THE GAME - Sun Devil Football continues the 2019 season and the program's second season under head coach Herm Edwards this Friday, September 6 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., against Sacramento State. The tilt is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff and will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network and can be heard over the airwaves on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
THE OPPONENT - This will mark just the second meeting between the two programs. ASU knocked off the Hornets, 55-0, in 2013 in a game where the Sun Devils allowed just 167 total yards of offense. Sac State soundly defeated NAIA opponent Southern Oregon in its season opener, 77-19.
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KICKING OFF
- With last weekend's win, the Sun Devils have come out victorious in 21 consecutive home openers - a total tied for the fifth longest active stream in the nation with Michigan State. Only Florida (30), Wisconsin (23), Oklahoma State (23) and Illinois (22) have longer streaks.
- The Sun Devils' 200 total yards of offense allowed against Kent State was the lowest since allowing 167 against Sacramento State in 2013. It was the 11th-lowest total yardage allowed since 1996.
- The Sun Devils played 25 freshmen in the season opener (15 true, 10 redshirt) - the most ever in the modern era at ASU. Additionally, eight other non-freshmen made their Sun Devil debuts for a total of 33 players that were either redshirt freshmen or appearing in their first games at ASU out of just 61 total players that entered the game on Thursday.
- Brandon Aiyuk's 77-yard touchdown reception was the fourth longest offensive touchdown in a season opener in school history. It is the longest by a Sun Devil since J.R. Redmond's 93-yard run against New Mexico State in 1997.
- Kent State's six fumbles were the most by an opponent since ASU also forced six fumbles on October 14, 2000 against Washington and marked the seventh consecutive game dating back to last season in wchi ASU has forced at least one turnover.
- Lasting only 2 hours and 58 minutes, the Kent State game was the shortest ASU game since the Sun Devils defeated Utah on October 8th, 2011 (2:57).
- The 63.0 yards per punt mark by Michael Turk on Aug. 29 vs. Kent State broke an NCAA record. The previous record for highest average yards per punt in a game with minimum five attempts was Braden Mann of Texas A&M on Sept. 22, 2018, as he had a 60.8 yards per punt average vs. Alabama on punts of 56, 65, 62, 61 and 60 for 304 yards. Turks punted five times for 315 yards with boots of 64, 62, 65, 49 and 75 in his Sun Devil debut.
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AN ASU VICTORY WOULD...
- Give ASU consecutive 2-0 starts in Herm Edwards' tenure as head coach.
- Move ASU to 2-0 over Sacramento State in series history and 39-14-4 all-time against the Big Sky Conference. All 14 losses came against Northern Arizona and all happened prior to 1939. The Sun Devils have never lost a game to a Big Sky opponent in the modern era.
- Move ASU to 5-0 in non-conference regular season matchups under Herm Edwards.
- Move ASU to 37-10 in games played at Sun Devil Stadium since the 2012 season.
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MILESTONE COUNTDOWNS
- 114 rushing yards needed for Eno Benjamin to eclipse 2,000 career rushing yards (currently at 1,886)
- 3 rushing touchdowns needed for Benjamin to reach 20 rushing touchdowns in his career (currently at 17)
- 2 consecutive starts needed for both Cohl Cabral and Kobe Williams to reach 30 consecutive starts for the Sun Devils (currently at 27)
- 8 consecutive extra points needed for Brandon Ruiz to reach 100 consecutive PAT conversions (his 92 consecutive completions have ASU 11th nationally in active consecutive PAT conversions)
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#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)
1. .@dtw61_ received a score just under 70.0 from Pro Football Focus this week, which ended up being good for 36th among all qualifying centers nationally despite being the only true freshman center in the FBS to start in the season opener.
2. Jayden Daniels became the first TRUE freshman quarterback to start for the Sun Devils on Opening Day in ASU's modern era (freshmen became eligible to play in 1972). His 284 passing yards set an ASU record for a Sun Devil quarterback in their first career appearance.
3. As has become the norm, @eno_benjamin5 forced 11 missed tackles on Thursday - tied for second-most among all running backs nationally.
4. .@ThatManK7 was the 3rd-highest graded LB in the Pac-12 with a 72.8 overall score from PFF, while also 6th-highest graded pass rushing LB in the FBS (79.7) Thomas' 4 QB pressures were most among any LB in the league and his 5 defensive "stops" were tied for 3rd among Pac-12 LBS.
5. Arizona State holds the FBS active streak for consecutive games scoring more than 7 points, currently doing so in 135 straight games.
6. .@yaboiijuicee was the second-highest graded defender in Pac-12 (regardless of position) by PFF (85.9 score) and fifth-highest graded corner in nation after Week 1. Targeted 6 times with two catches...for -10 yards. FF, 2 PBU, TFL. 42.4 NFL passer rating when targeted.
7. The Sun Devils have not allowed a non-conference opponent to score in the first quarter in four games under Herm Edwards. ASU is 5-1 under Edwards when holding opponents scoreless in the opening frame.
8. Since 2012, ASU has scored 67.7 percent of the time following an opponent turnover (113 of 167) while finding the end zone 84 times in that span (50.3 percent). Conversely, opponents have scored just 51.3 percent of the time (60 of 117) with 46 touchdowns (39.3 percent).
9. @ASUFootball's 200 yards allowed against Kent State were its fewest since allowing 167 against this week's opponent, Sac State, back in 2013.
10. For ASU, 25 freshmen (15 true, 10 redshirt) appeared in the team's season opener while eight non-freshmen appeared in their first games at ASU. 61 total players played in the game.
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BY THE NUMBERS
135 - ASU holds the longest active FBS streak for consecutive games scoring more than 7 points, currently doing so in 135 straight games. The Sun Devils last scored a touchdown or less when they were shutout, 28-0, against eighth-ranked USC in the 2008 season. They have scored 30 or more points in 76 of those games (56.3 percent). ASU has done it's part on offense to keep the tally in tact with little drama, scoring under 10 points just one time (a nine-point effort against USC back in 2009).
-10 - Kobe Williams graded out with an 85.9 score from Pro Football Focus in the Opening week, the fifth-highest score among all cornerbacks nationally and second-highest score for any Pac-12 defender, regardless of position. Williams was targeted six times and allowed two catches...for -10 yards and -5 yards after the catch - the only corner in the country to allow negative YAC while the .10 total yards are the fewest of any corner nationally. He finished with two breakups, a forced fumble and a tackle for loss while allowing just a paltry 42.4 NFL QB rating when targeted.
63 - The 63.0 yards per punt mark by Michael Turk vs. Kent State broke an NCAA record. The previous record for highest average yards per punt in a game with minimum five attempts was Braden Mann of Texas A&M on Sept. 22, 2018, as he had a 60.8 yards per punt average . Turk's 75-yarder to cap off the night was tied for the seventh-longest punt in school history and the longest punt in the FBS in the opening weekends. Turk's 63.0 yards per punt average in nine yards further than any player in the FBS over the first two week's of action (Kentucky's Max Duffy averaged 54.0 yards per punt on six punts).
30 - ASU has held opponents to 30 or less points in 10 of 14 games in Danny Gonzales' defensive scheme, notable as it DID allow 30+ in 32 of its 43 previous games dating back to 2013. That total is notable as ASU had allowed more than 30 points or more in 32 of its previous 43 games dating back to 2013 prior to the marked improvement in limiting opponent scoring in 2018. The Sun Devils allowed just 25.5 points per game last season, good for 53rd nationally. The total was notable as ASU was 103rd nationally at 32.8 points per game allowed in 2017 and had finished 99th or worse in three consecutive seasons prior.
25 - The Sun Devils played 25 freshmen in the season opener (15 true, 10 redshirt) - the most ever in the modern era at ASU. Additionally, eight other non-freshmen made their Sun Devil debuts for a total of 33 players that were either redshirt freshmen or appearing in their first games at ASU out of just 61 total players that entered the game on Thursday. Dohnovan West became the only true freshman center to start in the season opener when he earned the nod on Thursday night. Only seven true freshmen offensive linemen in the FBS were expected to start in their team's season openers, with West being the only center of the group.
11 - Eno Benjamin forced 11 missed tackles in the opener, tied for the third-most among all running backs in the country (Utah's Zach Moss had 17 and Cal's Chris Brown had 13. Benjamin played 25 snaps in passing routes in the opener, the eighth-most of any running back in the country. Eno Benjamin recorded his 10th career 100-yard rushing game against Kent State, finishing with 102 yards on 22 carries. The 10 games with 100 yards are tied for ninth in program history with Ben Malone.At 1,886 career yards, Benjamin is within striking distance of 2,000 career rushing yards.