It's been clear skies so far for ASU football as they've begun their season 2-0 for the first time since 2021. The current season has been an improvement for the Sun Devils after two consecutive three-win seasons.
ASU prepares for takeoff as it goes on the road for the first time this season. Its first landing will be in San Marcos, Texas. The Sun Devils are booked for a showdown with the Texas State Bobcats, who aren't new to upsetting Big 12 competition.
In 2023, his first year as the Texas State head coach, GJ Kinne led the Bobcats to an 8-5 record and their first bowl game in program history. In his first game as Bobcat head coach, the team upset Baylor 42-31 in Waco. He also led the Bobcat offense to almost 6,000 yards alongside 57 touchdowns.
“He's one of the youngest head coaches in college football,” ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “I think he's put together an incredible football team.”
Offense
The Bobcats' new quarterback is Jordan McCloud, 2023 Sun Belt Player of the Year. McCloud has been in college football since 2019 and has a career 7,455 yards with 63 touchdowns and 27 interceptions.
“He played well last year before he transferred,” Dillingham said. “He can extend plays and keeps his eyes downfield when he extends plays. He's got a quick release, super quick release doesn't get hit very much because his release is fast and he knows where to go to the ball.”
Junior running back Ismail Mahdi earned First Team All-American by CBS Sports and 247Sports with over 1300 rushing yards in 2023. With a running back like Mahdi, the Sun Devils might expect to see confidence in the Bobcats' run game.
“They're very, very physical,” Dillingham said. “You can tell obviously GJ, he's a head coach of the football team, and he's worked for Gus Malzahn and they run almost every run scheme available.”
The Bobcats welcomed back the leading receiver from a year ago, senior Joey Hobert, who had almost 900 yards. Sophomore Chris Dawn, Jr. received a chance this year in the Bobcats offense and he leads the team in receiving after two weeks of action with 163 yards.
Last week, the Sun Devil defense had their hands full with senior Blake Shapen of Mississippi State, who similarly to McCloud, has the experience of being a college athlete for numerous years. The team knows what they can do to try and get McCloud off his rhythm which is something the team did last week against Shapen in the first half.
“It's about the pictures being the same," Dillingham said. "And if we can give identical pictures, right, then 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. And I think for some guys, you can give so many pictures that it overwhelms them.”
Defense
One weakness for the Bobcats is defense. They could not stop opponents on third down letting them convert 46.3% of the time and gave up 32.8 points per game. As a result, they were looking for a new defensive coordinator in the offseason and hired Dexter McCoil Sr., the team's now former safety coach.
The five-down lineman within the bear fronts has helped the Bobcats hold opposing rushing attacks to 66.5 yards per game which is tied for 18th best in the nation. They’ll be tested this week as ASU comes in with a top-10 rushing attack in the nation, a key matchup to watch on Thursday night.
“Blitz. They're going to blitz like they're going to blitz and they're going to blitz a lot on early downs,” Dillingham said. “Their D line is athletic. They create chaos, and that's their MO."
The Bulldogs' defensive line is led by senior Ben Bell. Bell made the All-Sun Belt second team with 16 TFLs and 10 sacks a year ago. Some of their transfers in the offseason were junior Tunmise Adeleye who comes from Michigan State and senior Steven Parker who came from the University of Incarnate Word.
“Technique is everything as offensive linemen. We firmly believe that the defense doesn't win anything, we lose it,” ASU offensive lineman and graduate, Ben Coleman said. “And the reality is do you give them space? Do you allow them to make a play on you? Is your set wrong where your eyes are, where your hands are? So as long as you're disciplined you'll be able to take care of it.”
The Texas State secondary is also finding early success defending the pass with an 18.4% success rate on pass plays which ranks second in the nation.
“This is a football team that is a power four football team, in my opinion, this team could go win a lot of games and compete in the Big 12 conference,” Dillingham said.
Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Ramirez and Madeline Schmitke.
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Daniel is a senior studying sports journalism. This is his first semester with The State Press. He has also worked at WCSN, OC Riptide, 1550 Sports and AZPreps365.
