ASU’s defense has leaned on its front for answers all season, and the numbers make the problem plain. Through eight weeks of the 2026-27 campaign, the Sun Devils are giving up 29.9 points per game, which leaves them 14th in the 16-team Big 12. The trouble starts on the ground, where opponents have been able to dictate too much of the game.
That showed up clearly in ASU’s two losses, when Baylor rushed for 244 yards and Texas Tech piled up 260. It wasn’t just the volume that hurt the Sun Devils, either. Baylor averaged 6.8 yards per carry and Texas Tech averaged 7, with each team’s lead back going for more than 14 yards per attempt.
The wins tell a different story. Against Kansas, ASU gave up 179 rushing yards on 41 carries, and against Kansas State it held the Wildcats to 84 yards and 2.6 yards per carry. The Jayhawks game also stood out for workload, since those 41 rush attempts were the most the defense has seen this season.
The pass rush has been part of the puzzle, too. ASU matched its season high with three sacks against Kansas State, but the unit still sits 70th nationally with two sacks per game. Senior defensive end Jalen Thompson and freshman defensive lineman Julian Hugo have been the biggest disruptors, combining for seven of the team’s 14 sacks.
That’s a step back from last season, when the Sun Devils ranked 24th nationally with 2.62 sacks per game and 34 total. Defensive coordinator Brian Ward and Kenny Dillingham are trying to get the pressure numbers back up, but Ward says the run defense and pass rush are tied together.
"He's a guy that's incredibly well prepared, and we'd like to utilize him more by getting people more into those situations by stopping the run," Ward said about Thompson, according to Arizona Sports.
The clearest progress came against Kansas State, and it started with the basics. ASU had missed 36 tackles over the three games before that matchup, but against the Wildcats the defense delivered 73 tackles and 10 tackles for loss, both season highs. That helped keep Kansas State from chaining together long possessions or explosive plays.
Only two of KSU’s drives lasted longer than four minutes, and one of those ended in a turnover on downs. The Wildcats also produced just two plays of 20 yards or more, with the longest being a 31-yard run on the opening drive.
Dillingham said that kind of effort is exactly what he has been pushing from day one.
"The game's not hard. Know where to fit, tackle the person, cover the person.
If you get beat, you get beat. Tackle them.
Go to the next play," Dillingham said. "The guys on the back end held up, and then I thought we had great fits, and we made the tackles."
With five regular-season games left, ASU’s defense will have to keep that standard against a stretch that includes three opponents with top-half Big 12 offenses. The Sun Devils have forced only six turnovers this season, second to last in the conference, so the front seven’s work has to lead to more disruption across the board.
The rest of the team has to help, too. Freshman quarterback Jake Fette and running back Cardae Mack need to give the defense some margin, and the special teams unit has to prevent BYU from getting favorable field position.
ASU has shown it can win; now it has to do its part on all three phases and keep trusting the player next to it.
"Trusting the guys around you, doing your one-eleventh on defense," junior linebacker Martell Hughes said. "That's what we live by."
If the Kansas State performance carries over, there is at least a path for the Sun Devils to close the season with some momentum.