Bowl eligibility is right there for the taking when Arizona State and UCF meet Saturday in Orlando, Fla., and both teams arrive with fresh momentum after dramatic wins last week.
Arizona State is coming off a 20-10 home win over Colorado, while UCF survived a wild 33-32 road victory at Kansas. Each team sits at 5-4 overall and 3-3 in Big 12 play, so Saturday carries a simple message: win and get to bowl eligibility.
For Arizona State, the game is also a chance to string together consecutive victories for the first time this season. Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham said Monday that the team hit a rough patch after returning from London, where Arizona State beat Kansas in the third week of the season.
"I thought we played well in Week 1; Week 2, we were playing good football, and then it was like, boom, in the fourth quarter -- go to London, win a football game against a conference opponent," he said. "Then we got back, and we got into a funk. We lost our identity."
The Sun Devils have also had to navigate changes at quarterback. Cutter Boley struggled as the starter, then former UCF quarterback Mikey Keene stepped in before suffering a right knee injury.
That has left true freshman Jake Fette to start the last two games, against BYU and Colorado. In those starts, he has completed 39 of 69 passes for 411 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Arizona State has also found production on the ground from another true freshman. Cardae Mack has become one of the Big 12’s top running backs, piling up 603 yards on 102 carries with six touchdowns.
UCF’s path to Saturday has been just as turbulent. The Knights followed their upset of then-No.
2 BYU, a 39-31 double-overtime win on Oct. 24, with a 41-9 home loss to Baylor the next week. Then came last week’s comeback at Kansas, where UCF erased a 19-point deficit before winning on a touchdown pass from Alonza Barnett III to Caden Piening in the closing seconds.
Barnett was pressed into action after Keyone Jenkins went out indefinitely with an ankle injury. Against Kansas, Barnett finished 18 of 31 for 251 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
"There's definitely no time to take a breath now, so we need to double down on effort and intensity," UCF coach Scott Frost said in his weekly press conference. "I'll be really disappointed in all of us if we don't play really hard and well on Saturday."
In Other News...
Arizona State Faces A Brutal Pre-Kickoff Test At UCF
Arizona States trip to UCF turned into a travel headache before the Sun Devils ever got to the stadium, with a nationwide ground stop from the Federal Aviation Administration throwing the teams plans into chaos. The football team was stuck on a plane for two hours before heading back to its facility, a disruption that left players dealing with the kind of logistical mess that can make a road game feel longer before it even starts.
The delay also pushed kickoff back to 5:30 p.m. ET, forcing Arizona State to adjust its entire schedule on the fly. For a team already facing a tricky road environment, the added uncertainty around travel and timing only increases the challenge as it tries to settle in and get ready for UCF. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona States Hot Start Is Starting To Feel Very Real
Arizona States 3-0 start is beginning to look less like a nice early burst and more like a real foundation. After an 85-63 win over Hofstra, the Sun Devils have opened with three straight victories for the first time since the 2018-19 season, and the early returns have come from a mix of contributors. Paulius Murauskas, Joel Foxwell and JRob Croy all had notable showings, giving the roster the kind of balance that can make a hot start feel sustainable.
The next chance to keep it rolling comes against Louisiana-Monroe, and the matchup offers another test of whether this group can keep its footing once the schedule starts asking different questions. Louisiana-Monroe is coming off a double-overtime loss to TCU, so Arizona State will have to stay sharp to make it four in a row. Randy Bennett has already voiced confidence in what this team can become, and the Sun Devils now have a chance to turn a promising opening into something that feels a lot more substantial. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona State Faces A Real Pregame Concern Before UCF Kickoff
A travel headache turned Arizona States trip to UCF into a pregame story of its own, with a nationwide FAA ground stoppage forcing the Sun Devils to leave much later than planned. Instead of settling in on the usual game-day rhythm, the team had to navigate a delayed departure before still making it to Orlando in time for the rescheduled 5:30 p.m. EST kickoff.
Kenny Dillingham tried to keep the focus on handling the disruption the right way, stressing a positive attitude even as the schedule got thrown off. For a team trying to get ready for a road game, it was the kind of unexpected wrinkle that tests routine as much as it does preparation, and Arizona State at least avoided the worst-case scenario by getting there in time to play. [Read more 🡒]