(Photo: Jack Simon/WCSN
On Nov. 16, 2024, Arizona State football turned its visit to Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas into a season-defining moment. The Sun Devils’ 24-14 win over No. 16 Kansas State earned them a spot in the College Football Playoff rankings for the first time in program history, and was also the first of three consecutive top 25 victories that helped them hoist the Big 12 Championship trophy.
The stakes surrounding Saturday’s matchup at Mountain America Stadium revolve less around serious postseason ambitions, however, and more toward two teams looking to pivot after less-than-ideal starts to in-conference play.
Kansas State (4-2, 1-2 Big 12) is aiming to build off its first win against a Big 12 opponent after defeating rival Kansas 35-24 a week prior. On the other hand, ASU (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) has lost two of its last three games since beating the Jayhawks in London, and is in desperate need of a course correction following a 53-25 loss to then-No. 10 Texas Tech.
In the two years since the Sun Devils last met with the Wildcats, former head coach Chris Klieman retired,leading to Texas A&M coordinator Collin Klein taking over the program ahead of the 2026 season.
Klein spent all five years of his collegiate career at Kansas State, going 22-6 as the team’s starting quarterback and even finishing third in the 2012 Heisman Trophy race. He returned to his alma mater as a graduate assistant in 2014, and eventually worked his way up to offensive coordinator from 2022-23.
“Coach Klein’s one of the best architects of (the) quarterback run and deceptive run game in the country,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “I think he does a phenomenal job. He’s always done a great job. Obviously, (he) was a great player as well.”
The first-year head coach has already lived up to the billing as one of the top minds in implementing a successful running game. Kansas State averages 239.8 rushing yards per game (second-best in the Big 12) with 15 total touchdowns. For comparison, ASU currently averages 143.7 yards per game (third-worst in the Big 12) and has only seven rushing touchdowns.
However, fourth-year quarterback Avery Johnson being listed as doubtful on the Wildcats’ availability report on Friday puts a massive dent in their usual plan of attack. In his third consecutive season as Kansas State’s starter, the Wichita native has thrown for 1,301 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions alongside a team-leading 462 rushing yards.
Klein will have to choose between fifth-year Jacob Knuth, who has never thrown more than two passes in a single season in his collegiate career, third-year Blake Barnett, who has five career passing attempts and second-year Dillon Duff, who has never appeared in a collegiate game, as the team’s starting signal-caller.
As a result, the subsequent change in game plan could put more of a spotlight on third-year running back Rodney Fields Jr. Since transferring in from Oklahoma State, he ranks 13th in the Big 12 in total rushing yards with 386 alongside five touchdowns.
Even with Johnson’s expected absence, the Wildcats’ focus on their rushing attack poses serious danger for ASU as opposing teams average 156.8 yards on the ground per game on average against them.
“They just give you all kinds of different looks, and what they do is they give you looks that you haven’t been able to prepare for because they change up those looks by running similar type plays on every down and distance,” defensive coordinator Brian Ward said. “Some teams are super creative in their passing game. This team is really creative in their run game.”
One spot below ASU in terms of rushing yards allowed per game is Kansas State with 160 on average. In back-to-back losses to Cincinnati and Houston, the Wildcats surrendered 504 combined yards on the ground.
On the other hand, Kansas State allows just 136 passing yards per game on average, the fewest in the Big 12. Although the Wildcats have only recorded one interception so far this season, defensive playmakers such as third-year defensive end Wendell Gregory and second-year linebacker Darien Whitaker Jr. collecting a combined 14.5 tackles for loss helps take pressure off of the secondary.
The Sun Devils will look from within in order to spark their own rushing attack after recording 35 yards on 28 carries against Texas Tech, but their game plan against one of the conference’s top passing defenses revolves around a change at who’s under center.
Fourth-year quarterback Mikey Keene is set to replace third-year Cutter Boley as ASU’s starting quarterback on Saturday. The 23-year-old veteran completed 73.5% of his passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns after getting the nod to start the second half in Lubbock, bringing a sense of confidence to the field that Dillingham hopes can translate to the rest of the team.
“I think for us, we’ve just got to get our guys playing more confident on both sides of the ball, and with the confidence, I think you play a little faster,” Dillingham said. “I’ve been really, really hard and pressing on these guys to play with passion and energy and to play hard. Maybe I’ve pushed them too hard, pushed that too hard that it made them scared to play free. You have to be a free football player to be good.”
In spite of the Sun Devils possessing a 3-3 record and serious doubts about whether or not a path to bowl eligibility is still visible, Dillingham’s emphasis on confidence spans from the time still afforded to his team to get back on track with six games still remaining on the schedule.
“Let’s target what our guys do well and try to put them in the best position to succeed because we still have half of a season left,” Dillingham said. “We have half of a season left and we haven’t played our best football, which I keep saying. Eventually, hopefully, I get to say we played our best football or we played good football. Haven’t done that yet, but we are going to continue to work really hard and assess the issues and rock and roll.”
