caught a pass in the flat at midfield off a run‑pass option. At the 30‑yard line, Harris delivered a pancake block that cleared the way for Rigdon, who took the pass 54 yards for a touchdown.
“Blocking is going to help the big plays happen,” Harris said. “We’ve got to take pride in everything we do, whether it’s catching the ball, running routes, or blocking.”
As for Boley, his highly anticipated start was almost everything the Sun Devils could have hoped for. His six passing touchdowns were just one shy of Mike Pagel’s single‑game record, set against Stanford in 1981. Throughout the night, Boley was accurate and consistently got the ball to his playmakers in space.
There were two early hiccups in the first quarter — a fumble and a near interception. The fumble wasn’t entirely on Boley, as fourth-year tackle Luke Baklenko was beaten instantly off the line by second-year edge rusher Donta Jenkins Jr.
With six minutes left, he didn’t see an open Harris earlier in his dropback and instead left the pocket. He threw across his body to Harris on a dangerous ball that initially looked like an interception. After review, it was clear the ball hit the ground and the pass was incomplete, but the decision was risky nonetheless.
“Other than (the near interception), he didn’t put the ball in jeopardy,” Dillingham said. “The one sack fumble, that’s an insta-sack. You can’t do anything at quarterback on insta-sacks to your backside.”
A standout moment for ASU on defense was an early fourth‑and‑1 stop. It happened on the Bears’ drive following Boley’s fumble, with the score at 14‑0.
Fourth‑year free safety Adrian “Boogie” Wilson moved down into the box, where he isn’t seen often. He flew into the backfield and stopped fifth‑year running back Jordan Barnett short of the line to gain.
“Effort, tenacity, how hard you work to get to the football. Those are the things I think our defense is really built on. We were able to display it tonight,” third-year linebacker Owen Long said.
Next week’s clash with No. 8 Texas A&M (1‑0) will provide a much clearer picture of who the Sun Devils are as a team. Ahead of that matchup, Dillingham is focused on cleaning up the few mistakes that occurred throughout the game.
But if his openers really do foreshadow the season ahead, Saturday night suggested ASU could be on an upward trajectory.
“I thought we looked efficient for our first game,” Dillingham said. “There’s quite a few things that we’ve got to improve upon going into next week.”
