Postgame Notes - Kent State

Our punter is better than yours ?? pic.twitter.com/p3Yac1Qtpj

— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) August 30, 2019

Post Game Notes (Kent State) 
Arizona State 30,  Kent State 7 | Game Notes 
(Aug. 29, 2019)
 
Quick Hits

• The Sun Devils forced five fumbles tonight, the most since forcing five against Washington State on October 10, 2009.
• Arizona State converted 8 of 16 third downs, while holding Kent State to just  3 of 14 on third down conversions
• 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.
• Michael Turk averaged 63 yards per punt on five punts, the highest average mark in a game in school history regardless of the number of punts. The previous record for average on five punts was 55.0, done by Danny White in 1972. He also set the NCAA record, which is based off minimum of five punts.
• ASU forced a turnover for the seventh straight game

LONGEST PUNTS IN ASU HISTORY (75 YARDS OR LONGER)
90, Jim Montgomery vs. New Mexico (1946)
84, Fred Mortensen vs. UTEP (1976)
83, Fred Mortensen vs. Colorado State (1975
79, Joe Zuger vs. Colorado State (1959)
77, Danny White vs. San Jose State (1973)
76, Matt Haack at Colorado (Oct. 10, 2016)
75, Michael Turk vs. Kent State (Aug. 29, 2019)
75, Tim Parker vs. USC (2002)
75, Norris Steverson vs. Fulleton (1930)

 
The ASU Victory

• Moves ASU to 78-27-2 in season openers, including a 60-15-1 mark in home openers. 
• Tonight’s win marks the 21st-straight dating back to 1999. ASU's 20-game active home opener win streak was tied for the fifth-longest in the country entering the weekend.

All About The Benjamins 

• Eno Benjamin ended the game with 134 total yards, including 102 yards rushing.
• The junior logged his 10th career game with 100 rushing yards, which is tied for ninth in school history.

 
Gold Rush

• ASU has had a 100-yard rusher in 14 of its last 19 games dating back to 2017 (Demario Richard with 4 and Eno Benjamin with 10).

 
All Good Things Must End

• Eno Benjamin’s lost fumble on his first carry of the second quarter ended a streak of 911 running back carries without a lost fumble, dating back to 2016. That particular fumble occurred out of ASU’s Sparky formation and you have to go back to 2015 and 1,250 carries prior since a Sun Devil running back lost a fumble on a conventional running play.

 
DAAAAAMN DANIELS 

• Jayden Daniels became the first true freshman quarterback in program history to start the first game of the season. He finished his ASU debut with a 15 for 24 effort with 284 total yards and 3 touchdowns on the night.  
• Daniels broke the Sun Devil record for passing yards in a first career game, which was previously 160 by Jeff Krohn in 2000. It should be noted that this includes just a first career GAME appearance, not first career start. 
• Daniels became the third freshman in ASU history to win his first career start, joining John Walker (1984) and Dennis Sproul (1974) as the only other QB’s to win their first career starts as freshmen.   

 
Brand New Brandon

• Through his first eight games as a Sun Devil, junior wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk totaled 11 catches for 178 yards. Tonight alone, he accounted for 140 yards on four catches, giving him 26 catches for 436 yards over his last six games dating back to last season.
• Aiyuk’s 77-yard touchdown reception represented the longest passing play/score by a Sun Devil since Demario Richard’s 93-yard catch and run against New Mexico in 2015.

 
Zen-Day-Hoss

• Cristian Zendejas becomes the third member of his family to score a point for the Sun Devils, following his dad (Luis Zendejas 1981-84) and uncle (Alan Zendejas 1987-89) 
  • Luis Zendejas is the former all-time leading scorer in Sun Devil history, he was passed in 2016 by Lou Groza Award winner Zane Gonzalez

 
Keep ‘em Clean

• Arizona State completed the entire first quarter without being penalized. 
• In total, ASU limited their mistakes to just six calls, resulting in 50 total yards.   

 
The Gold Zone 

• Arizona State came away with points in all five trips to the gold-zone in Thursday’s win. 

 
Locking It Down

• The Sun Devils allowed 80 passing yards on Thursday night, the lowest total given up since September 9, 2017 against San Diego State (73).

 
Turk at Work

• Turk’s 75-yard punt in the fourth quarter is tied for the sixth longest punt in school history. It represents the longest punt since Tim Parker booted a 75-yarder in 2002.

 
Darby the Deep Threat

• After his 42-yard catch tonight, Frank Darby now has 33 total receptions as a Sun Devil. Eight of those have gone for 40+ yards.

 
The Kids Will Be Alright 

• The Sun Devils started five total freshmen in Thursday’s win, and had 25 total freshmen enter the game (14 true freshman & 11 redshirt freshman.
• Dohnovan West became what will likely be the only true freshman center to start in the season opener when he earned the nod on Thursday night. Entering the weekend, only seven true freshmen offensive linemen were expected to start in their team’s season openers, with West being the only center of the group. 

 
Sun Devil Firsts

• Jayden Daniels connected with Frank Darby (42 yards) for his first completion as a Sun Devil
• Christian Zendejas 35-yard field goal
• Jack Jones forced his first fumble for ASU
• Ethan Long first carry (16 yards)
• Jayden Daniels first career touchdown pass 
• Jayden Daniels first career rushing touchdown

Superlatives

• Lasting only 2 hours and 58 minutes, this was the shortest ASU game since the Sun Devils defeated Utah on October 8th, 2011 (2:57).

Career Highs

• Brandon Aiyuk’s 140 receiving yards 
• Michael Turk 75 yard punt
• Khaylan Thomas 1.5 sacks
• Khaylan Thomas 3.5 tackles for loss

 
Chunk Plays

• Frank Darby 42-yard catch 
• Ethan Long 16-yard rush 
• AJ Carter 16-yard catch 
• Brandon Aiyuk 24-yard catch
• Brandon Aiyuk 37-yard catch
• Brandon Aiyuk 77-yard touchdown catch
• Ricky Pearsall 16-yard catch 
• Eno Benjamin 17-yard rush

SUN DEVIL FOOTBALL SHORTEST GAMES (2002-PRESENT)
2:44 vs. Washington State (Nov. 11, 2006)
2:45 vs. Washington State (Nov. 15, 2008)
2:49 vs. Stanford (Nov. 13, 2010)
2:50 vs. Stanford (Oct 21, 2006)
2:55 vs. UCLA (Nov. 18, 2006)
2:56 vs. UC Davis (Sept. 1, 2011)
2:56 vs. Louisiana-Monroe (Sept. 19, 2009)
2:57 at Utah (Oct. 8, 2011)
2:57 vs. San Jose State (Sept. 1, 2007)
2:57 vs. NAU (Aug. 31, 2006)
2:57 vs. Eastern Washington (Aug. 31, 2002)
2:58 vs. Kent State (Aug. 29, 2019)

SUN DEVIL MOST PASSING YARDS IN FIRST CAREER GAME (1996-PRESENT)
284-Jayden Daniels vs. Kent State/Aug. 29, 2019
160-Jeff Krohn vs. San Diego State/Aug. 31, 2000
117-John Leonard vs. Texas Tech/Sept. 9, 1999
107-Ryan Kealey vs. New Mexico State/Aug. 30, 1997
77-Chad Christensen at Nebraska/Aug. 24, 2002

SUN DEVIL FOOTBALL HEAD COACH HOME RECORDS
Herm Edwards, 6-1/2 years
Todd Graham, 30-10/6 years
Dennis Erickson, 23-12/5 years
Dirk Koetter, 27-12/6 years
Bruce Snyder, 32-17/8 years