The Big 12 era is finally coming to Tempe as the Sun Devils prepare for Kansas in their conference home opener on Oct. 5 at Mountain America Stadium.
Kansas' head coach Lance Leipold will enter the desert with a (1-4) record. The Kansas team initially ranked No. 22 in the Preseason AP Top 25 rankings.
But, the Jayhawks have started their 2024 campaign slowly. Three out of their four losses have been decided by one score, and Kansas had led at one point in all of its games this season.
"This isn't like this team forgot how to play football," ASU head coach Kenny 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
The Jayhawks offensive unit is led by Jeff Grimes, a veteran offensive coordinator. His style is simple but effective — run the ball.
Running the ball is usually easier with a mobile quarterback. For Grimes, redshirt junior Jalon Daniels is at the helm. Daniels returned this year after missing the majority of 2023 with an injury, and so far he's put up 805 yards passing, completing 69 of his 130 attempts for five touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Sun Devil defensive lineman Clayton Smith, a redshirt junior, said to combat the challenges that Daniels brings they need to "mainly just keeping him in the pocket, not letting him escape when he wants to, making sure we get our hands up. Cloud his reads and collapse it when we can. Just making sure he feels us every snap."
Kansas offense has felt the Grimes effect. The unit averaged 224.4 rushing yards in a game which ranks 15th in the nation.
Kansas' Devin Neal leads all backs in the country in career rushing touchdowns with 37 and is second among power-four running backs with career rushing yards at 3,590. So far this season he's put up 513 yards on 86 carries and four touchdowns.
"It's the identity of their team, that's who they want to be," Dillingham said. "They want people to look at them and say we're going to run the ball at you and everything's going to be off of the run. We have to be able to stop the run while not giving up big plays at the same time."
Defense
The Jayhawks are piloted by third-year defensive coordinator, Brian Borland. He runs a gritty defense and with talented cornerbacks, he is able to stack the box with other defenders.
"They're going to align the formation well and you have to know where they're going to be," redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt said per SunDevilSource. "They're going to be a tough physical defense, and they have some length at corner ... so it’s going to be a good showing."
Senior cornerbacks Cobee Bryant and Mello Dotson are the highlight of the Jayhawks' defense. The dominant duo was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team heading into this season. They've combined for 20 interceptions which is the most of any duo in the country and are tied for first in passes defended with 59.
The front seven has senior defensive end Jereme Robinson and senior linebacker JB Brown. Robinson has totaled 3.5 sacks on the year raising his career total to 12. Brown is second on the team in total tackles with 25 and is also second on the team in sacks with two.
Despite talent at all three levels, things haven't come together for the Jayhawks defense so far this season. They give up an average of 338 yards per game, ranking 57th in total yardage in the country.
They also struggle defending on first-downs giving up 92 first-downs in five games putting them at 90th in the country. Another weak area is the red zone letting opposing teams convert 88% of the time.
READ MORE: Four games, four takeaways from ASU football's 3-1 start
ASU is fresh coming off a bye-week and a loss. The Sun Devils have had to deal with a sour taste in their mouth for the past two weeks.
"We've been sitting on this loss for a week now and had to watch other teams play," Dillingham said. "Let's get back to this. We've got to get this right."
Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Braccio and Alysa Horton
Reach the reporter at danielr1102@gmail.com and follow @daniel_rios72 on X.
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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.
