Sun Devil Football Postgame Notes - at #11/#10 Oklahoma State

QUICK HITS

• Oklahoma State scored 44 points in the opening half of their first game against Central Michigan, but were held to 17 by the Sun Devils defense in the first half of this game.
• The 73-yard completion from Emory Jones to Gio Sanders in the third quarter was the longest pass play by the Sun Devils since a 74-yard touchdown to Curtis Hodges in the 70-7 victory over Arizona in 2020.
• Arizona State put together an impressive 8-play, 85-yard drive that spanned the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 20-17. Emory Jones capped the drive with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Eljhah Badger.
• ASU has gone 16 games without allowing a 50+-yard play - the longest active streak in the FBS and four more than the next closest team (Ole Miss).

MILESTONE WATCH 

• With his 118 all-purpose yards tonight, X Valladay eclipsed 4,000 for his career (currently at 4,015).
• Khoury Bethey had five tackles to reach 300 for this career (currently at 301).
• Emory Jones compiled 206 total yards to reach 5,000 in his career (currently at 5,025 - 3,722 passing, 1,303 rushing) 

GROUND AND POUND

• ASU has rushed for at least 100 yards as a team in 20 straight regular season games. It is the longest streak of rushing for over 100 yards as a team since the last 10 games of 1995, all 11 of 1996 and the first two of 1997 - a 23-game stretch over two seasons. The 20-game streak is the eighth-longest active streak in the FBS.

DYNAMIC DUO

• Giovanni Sanders and Elijhah Badger combined for an impressive performance from the wideout positions.
  • They teamed up to total nine catches for 185 yards and one touchdown.
  • The duo is the first Sun Devil teammates to go over 90 yards since Brandon Aiyuk and Frank Darby both went over 100 yards.

STREAK SNAPPING

• Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders had thrown for a career-best 122 passes without being picked off before Kyle Soelle’s interception.
• OSU had held eight of its past 13 opponents under 100 yards rushing, but the Sun Devils were able to eclipse the mark.
• The Cowboys had also held eight of its past 12 opponents under 200 yards passing, but ASU was able to accomplish the feat.
• OSU had held its opponent scoreless on its game-opening drive in 25 of its previous 32 games before Carter Brown’s 27-yard field goal to open the scoring after an eight-play, 78-yard drive that used 3:41 of clock.

HEART AND SOELLE

• Kyle Soelle picked off his second pass of the season in the first quarter, stopping a potential Cowboys’ scoring drive.
  • He now has four career interceptions, tied for the seventh most amongst active linebackers. His teammate Merlin Robertson has six career picks, which leads all FBS linebackers.
• Soelle also collected a career-high 16 tackles, his second career 15+ tackle performance. 

BADGE OF HONOR

• Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Elijhah Badger enjoyed a breakout game as he continues to emerge as a go-to threat.
  • Coming into the year, he had seven catches for 61 yards in his career.
  • So far this season, he has 10 catches for 129 yards after his X catches for XX yard performance.
• Badger scored a 21-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, his first career receiving touchdown (third career touchdown; two rushing).

X MARKS THE SPOT

• X Valladay rushed for 118 yards in another big-time performance, giving the active FBS leading rusher 3,552 yards in his career.
• It is his 16th career game going over 100 yards in his career, including both games in a Sun Devil uniform.
• Xazavian Valladay now has 234 rushing yards this season.. Since 1996, that is the second most by an Arizona State running back through the team's first two games of the season (D.J. Foster - 363 in 2014).

EXPLOSIVE PLAYS
Arizona State ended the game with ten explosive plays, seven of which came in the passing game.
1st Quarter
42-yard run for X Valladay
18-yard completion from Emory Jones to Charles Hall
11-yard run for X Valladay
29-yard completion from Emory Jones to Elijhah Badger
18-yard completion from Emory Jones to Elijhah Badger
 
2nd Quarter
15-yard completion from Emory Jones to Messiah Swinson
 
3rd Quarter
73-yard completion from Emory Jones to Gio Sanders
38-yard run for X Valladay
20-yard completion from Emory Jones to Elijhah Badger
 
4th Quarter
21-yard completion from Emory Jones to Elijhah Badger