By Jacob Seliga
Lead Writer
Kenny Dillingham foreshadowed what everyone has witnessed from Arizona State this season back in 2022.
“Arizona State can be as good as any school in the country," he said.
Two years ago, Dillingham inherited an Arizona State program at its lowest point. A shell of its once proud self in the midst of an NCAA investigation and coming off the worst season in decades.
In the span of two years, Dillingham has turned Arizona State from a laughingstock to the biggest turnaround in college football.
This weekend, no game looms larger in the country than No. 14 BYU coming to Tempe to face the newly ranked No. 21 Sun Devils on homecoming.
The consequences from this game are enormous, not just for the college football playoff and the conference championship race, but also for the Heisman race and recruiting in the Southwest.
BYU offense
The Cougars' offensive progress from a year ago has been a sight to see. BYU, through 10 games, has jumped to an average of 30 points a game, close to a touchdown better from its 2023 output.
The biggest reason for that has been transfer quarterback Jake Retzlaff, but not because he’s picking apart defenses.
Retzlaff has been the ultimate game manager, similar to Sam Leavitt for the Sun Devils. In 10 games, the Cougars' quarterback has averaged 228 yards per game and has 23 total touchdowns amassing a 9-1 record as starter.
What’s been concerning for both Retzlaff and the Cougars has been the stagnation at the quarterback position and the offense overall.
In both of the Cougars' last two games, BYU has seen season lows in both points and total yardage and high in punts. This includes last week’s loss to Kansas at home, where the Cougars turned the ball over twice and were held to three points in the second half and multiple punts.
At quarterback, Retzlaff has turned in season lows in completion percentage in both matchups, and last week turned in his least amount of passing yards since Week 4. He also threw a critical interception at the end of the first half that took points off the board for BYU leading to the loss.
In the backfield alongside him will likely be running back LJ Martin. For the first time since the Texas State matchup, the Sun Devil defense will face off against a running back that doesn’t have true game breaking ability.
Last week, Martin was bottled up by the Kansas defense that struggled against the run with only 75 yards on 15 carries. On the season, Martin has rushed for 501 yards on 90 carries, but most of his damage came against Oklahoma State where he rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns against the worst defense in both the conference and country.
BYU defense
For the struggles the Cougars offense has shown in recent weeks, the defense has been the stable unit on the roster all season long.
Outside of a fluky muffed punt that gave Kansas first and goal at the 2-yard line, the Jayhawks high scoring offense was shut down all night long. And that’s been a common theme all year, the Cougars have held No. 15 SMU, the aforementioned Jayhawks, and then No. 13 Kansas State to season lows in points and total yardage.
The struggles the Cougar defense poses for opposing offenses is their ability to get in the backfield quickly.
The front line is led by potential all-conference lineman Tyler Batty, who has drawn the attention of most opposing offensive lines and still has 38 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and an interception.
His partner has been Blake Mangelson, who has turned in slightly better stats with two sacks, five tackles for loss, 35 total tackles and an interception as well.
As Batty and Mangelson present pressure up front, the Cougars like to simulate pressure from the linebacking group led by Jack Kelly who has played off the edge in passing downs.
Kelly leads the team with four sacks and seven tackles for loss to go alongside his 39 tackles.
On the opposite side of Kelly is Harrison Taggert, who has been more of a pure linebacker playing the field as opposed to a pass rusher. Taggert leads the team with 63 tackles, three pass breakups, as well as an interception and a forced fumble.
The front seven has been crucial to holding teams to 20 points per game which ranks No. 21 in the country. However, the unit has been somewhat susceptible to the run at times as they rank No. 66 in rushing yards allowed per game and was gashed by Ollie Gordon and RJ Harvey who rushed for 6.7 and 7.9 yards per carry respectively.
The secondary has been the crown jewel of the defense as they’ve been one of the most opportunistic units in the country.
BYU defensive backs have held opposing quarterbacks to an abysmal 53 percent completion percentage which ranks No. 5 in the country and have taken away deep passes all year holding teams to only 5.6 yards per pass which is the best in the nation.
However, the most impressive stat however has been that BYU as a team has intercepted 17 passes this season which comfortably ranks as the most in college football.
Leading the way for the Cougars secondary is All-American and Jim Thorpe award candidate Jakob Robinson.
This season, Robinson has been an island intercepting a team high three interceptions to go alongside four pass breakups and 32 tackles
With him on one side, teams have tried and failed to attack opposite corner Marque Collins. He currently leads the team with an outstanding eight pass breakups and two interceptions to go with 19 total tackles.
Prediction: Arizona State 31 BYU 24
It’s as simple as this: everything and anything Arizona State wants to play for is on the table in this matchup.
This is everything that Kenny Dillingham envisioned when he came home to his alma mater/dream school two years ago. And yet no one in the country could have predicted that this game would be the potential rocket ship of stardom for both him and the program in year two.
The Sun Devils have the best player on the field in this matchup in Cam Skattebo and have the better quarterback in Sam Leavitt, who since his return from injury has thrown for three touchdowns and zero interceptions in three straight contests.
BYU has been a strong team this season but their sputtering of late is a strong concern as it appears Arizona State is doing the opposite and is only getting hotter as the month of November goes on.
Behind a rowdy crowd in Tempe and an offense that can effectively run the ball on a vulnerable defense, the Sun Devils should win this matchup to improve to 9-2 and put themselves firmly in position to play in the conference championship, and possibly the college football playoff.
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