(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)
2018 marked the beginning of the Herm Edwards’ era as ASU football’s head coach. The season may have ended in a loss in the Las Vegas Bowl against Fresno State, but it did not stop fans and media from getting excited about the possible bright future of the team with Edwards at the helm. Little did Edwards know that another era will be born on Thursday night as freshman Jayden Daniels will start at quarterback against Kent State in ASU’s season opener.
The 6-3, 175 pound signal-caller from San Bernardino, Calif. will become the first true freshman to start at quarterback in an ASU season opener in the program’s modern era. Daniels, the number two nationally ranked dual-threat quarterback out of high school, and junior standout running back Eno Benjamin (300 att., 1,642 yds, 16 TD) will hope to continue the offense’s success from last year after averaging 29.9 points per game, fourth in the Pac-12.
While Daniels and Benjamin may gain quite the headlines, it has not stopped Edwards from thinking about what Kent State might do to fluster a young quarterback playing in his first ever college game.
“Defenses are going to stack the box,” Edwards said in Monday’s press conference. “They’ll say, ‘We are going to stop Eno,’ and make the freshman quarterback try and beat us. That’s what I would do. I would bring pressure. How is he going to react to pressure? How is he going to react to six guys coming at him? All those things are going to happen to him and he’s going to have to play.”
Kent State and head coach Sean Lewis will hope to bring the pressure and use the underdog mentality if they have any chance of ending ASU’s 20-game, home opener win streak. Lewis is entering his second season as head coach in what may have been a first season to forget going 2-10 last year, dead last in the MAC-East. This will be the first ever meeting between Kent State and ASU.
For the Golden Flashes, though, nine offensive starters return, including their top-three wide receivers, their leading rusher Jo-El Shaw (138 att, 657 yds, 7 TD), and their redshirt junior quarterback Woody Barrett. The 6-2, 236 pound quarterback tossed for over 2,300 yards and 11 touchdowns while rushing for 504 yards and seven touchdowns. Like Daniels, Barrett is a threat with his arm and his legs.
“He makes the unannounced play,” Edwards said about Barrett. “He’s a powerful runner and he’s hard to tackle in space. When he starts running around, you better contain him and you better plaster on the back end of your defense.”
Edwards also noted how he has been training his defense to adjust to the quick pace of Kent State’s offense. Coined the “FlashFAST” offense, it ran over 70 plays in 11 games last season with Barrett under center.
“They are a very well-coached football team,” Edwards said. “They go really fast. We’ll see how the weather affects both teams. Can we hold up? Can they hold up? It will be interesting to see.”
The departure of N’Keal Harry at wide receiver means ASU needs to find its next go-to-guy in the aerial attack. Luckily for the offense, senior Brandon Aiyuk (33 rec, 474 yds, 3 TD), redshirt-junior Frank Darby (21 rec, 421 yds, 2 TD), and senior Kyle Williams (44 rec, 449 yds, 2 TD) bring experience as they all return for another season. An all-upperclassmen offensive line led by redshirt-senior and Outland Trophy Preseason Watch List nominee Cohl Cabral at left tackle will hope to ease the pressure off of Daniels, something Edwards is really emphasizing not just for Thursday.
“We cannot put this all on the quarterback,” Edwards said. “It’s not fair to him. We have to help him. The players have to help him. You can’t get into 1st and 15 or drop a ball when you’re open. I think the players know that.”
Defensively, sophomores Merlin Robertson (8.5 TFL, 5 sacks) and Darien Butler (8 TFL, 1 sack) lead a solid linebacker corps that must improve its rushing defense as a whole after ranking 10th in the Pac-12 (170.5 yds/gm). While the secondary brings back proven veterans redshirt-junior Chase Lucas (6 TFL, 3 INT) and senior Kobe Williams (2.5 TFL, 1 INT), it is the part of the defense Edwards is very eager to see on Thursday.
“I just want to see what [they] become,” Edwards said. “Until you start playing, you don’t really know what you are yet. It’ll be interesting to see how they play the ball and if they can cover. If we can cover them, we can do some things to pose problems.”
Week one brings much anticipation for the second year head coach, but frankly, Edwards is much looking forward to seeing his new quarterback in game action.
“I’m excited to watch [Jayden] play, to be quite honest,” Edwards said, with a smile on his face.
Kick off is slated for 7:00 pm and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
