Sun Devils Visit To Texas State For Tough Road Test

(Photo: Austin American-Statesman)

For the first time since 2021, the Arizona State football team is 2-0. The vibes are the highest they have ever been under head coach Kenny Dillingham as the Sun Devils have displayed dominance over their opponents, ignoring a rough third quarter against Mississippi State.

Now ASU will depart Tempe for the first time this season, hitting the road to play Texas State. It is the first of back-to-back weeks ASU will spend in the Lonestar State, an opportunity not missed by Dillingham as he showed up to his Monday press conference wearing a shirt with the pitchfork logo inside a silhouette of Texas.

“Being in the Big-12 Conference, we’re gonna play more games in Texas, so that’s going to the footprint.” Dillingham said. “Dating back to when I got here, I felt like that was the trend. Even before we moved we kind of prepared for that and it came to fruition. I think it’s great for us to have more kids from Texas on the roster than there have ever been.”

Texas State is no small opponent, and Dillingham called the Bobcats, ‘the best football team we’ve played.’ G.J. Kinne was hired prior to last season, and in his first campaign as head coach, the 35-year-old led his team to their best record since joining the FBS (8-5) and the Bobcats’ first Bowl win, defeating Rice 45-21 in the First Responder Bowl.

“This is a football team that is a power four football team, in my opinion,” Dillingham said. “Like this team could go win a lot of games and compete in the Big-12 conference. Kudos to (Kinne), because he has really good players. He’s recruited. They’ve bought into his culture, and they’re playing really, really hard.”

Offense (2024 Sun Belt Ranks)

Total Offense: 994 yards (2nd SBC), 41.5 points/game (2nd SBC)
Passing: 582 yards (2nd SBC), 291.1 yards/game (2nd SBC), 5 passing touchdowns (2nd SBC)
Rushing: 408 yards (3rd SBC), 204.0 yards/game (2nd SBC), 6 rushing touchdowns (T-1st SBC)

It is difficult to have as complete of a makeover as the Texas State football program underwent last season. After finishing near the bottom of the Sun Belt conference in nearly every offensive statistic, Kinne and offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich overhauled the offense, leading to arguably the largest offensive improvement from 2022 to 2023.

According to the Texas State website, the Bobcats’ 36.7 points per game ranked 14th-best in the country and was more than a 15 point improvement from the previous season. The team’s 457.6 yards per game ranked 14th best in the country, and Texas State finished top 30 in several offensive categories by the end of Kinne and Leftwich’s first season.

“I think (Kinne’s) put together an incredible football team,” Dillingham said. “ I think people should talk more about the job he’s done. He’s going to be on most of the head coaching watch lists to go be a head coach in the power four level here in the next four months, because of the job he’s done here.”

Nominated for the Broyles Award — which is given to the best assistant in college football — Leftwich began his coaching career with Kinne at Incarnate Ward, and left for Texas State when his boss did the same. Now just 29 years old, Leftwich is one of the youngest coordinators in college football, but his play calling style is old school.

He just wants to pound the rock.

“They run single back power,” Dillingham said. “They run two back power. They run GT, counter. They run counter YF. They run lead outside zone. They run tight zone. They run duo. It’s like they run everything, and you can tell the identity of how it all begins is the running game.”

Last season, the beneficiary of all that creativity was redshirt junior Ismail Mahdi. Much like the Bobcats coaching staff, 2023 was Mahdi’s first season at the FBS level after spending his freshman year at Houston Christian, an FCS school. Mahdi showed flashes of a dual threat player at Houston Christian, but his full potential surfaced while he was with Texas State.

Spearheading a vaunted rushing attack that ran the ball an average of 40 times per game, Mahdi rushed 1,331 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 102.0 yards per game. On top of the high rushing numbers, Mahdi delivered through the air, catching 20 passes for 275 yards and a touchdown.

So far this season, Mahdi is still the Bobcats’ most dangerous offensive player, amassing 238 all purpose yards and one touchdown through the first two games.

While the core of Leftwich’s offensive philosophy is built on the run game, the Bobcats still are a huge threat through the air. Last season, redshirt sophomore quarterback TJ Finley through for over 3,300 yards and 24 touchdowns, averaging 12.3 yards per pass on a 67% completion percentage. Efficient.

However, Finley transferred to Western Kentucky, so Kinne and Leftwich needed a replacement and began their search in the transfer portal. They landed on redshirt senior quarterback Jordan McCloud. If McCloud sounds familiar that is because he spent the 2020 and 2021 season at Arizona and hardly saw playing time before transferring to James Madison.

James Madison was the perfect fit for McCloud as he had the best season of his career in 2023. In his one season with the Dukes, McCloud threw for 3,657 yards and 35 touchdowns on his way to earning Sun Belt player of the year honors.

The Bobcat offense, which already included a vaunted rushing attack, added their conference’s player of the season.

“(McCloud)’s efficient with the football,” Dillingham said. “He can extend plays, keeps his eyes downfield when he extends plays. He’s got a really, really quick release … He’s a seasoned vet in the game.”

Across the first two games of 2024, McCloud has continued his play from his career season, throwing for 547 yards and five total touchdowns. McCloud brings more than just good quarterback play. He brings four years of college football experience to a relatively young staff, something Dillingham isn’t underestimating.

“We can’t give him any tips because he’s seen too much,” he said. “It’s about the pictures being the same, and if we can give identical pictures, it doesn’t matter how long he’s played college football, the pre snap picture he’s getting is the same over and over and over again.”

Defense (2024 Sun Belt Rankings):

Total Defense: 622 yards (6th SBC), 18.5 points/game (4th SBC)
Passing: 489 yards (10th SBC), 244.5 yards/game (10th SBC)
Rushing: 133 yards (1st SBC), 144.5 yards/game (4th MWC)

Dexter McCoil Sr. took another massive step in his rapid ascension through the football coaching ranks when he was promoted to Texas State’s defensive coordinator after only one season as the program’s safeties coach. At only 33 years old, he began his coaching journey in 2018 towards the conclusion of his nine-season playing career that saw him spend time in the NFL and CFL, earning CFL Rookie of the Year Honors in 2014 and winning the 2015 Grey Cup.

With three years of experience at the high school level under his belt, McCoil joined the college scene in 2022, being named a safeties coach and NFL/CFL liaison at UIW. In his one year in San Antonio, the Cardinals won the Southland Conference and advanced to the semifinal round of the FCS Playoffs for the first time in program history. He then accompanied Kinne in traveling less than an hour up the road for a position at Texas State.

“He’s one of the younger coordinators in college football,” Dillingham said. “He was a guy who used to be a high school coach, and took a team to heights that the program never saw. (He) got into college and rose really, really quickly.”

If there’s one word to describe Texas State’s defense under Kinne, it’s chaos. Despite a somewhat pedestrian pass defense, the Bobcats seemingly always wreaked havoc in opposing backfields and finished second in the nation in tackles for loss (108) and ninth for sacks (40). They were seldom afraid to blitz and were often rewarded for it.

McCoil has evidently adapted the same philosophy as Jonathan Patke, his predecessor who is now the defensive coordinator at Kentucky. Through only two games this season, the Bobcats have recorded 19 tackles for loss, the ninth-most in the entire nation, and nine sacks.

After pacing Texas State with six tackles for loss and 10 sacks last year, senior edge rusher Ben Bell already has four tackles for loss, 2.5 of which were sacks. Opposite of Bell on the defensive line is Kalil Alexander, a redshirt junior end with a pair of sacks this fall. Redshirt junior tackles Tunmise Adeleye and Dominique Ratcliff have also proven key components of Texas State’s defensive front, recording two and 1.5 tackles for loss respectively.

A physical and aggressive defense across the board, multiple defensive backs have gotten involved in the blitz game so far. Redshirt senior corner Jordan Polk has generated 1.5 tackles for loss while redshirt junior cornerbacks Trez Moore, Joshua Eaton and Donte Thompson — in addition to senior safety Bobby Crosby — each have one to their name.

Although ASU has found ample success on the ground in its first two games, mainly thanks to senior bellcow Cameron Skattebo accruing the third-most rushing yards in the FBS (311) and a dominant offensive line, its run attack will be needed to counter the blitz in San Marcos on Thursday.

“They’re going to blitz, and they’re going to blitz a lot on early downs,” Dillingham said. “Their (defensive) line is really athletic, they create chaos, and that’s their M.O. Their M.O. is to create chaos… These guys play very aggressive defensively, and we’ve got to be ready to combat that on early downs.”

Where the Bobcats have seen some issues through two weeks is in their secondary. They have allowed 489 yards through the air, the 31st-most in the nation so far despite a small sample size, which comes after they finished in the bottom half of the Sun Belt for passing yards allowed (3,202) in 2023.

However, that isn’t to say the Bobcats’ secondary doesn’t have playmakers. Senior safety Kaleb Culp followed Kinne and McCoil from UIW to Texas State and impressed during his first season in San Marcos, accruing the third-most tackles (81) and pass breakups (5) on the team while recovering the most fumbles in the entire nation (4), per the Bobcats’ website.

With eight and five breakups in 2023 respectively, Eaton and redshirt senior corner Chris Mills are also major contributors on the second level. Each has one deflection to their name this season

There are many questions surrounding ASU’s offense as it heads into its first road contest of the season. Will Skattebo need to remain the one-man wrecking crew he was against Mississippi State? Will redshirt freshman Sam Leavitt have enough time to feed his playmakers in space? Can the offensive line buy Leavitt that precious time in the pocket?

Fortunately for ASU’s offense, going against defensive coordinator Brian Ward’s violent group all offseason may provide a little extra preparation, as the Sun Devils understand what it means to go against an aggressive defense.

“Coach Ward’s defense has prepared us for literally anything,” redshirt senior offensive lineman Cade Briggs said.