For Arizona State, the trip to London is about more than the setting. Wembley Stadium will host the Sun Devils’ first Big 12 matchup of 2026 against Kansas, and Kenny Dillingham has kept the focus on the basics.
“We’re playing a football game.”
That has been the message from the Arizona State head coach as the Sun Devils get ready for a meeting with a Kansas team that has already shown how dangerous - and how messy - it can be. Dillingham summed up the Jayhawks this week with one line that fits them well: “They can be explosive.”
Kansas backed that up right away in its season opener against Long Island, piling up double-digit explosive plays, including a 46-yard pass and a 47-yard pass, both of which set up touchdowns. A week later against Missouri, the big plays were again there, but so were the mistakes.
Running back Dylan Edwards broke off a 24-yard run in the first quarter to set up a 20-yard touchdown pass from Isaiah Marshall to Nik McMillan. Later, Marshall connected on an 18-yard pass in the third quarter that led to a 10-yard touchdown throw on the next play. But Kansas also fumbled four times in the 38-21 loss, losing two of them, and Marshall threw two interceptions.
The second half against Missouri was a roller coaster: Fumble-Interception-Punt-Touchdown-Punt-Turnover on Downs-Turnover on Downs.
That kind of volatility is part of what Arizona State is preparing for. Dillingham said Kansas “throw (a) really good play action pass,” and added, “If you can run the quarterback, you can run the ball efficiently, you can be good in the play-action passing game, and be creative. You're putting a lot of stress on the defense.”
Marshall is the new face at quarterback for Kansas, and for many, he is still a fresh name. The redshirt sophomore is in just his third collegiate start after winning the job in August. Kansas brought him in as a big addition in the Class of 2024, then waited through that season before getting a look at what he can do in 2025.
He is trying to fill the space left by Daniels, who spent six seasons with the Jayhawks and finished with 9,282 passing yards and 1,445 rushing yards. Through two games, Marshall has shown enough to make the job look promising.
He has thrown four touchdown passes, three of them from 20 yards or more, and has added 72 rushing yards with several runs of 10 or more. Against Long Island, he averaged seven yards per carry.
“Good player, athletic,” Dillingham said. “There's times he throws some absolute unbelievable throws.”
The play that got the most attention in his second start came against Missouri: a spinning, off-balance, 360-style throw while stumbling out of bounds that still somehow found its target.
“Did y'all see the play he jumped and 360ed and threw the ball for a
completion?” Dillingham said. “Like, that was incredible.”
That snapshot captures the appeal and the problem with Marshall. The talent is obvious, but so are the growing pains. Against Missouri, he finished 18-for-30 with two interceptions and a Quarterback Rating of 20.7.
Arizona State will be trying to make sure those issues show up again.
The Sun Devils already saw what Kansas can look like when its plan works. When Dillingham and Lance Leipold met in 2024, Arizona State won the chess match in Tempe, helped by a fake punt and 21 fourth-quarter points. Dillingham said the key that night was execution, and he expects the same kind of challenge this time.
“I think their philosophy is to try to put stress on the opponent schematically,” Dillingham said. “I think they do that in all three phases.
I think they put schematic stress on everybody involved in the game plan. So you've got to be extremely dialed.”
Kansas showed that all three phases can hit at once against Missouri: a forced and recovered fumble, explosive offense, and a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown. Arizona State is looking for cleaner football after Week 2 against Texas A&M, when a muffed punt, plenty of penalties and second-half turnovers piled up.
Across the pond, both teams are searching for a reset. Dillingham knows the special teams moment might be especially loud.
“I told our specialist, this is the loudest you're ever going to get cheered for when you make an extra point, right?” Dillingham said with a smile.
“This is this week. So you better dial it up, and we better have the best field goal block unit.”
Arizona State and Kansas will kick off at 5:00 p.m. London time, 9:00 a.m. MST in Arizona, on Saturday, September 19 on FS1.
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