(Photo: WCSN/ Spencer Barnes)
TEMPE — One of the biggest questions that Arizona State football had to answer heading into the 2025 season was how it was going to utilize the running back room in an effort to minimize the loss of All-American Cam Skattebo.
The now New York Giants’ bulldozer runs and game-changing plays weren’t going to be able to bail the Sun Devils out of tough situations anymore. Despite that, head coach Kenny Dillingham remained confident in his team’s production at the running back position all throughout spring and fall camp, and ASU’s week one affair against Northern Arizona gave an indication as to why.
The running back room combined for 91 yards in the air, 130 yards on the ground — 221 all-purpose yards, the most of any position group — and a touchdown in No. 11 Arizona State’s (1-0) 38-19 Saturday night victory over in-state rival Northern Arizona (0-1), at Mountain America Stadium. The group battled through unique looks that the Lumberjacks’ defense threw their way with a uniqueness of their own and an ability to impact the game in a variety of ways, helping their squad come out on top.
“We just have a lot of versatile backs,” redshirt junior wide receiver Jordyn Tyson said. “Anything we need, we got in that running back room, and we always got some fresh legs.”
The running game found some success in the first quarter, but contributed more in other ways. Junior running back Kyson Brown, the starter and leader of the group, established himself as a pass-catching option for redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt early on.
Kyson Brown had two receptions on the Sun Devils’ first offensive drive of the game to help set up redshirt junior running back Raleek Brown for a 6-yard touchdown run up the middle, culminating in the latter spinning into the end zone. His pass-catching prowess didn’t just end there. When it was all said and done, Kyson Brown finished second in receptions (6) and yards (72) behind Tyson, the team’s wide receiver one and AP preseason first team All-American.
Kyson Brown also made an impact on special teams, receiving a direct snap on a fake punt, taking it 34 yards down the right sideline, and setting up the Sun Devils’ second touchdown of the day.
“We told the team pregame, if we got into that situation, we’d run it,” Dillingham said. “We got into that situation, so we ran it, and it was effective, and it really changed the game. We looked back, and it looked like we could really take it from there, but we really stalled. That touchdown kind of made it to where the game was, you know, it was a game, but it was never a threat.”
The biggest reason that Kyson Brown and the rest of the running back room had to impact the game in different ways was due to Northern Arizona’s run defense. The Lumberjacks employ an unusual defensive strategy against the run game, utilizing defensive twists and extra defensive linemen against the center and guards.
It’s a strategy that kept ASU’s run game relatively at bay during the first half, but after making adjustments at halftime, the rushing attack unlocked. Adjusting to what other teams throw at you is a necessary skill to have, but Dillingham knows that you can’t wait around in a sport like football.
“The second half, we ran the ball pretty effectively there after we got to go to the locker room and we made adjustments,” Dillingham said. “We’ve got to be able to try to make those adjustments sooner after we kind of see what they’re doing. That way, we can run the ball earlier when we see these exotic things, because that’s not the only team that’s going to be exotic.”
The Sun Devil backs combined for 51 rushing yards and 43 receiving yards in the second half, and the only thing that stopped those numbers from being higher was Arizona State itself. A series of back-to-back-to-back penalties in the third quarter killed an ASU drive and an explosive play from Raleek Brown.
Brown caught a pass in the backfield and ran through NAU’s defense, all the way down the length of the field for what would’ve been a 75-yard touchdown, if not for a holding call on redshirt senior wide receiver Malik McClain. Even if the touchdown wasn’t official, it was a sight that Dillingham was glad to see.
“Those were plays we really didn’t have a lot of last year, those huge, huge plays,” Dillingham said. “(Raleek Brown) has that ability. Then, when he did get the ball in the running game, he averaged 7.6 yards per carry. He was rushing behind his pads, tough to tackle. I was very, very pleased with him.”
Kyson Brown and Raleek Brown touched the football a combined 21 times, but the next member of the room, junior Kanye Udoh, only touched the ball three times. After transferring in from Army in the spring — where he posted 1,117 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns in 2024 — he was expected to play a significant role in the running back room. However, when the first depth chart of the year was released, he was listed as the RB3, and he was used in a minimal role on Saturday.
Udoh recorded all 19 of his rushing yards on the second of his two carries and recorded just one reception for six yards. His impact will be something to monitor as the season continues. If Arizona State can establish a three-headed monster of running backs, it could be nearly impossible to stop.
For week one, though, Kyson Brown and Raleek Brown were a potent enough duo to help the Sun Devils walk out of their home stadium with a win against an unorthodox opponent.
“I like where (the running back) room is at,” Dillingham said. “Like I said, (NAU) did some crazy, unique things on defense. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit for what they were doing schematically; it was good stuff.”
Use Facebook to Comment on this Post