Sun Devils look to clinch bowl appearance against familiar foe Oklahoma State

(Photo courtesy of Oklahoma State Athletics)

With both of their two losses coming right before a bye week, Arizona State football has had to stew on both of its losses for twice as long as it would have liked.

Last time ASU came out of its bye week, it had one of its strongest performances of the season, asserting itself as a real player in the Big 12 by taking down Kansas in a 35-31 thriller in front of a packed Mountain America Stadium. Now the Sun Devils come out of their bye and go on the road once again, something they have struggled with at times this season.

However, a familiar foe awaits. The Mike Gundy-led Oklahoma State Cowboys have been a consistent bastion in college football, making a bowl game in each of the last 19 seasons, the sixth-longest active bowl streak in college football. Last season, the Pokes came to Tempe and beat the Sun Devils 27-15 in just the second game under head coach Kenny Dillingham on their way to another ten-win season.

Just one year later, the script has completely flipped. With a record of 0-5 in conference play, the Cowboys sit at the basement of the Big 12 and are in danger of losing that bowl streak. And ASU is just one win away from a bowl of their own, surging in the second year under Dillingham.

Despite their rough start to the season, Dillingham’s respect for Gundy and the Cowboys is still resolute.

“It’s a team that’s won seven games for almost 20 years in a row,” Dillingham said. “And it’s their homecoming, so they still have the ability to achieve that (record) and to keep that streak going, and we’re going to get their very, very best.”

Here is the preview of ASU’s (5-2, 2-2 Big 12) matchup against Oklahoma State (3-5, 0-5 Big 12).

Offense

Total Offense: 399.4 yards per game (13th Big 12), 30.5 points per game (8th Big 12)

Passing: 288.1 yards per game (3rd Big 12)

Rushing: 111.3 yards per game (14th Big 12)

Although the Sun Devils are the slight betting favorite in Saturday’s matchup, ESPN’s prediction gives ASU just a 43.1% chance to win. If the Sun Devils are going to overcome those odds to pick up their sixth win and become bowl-eligible, they’ll have to face a talented Oklahoma State offense that’s in the top three in passing in the Big 12 Conference.

Redshirt senior quarterback Alan Bowman is fourth in the conference with 2,097 yards on the season. Five hundred seventy-one of those yards have been to redshirt junior wide receiver De’Zhaun Stripling. Bowman’s favorite target, senior receiver Brennan Pressley, has 563 yards on a whopping 56 receptions, the fourth-most of any player in the conference. Pressley also boasts a team-high six touchdown receptions.

“(Bowman’s) a strong-armed dude, believes a lot in his arm and his arm talent, believes in his receivers,” defensive coordinator Brian Ward said. “You can see that he’s very efficient moving in the pocket in terms of avoiding sacks. He’s a hard guy to get to, a hard guy to hit. … We’re going to have our hands full being able to get a pass rush and affect the quarterback.”

Although Bowman has proved he can rack up yardage, it hasn’t been done efficiently. His 60.4% completion rate sits in the middle of the pack while he leads the conference with ten interceptions. The Cowboys are one of the most intercepted teams in the nation, with a total of 11, placing them in a tie for the third-most in FBS.

The Cowboys have arguably one of the most talented backs in the nation, spearheading their ground game. Junior running back Ollie Gordon II won Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year in 2023, along with being named a unanimous All-American and the Doak Walker Award winner for the nation’s best running back.

In 2024, however, he hasn’t found the same gear. Gordon is just ninth among Big 12 backs in total yards, and he’s only averaging 71 per game, well below his 2023 mark of 123.7 yards per game. Just because he hasn’t succeeded at the same level as last year doesn’t mean he’s still not a dangerous asset for the Cowboys. Gordon still has the fourth-most rushing touchdowns in the conference this season with eight.

“When they have Gordon one-on-one with people, he’s a problem,” Linebackers’ coach A.J. Cooper said. “You’re talking about a big guy, ability to be physical, run behind his pads, also [the] ability for a big guy to really make people miss in space too, that’s what makes him, I think, different than a lot of folks. So when they’re rolling, whether it’s schematically or with the guys they have, and when their top guys are making plays, they’re hard to stop.”

Keeping Bowman and Gordon contained presents unique challenges for the Sun Devils, but they’re up for the challenge. The last star running back ASU faced coming off a bye week – Kansas’s Devin Neal – only managed 71 yards and a touchdown in a 35-31 losing effort for the Jayhawks. By putting the breaks on the Cowboys’ offensive advance, the Sun Devils are hoping for a similar result.

Defense

Total Defense: 499.9 yards/game (16th Big 12), 29.9 points/game (15th Big 12)

Passing: 1,991 yards (14th Big 12), 248.9 yards/game (14th Big 12)

Rushing: 2,008 yards (16th Big 12), 251.0 yards/game (16th Big 12)

Uncharacteristically, defense has been the severe weakness for the Cowboys this season. A normally solid defense that ranked middle of the pack last season in the Big 12 has collapsed to become one of the worst defenses in the country, particularly against the run.

In last season’s September matchup, the Cowboys held the Sun Devils to just 110 yards on a paltry 3.2 yards per carry. Then junior running back Cam Skattbeo rushed for just 62 yards across his 14 carries, but he did add a touchdown. Now, the Sun Devils will look to leverage their strong ground game against an Oklahoma State run defense that has become arguably the worst one among Power 4 teams.

A portion of the Cowboys struggles against the run can be attributed to some of the serious injuries Oklahoma State has suffered. According to On3 sports, Gundy believes this season’s injuries have been ‘unusual,’ especially on defense.

Back-to-back second-team All-Big 12 member senior linebacker Collin Oliver and his partner 2023 first-team All-Big 12 member redshirt junior linebacker Nick Martin have both sustained long-term injuries, with Oliver being sidelined for the remainder of the season with a right foot injury. Additionally, the Cowboys saw starting safety Cameron Epps suffer a season-ending ACL tear after he led the team in interceptions last season.

The flooding of injuries have caused Oklahoma State to struggle defensively. The Cowboys now rank 133rd out of 134 FBS teams in total defense, and against the Big 12’s strong group of running backs, the Cowboys’ 251 rushing yards allowed per game is the worst among Power 4 teams. Their season won’t get any easier with ASU’s 208.3 rushing yards per game ranking fourth in the Big 12.

“They know they are going to have to put people in the box to stop the run,” ASU running backs coach Shaun Agauno said. “That’s no secret (Skattebo) is the guy they want to stop. We’ll see a lot more people in the box, so now it’s going tobe effort and execution. Do they play hard? Do we play harder?”

Famous for their three-safety sets, even without Epps, the Oklahoma State safeties still have immense talent on the back end. Redshirt senior safety Trey Rucker has taken a step up in his play. Coming off of a season that saw him amass triple-digit tackles, Rucker has already totaled 70 more tackles in his final season, adding two interceptions in the process.

The other threat on the back end is junior safety Kendal Daniels who also recorded triple digit tackles a season ago. Now in 2024, Daniels is third among healthy Cowboys in tackles with 35, and has proven that he is a threat off of the edge as he is tied for the team lead in sacks with three. With Leavitt returning to the lineup after a painful rib injury, look for Daniels to try and see if can rattle Leavitt off the edge.

“They’re changing quite a bit from earlier in the year to now, so you have to kind of prepare for not what they’re currently doing but what they have in their arsenal,” Dillingham said.

One underrated element of this game is the two slides’ familiarity with each other. As mentioned, the Cowboys are one of the few teams in the Big 12 that has already faced Dillingham’s Sun Devils. However, one big change from last season’s ASU team to this one is the offensive system. Instead of Dillingham calling plays, offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo has taken over, causing even more familiarity between the two teams as Arroyo served under Gundy for two seasons as the Cowboys’ running backs coach.

“That’s really uncharacteristic of that group,” said Arroyo of the Cowboys’ run defense struggles. “I know that group really well; I know those guys as friends and colleagues; I worked there for two years. I know (Gundy) really well; I know all of the guys there on staff; that’s uncharacteristic of them.”