LONDON – Sun Devil Football opened its conference season across the pond, holding off the Kansas Jayhawks for a 24-17 victory in London in the inaugural Union Jack Classic.
Despite being outgained 414-228 on the offensive end, the Sun Devils (2-1, 1-0 Big 12) made a slew of huge plays on defense and took advantage of several Jayhawk special teams blunders to pull off its 11th win in a game decided by seven points or less in the last two-plus seasons - tied for the most in the nation in that time.
The Sun Devil defense held KU to just 119 first-half yards and forced three turnovers with six tackles for loss, not allowing a score until the fourth quarter as Kansas’ only points through the first three came on a second-quarter punt return. Arizona State won a game with less than 250 yards of total offense for the first time since defeating Michigan State, 10-7, in 2019.
Linebacker Owen Long had one of the best performances in his already outstanding career, finishing with 12 tackles, a fumble forced, a fumble recovered and an interception. Fellow linebacker Martell Hughes had a career-best 11 tackles - including 3.5 for loss.
The “middle eight” turned the tide of the game with Arizona State trailing 7-3 with under 30 seconds remaining in the first half before Kansas lined a punt out of bounds from its own end zone to give ASU the ball on the KU 25-yard line. Cutter Boley found Reed Harris for their fifth touchdown in the first three games of the season and ASU took a 10-7 lead into the break.
The Sun Devils wasted zero time adding to that coming out of the half as Jaren Hamilton took the second-half kickoff 100 yards to the house - ASU’s first kickoff return for a touchdown since 2020 - to give ASU a 17-7 lead after it trailed 7-3.
Arizona State would take control in the fourth quarter as Owen Long forced a fumble that was recovered by Lawrence native Hyrum Vaeono, who rumbled and bumbled 77 yards to the KU two-yard line and ASU punched it in two plays later for a 24-17 advantage.
The Jayhawks didn’t go quietly into the night, getting back within a score with 3:51 remaining. But Boley ended any thoughts of a miracle comeback with his eight-yard scamper on third down to pick up a first and the Sun Devils safely to the two-minute warning where they were able to run the clock out safely with Kansas (1-2, 0-1 Big 12) out of timeouts.
The Sun Devils will head back to the states and enjoy a bye weekend next week before preparing for nine consecutive weekends of football, starting with a Big 12 tilt against Baylor on Oct. 3.