Arizona State’s opener was a fireworks show. Saturday in College Station will tell us whether it was also a warning shot.
The Sun Devils rolled Morgan State, 70-7, last Saturday with 682 total yards and 10 touchdowns, and new starting quarterback Cutter Boley wasted no time making a statement. The Kentucky transfer threw six touchdown passes in his ASU debut, completed 21 of 27 passes for 387 yards, and picked up Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors in the process.
None of that will travel with him into Kyle Field.
Texas A&M, ranked No. 10, is coming off an 11-win season and a College Football Playoff appearance, and the Aggies backed that up in their opener with a 50-0 win over Missouri State. They allowed just 67 total yards and piled up 505 of their own. Now Arizona State has to take that kind of performance and try to survive it on the road.
For Kenny Dillingham’s team, this is the kind of game that can change the conversation fast.
Boley’s debut came in ideal conditions. Saturday brings the opposite.
He’ll be making his first road start for Arizona State in what is expected to be the largest true road crowd the Sun Devils have ever faced. ASU’s current mark is 92,746 at Georgia in 2009.
The quarterback has seen SEC defenses before, though. He started 11 games over two seasons at Kentucky and completed 65.8% of his passes in 2025. Still, this is a different challenge: the noise, the pressure, the crowd, the possibility of one mistake flipping the entire night.
Dillingham said after the opener that Boley was "calm, cool and collected."
Arizona State is going to need that again.
The other side of the ball presents its own headache. Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed can hurt a defense in more than one way, and Dillingham made that point very clear this week. Reed accounted for roughly 3,500 yards of total offense and 31 touchdowns during the 2025 regular season, then opened this year by completing 21 of 30 passes for 233 yards and two scores against Missouri State.
"If we don't do that this week, he's going to throw for 400 and run for 400," Dillingham said while emphasizing the need to contain Reed.
That’s the problem with Reed: if Arizona State gets too eager up front, he can escape. If the Sun Devils get too cautious, he can pick them apart downfield. Dillingham also singled out Reed’s feel for deep and intermediate throws, which means ASU has to balance pressure with discipline.
So far, Arizona State has been very good at limiting explosives. The Sun Devils have allowed just one play of more than 20 yards this season, and under defensive coordinator Brian Ward they have given up only 64 plays of 30-plus yards.
That kind of control will be tested in a big way.
The Sun Devils’ offense looked explosive in Week 1, but the question now is whether those big plays were the product of their own strength or Morgan State’s weakness. ASU already has 10 offensive plays of at least 25 yards, the most in the FBS through its opening game.
The Sun Devils also produced 365 yards after the catch, while Reed Harris, Grayson Rigdon and Omarion Miller each topped 100 receiving yards. On the ground, ASU rushed for 249 yards and averaged 7.1 yards per carry.
Texas A&M is a different animal. Missouri State didn’t just get beaten; it was held to 67 total yards, the fewest the Bears have been allowed since 1978. Arizona State is not likely to find the same open grass or the same easy touchdowns waiting for it.
The Sun Devils will need enough chunk plays to keep the Aggies from shrinking the field. That could come from Harris winning downfield, Miller turning a short throw into something bigger, or the run game punching through the first line of defense. If Arizona State is forced into long, grinding drives all afternoon, that’s a win for Texas A&M.
And before any of that, ASU has to handle the moment itself.
A false start, a timeout burned for no reason, a turnover, a quick Texas A&M score - that’s how a hard road game becomes a runaway. The first quarter could reveal a lot.
Can the Sun Devils move the chains on their first possession? Can the defense force the Aggies to earn points?
Can ASU keep the opening surge from becoming part of the problem?
There is reason to believe Arizona State won’t fold under pressure. Under Dillingham, the Sun Devils are 10-2 over the past two seasons in games decided by seven points or fewer. They’ve also won six straight regular-season games against Top 25 opponents, the longest active streak in the country.
Since the start of the 2024 season, ASU is 6-1 against AP Top 25 opponents, the best winning percentage in the nation over that stretch.
But winning at Kyle Field would take that resume into a new category entirely. Arizona State has never beaten an SEC opponent in a true road game.
It has never beaten a ranked SEC opponent anywhere. And it hasn’t beaten a Top 10 opponent on the road since the 38-23 win over UCLA at the Rose Bowl in 2015.
Saturday gives the Sun Devils a chance to change all of that at once.
It also gives them a chance to answer the biggest question hanging over this team after the Morgan State blowout: was that opener just what happens against an overmatched opponent, or was it the first sign that Dillingham has another Arizona State team ready to enter the national picture?
By Saturday afternoon, we should know a lot more.
In Other News...
Arizona State Let A Winnable Fight Slip Away Late
Arizona State had chances to make this one a real fight, but Texas A&M kept turning those chances into trouble and steadily widened the gap in a 48-20 loss. Marcel Reed threw three touchdown passes for the Aggies, while Arizona State had to deal with a defense that made life miserable throughout the night and never allowed the Sun Devils to settle in.
The frustration really piled up once the game reached the fourth quarter, when Texas A&M put the result out of reach and left Arizona State with the kind of finish that can linger. Four turnovers told a big part of the story, and the Sun Devils will be left wondering how different the evening might have looked if a few possessions had gone their way earlier. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona State Showed Real Promise Before One Costly Problem Took Over
Arizona State had plenty to like in the numbers against No. 10 Texas A&M, even in a 38-20 loss that got away late. The Sun Devils outgained the Aggies in total yards and first downs, and Cutter Boley put together a strong passing day with 254 yards and two touchdowns. Reed Harris also broke out in a big way, catching nine passes for 189 yards and two scores.
The problem was everything around those bright spots. Four turnovers, nine penalties and two special teams mistakes kept handing Texas A&M extra chances, and the Aggies made the most of them as the game slipped into the fourth quarter. Boleys two interceptions in the final period were especially costly, turning a competitive night into one Arizona State will spend plenty of time replaying. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona State Showed Fight But One Problem Changed Everything
Arizona State showed enough resistance early to keep things from getting out of hand at Kyle Field, but the Sun Devils could never clean up the mistakes that put them in a hole against Texas A&M. The Aggies turned four turnovers into points, with Marco Jones bringing back an interception 55 yards for a touchdown and Marcel Reed throwing for 163 yards and three scores as the home team controlled the game from the opening stretch.
The frustrating part for Arizona State is that the scoreboard still had some life attached to it late, even after the problems piled up. A muffed punt in the first quarter, a failed fake punt, another interception that went the other way for six and a steady stream of penalties left the Sun Devils chasing the game, and Texas A&M was able to finish the job with a burst that put the result away. [Read more 🡒]