Sun Devils kickoff Big 12 home slate against Kansas

(Photo: Kansas Athletics)

Fresh off their first bye week of the year, ASU Football is hungry to get back in the win column and avenge its first loss of the year.

The 30-22 defeat against Texas Tech also soured the Sun Devils’ Big 12 Conference debut. With its first home game as a member school slated for Saturday, ASU (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) is looking to prove it is destined for a better finish than its predicted last-place spot. The Sun Devils are also eager to get back on the field and reestablish their identity as a physically tough team to the rest of the conference.

“The week two and week three opponents, their coach went to their press conference and talked about how hard we play,” Dillingham said. “When they got asked the question, ‘What do you think about ASU?’ They said, ‘They play really hard. They run the ball. They play hard.’ The last two coaches have not said anything about how hard we play. That tells us everything we know about how we’ve let that slip away, and we got to get back to that.”

The Sun Devils’s foe on the opposite sideline is also desperate for a win. This year, Kansas (1-4, 0-2 Big 12) has seldom resembled the 2023 Jayhawks who finished at No. 23 in the AP Top 25 poll. They’re also coming off a loss, a 37-28 result against TCU. The Jayhawks competed valiantly, going back and forth with the Horned Frogs until a punt-return touchdown in the third put the game away for good.

Despite their lackluster showing this season, head coach Kenny Dillingham still considers them a threat.

“We’ve got to find a way to play good football for all four quarters because this isn’t a team you run away from,” Dillingham said. “ … This is a really good football team that two plays a game are not going their way, but that’s sports. Two plays flip the other direction, and they’re the 12th-ranked team in the country, undefeated, and favorites to win the Big 12.

Offense

Total Offense: 395.6 yards per game (13th B12), 28.0 points per game (15th B12)
Passing: 171.2 yards per game (15th B12)
Rushing: 224.4 yards per game (3rd B12)

Although Kansas’s record paints a picture of relative ease for ASU, that record can very well tell a false narrative about the talent present on this team. Three of the team’s losses have been one-possession games. That four-game losing streak the Jayhawks are currently enduring is a ruse ASU and its defense will not indulge in.

“This team might be the best team we played all year,” ASU defensive coordinator Brian Ward said. “That’s the way we’re approaching this group.”

Specifically on the offensive side of the ball, this is a talented Kansas team built by its 16th in the nation-ranked rushing offense. The fulcrum point of the Jayhawk’s rushing attack is their star quarterback and running back duo.

They are led by their kingpin under center in preseason Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (nation’s best quarterback) and fellow Maxwell award watch list quarterback, junior Jalon Daniels along with running mate, preseason Doak Walker (nation’s best running back), and Maxwell (nation’s best overall player) award watch list running back senior Devin Neal. The two remain as one of the nation’s most talented backfields.

Daniels specifically is an exceptionally lethal mobile quarterback to a degree ASU has yet to see so far. His pure speed, play-extending ability outside the pocket, and willingness to take off and catch incautious defenses sleeping – regularly gaining first down yardage with his legs – is a challenge for any defense to attempt to contain.

“He’s one of those guys that have an innate ability, that he wants to make the big play,” Ward said. “This guy is a guy that improvises. His athletic ability and arm strength and moxie and his competitiveness, all those things combined make him a big challenge for us.”

His tendency to break defensive containment and explode through lanes to gain positive yardage on the ground only increases the necessity for ASU to stay disciplined in its defensive attack.

“Understanding the details and being more on the technique, and the keys so we can execute on a higher level,” ASU redshirt senior defensive end Prince Dorbah said. “It’s understanding where our assignment is and our rush lane. We’re not going to give him an easy escape so he can step up or flesh out. Just little things like that.”

Neal is coming off two consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons including an explosive 2023 campaign in which he tied the program record for touchdowns in a season with 16. The 1,280-yard and 16-touchdown campaign earned him second-team All-Big-12 honors, and his 102.6 rushing yards per game average so far in 2024 is the 20th highest in the country.

Not known to be an elite passer through the air – having only thrown 18 touchdowns in his one full season starting in 2022 – when Daniels does decide to throw he has an experienced arsenal of weapons at his disposal. Kansas had the luxury of returning its top three receivers from 2023 back into the fold for 2024. Senior receivers Luke Grimm, Quentin Skinner, and Lawrence Arnold form the core of Jayhawks receive room. The three combined have played 134 games, making them one of the most experienced units in the country.

The Kansas offensive line is an excellent group headlined by two standout tackles on each side redshirt junior Logan Brown at right tackle and senior Bryce Cabeldue off the left. Both are currently one the top ten graded linemen in the nation among Power Four schools according to Pro Football Focus. Brown (84.9 PFF grade) and Cabeldue (82.7 PFF grade) rank fight and tenth respectively. Like the receiving core and the backfield, consistency year over year is a core strength of the unit. The line features only one starting newcomer in redshirt junior transfer center Bryce Foster from Texas A&M.

It’s a multi-faceted offense with not only talent but a wealth of experience as well that will bode well for the Jayhawks in the increasingly more hostile Mountain America Stadium in Tempe.

Defense

Total Defense: 338 yards per game (10th B12), 23.8 points per game (15th B12)
Passing: 211.2 yards per game (9th B12)
Rushing: 126.8 yards per game (6th B12)

Kansas’s defense is defined by its consistency. The Jayhawks returned eight starters from last season on the defensive end. Last year’s unit, led by defensive coordinator Brian Borland, was fourth in the conference in total defense, and five players on that side of the ball received recognition from the Big 12 at seasons end.

The Jayhwaks’ defense is spearheaded by their back end. Senior cornerbacks Mello Dotson and Cobee Bryant were both named to the Big 12’s preseason all-conference team. Bryant is a two-time 1st team All-Big 12 selection while Dotson was an honorable mention last year.

Together, the duo has combined for 20 career interceptions, the most of any pair of active defensive backs across the country. Dotson already has three interceptions on the season, which leads the conference. Meanwhile, Bryant is tied for fifth in the Big 12 with four pass breakups, but even with their main players in secondary, the Jayhawks focus is stopping the run.

“They want to run the ball, and they want to stop the run,” Dillingham said. “That’s the identity. … I think that’s why they’re good on defense historically over a long period of time. If you can be that efficient in the intermediate passing game, which most college teams can’t be, then do it. I firmly believe that’s the philosophy is make people be really, really efficient in an intermediate passing game. And most college teams struggle.”

Up front, senior edge rusher Jereme Robinson leads the way. He was another All-Big 12 Honorable Mention for the Jayhawks in 2023. This year, Robinson leads the team with 5.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. He is tied for sixth and fourth in the Big 12 in those categories, respectively.

Although ASU’s run game has been the strongest aspect of it’s offensive attack, Dillingham is still mindful of the ways the Sun Devils can improve in the ground game. Making those adjustments may seem feasible on paper with the added depth in the running back room, but against a Jayhawk defense allowing just 126.8 yards per game on ground, it may be more dificult than it seems to break open the run game.

“Our yards per carry still isn’t high enough overall as a team, especially the last two weeks,” Dillingham said. “We’ve got to increase yards per carry, and the biggest way to increase yards per carry is to have big plays, and we still have not produced enough big plays in the running game, explosive plays that go for 30 [yards], go for 50 [yards]. We’ve been very old-school in our running game.”

Despite what their record shows, the Jayhawks pose more of a threat to the Sun Devils than it appears. They’re poised due to their wealth of veteran leadership and well-coached. Fourth-year head coach Lance Leipold has had a plethora of success during his tenure with the Jayhawks.

All this to say, Saturday’s game isn’t one the Sun Devils can take lightly.

“The one thing about Coach Leopold is he’s had a lot of success in his career,” Dillingham said. “He knows how close they are. I don’t expect any drastic change, because anybody who watches them play knows if you’re one or two plays away from being 5-0 or 4-1 … then you’re not going to make wholesale changes. … They’re that close to still being the team that everybody predicted them to be.”