Owen Long, Jaren Hamilton garner Big 12 Player of the Week honors

Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Week - Owen Long

• Sun Devil linebacker Owen Long had one of the best performances by a Sun Devil linebacker in recent memory.
• He was all over the field in Arizona State’s 24-17 victory over Kansas at the Union Jack Classic in London.
• The junior stuffed the stat sheet finishing with 12 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
• It was his first career interception, second forced fumble, and third fumble recovery.
• After finishing with ten double-digit tackle games in 2025, Long registered his first with Arizona State. He now has 11 games with 10+ tackles in his career.

Owen Goal

• Long's performance was not only statistically impressive, he came through at important moments of the game.
• His forced fumble came on first down during a Kansas drive that had reached the ASU 22-yard line early in the fourth quarter, swinging the momentum back in the Sun Devils favor. 
• The interception was even more timely, as it sealed the game for the Sun Devils with Kansas positioned at the ASU 23-yard line and trailing 24-7 with 9:34 left in the game.
• He was the leader of a defense that willed the Sun Devils to a victory, their first time winning a game with less than 250 yards of total offense since defeating Michigan State, 10-7, in 2019.

Big 12 Co-Special Teams Player of the Week - Jaren Hamilton

• Perhaps the biggest moment of Arizona State’s 24-17 victory over Kansas in the Union Jack Classic in London came courtesy of Jaren Hamilton.
• With the game still very much in the balance and the Sun Devils leading 10-7, Hamilton dealt a crushing blow to the Jayhawks to open the half.
• He returned the initial second half kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, pushing ASU’s lead to 17-7.
• The momentum provided by Hamilton’s big play helped catapult the Sun Devils to a win in the conference opener.
• It is the first kick return for a touchdown by a Sun Devil since D.J. Taylor took the opening kickoff to the house in Arizona State’s 70-7 win over Arizona on Dec. 11, 2020 and only the fifth by a Sun Devil since 2012.

Arizona State finished with 10 Player of the Week selections in the 16-team Big 12 in 2025, reaching double digits for the second straight season. They had the fourth-most winners last season, a year after having the highest total of any team in the league (12) in 2024. The success has continued into this campaign, with ASU already claiming three of the first 18 available weekly awards.

A Sun Devil has now earned a conference player of the week award 29 times total in the three years of the Kenny Dillingham era (nine O, seven ST, five D, three newcomers, three DL, two OL).