LONDON - Arizona State’s trip across the Atlantic ended with a win, but the Sun Devils didn’t exactly cruise home from Wembley Stadium feeling whole.
They did, however, get the kind of sequence Kenny Dillingham has been preaching since arriving in Tempe. The middle eight belonged to ASU, and it swung the game.
After Kansas had tied things up, senior wideout Jaren Hamilton ripped off a 100-yard kickoff return to open the second half and flip the crowd and the scoreboard at once. That touchdown pushed ASU to a 17-7 lead and set the tone for a 24-17 victory in the Union Jack Classic.
“Right before the play, I just had a feeling, like deep in my soul,” Hamilton said. “I just knew something was gonna happen.
And any time I get the ball, I just have a feeling that I can do great things with it. So when I got it, I just knew I was gonna take it all the way, and that's what happened.”
That play was part of a dominant stretch that defined the afternoon. A little before halftime, junior punter Nick McLarty pinned Kansas at its own 2-yard line on 4th-and-18.
The ASU defense forced a three-and-out, then the Jayhawks’ punt went only 17 yards, giving the Sun Devils the ball at the Kansas 25. From there, junior quarterback Cutter Boley found senior wideout Reed Harris on a 25-yard touchdown to send ASU into the break with a 10-7 edge.
“Nick did an absolutely phenomenal job tonight, and he's fun to watch, man,” Dillingham said. “That guy's like energetic.
He's got passion for the game. So, I'm glad we have him.”
Sophomore defensive lineman Hyrum Vaeono later added a 77-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter, another back-breaking play in a game ASU needed every one of. “Big big time players make big time plays. So I'm not surprised that he did, but yeah, it was big.”
The middle eight has been a real ASU marker. In its 2024 run to a Big 12 title, the Sun Devils outscored opponents 63-13 in that stretch through their first nine games, ranking No. 14 nationally at the time. Three games into this season, they’ve already outscored opponents 31-3 in the middle eight.
“Yeah, that was huge,” Dillingham said. “14-point swing there. So that was critical in the game. Like I said, we needed every point.”
That was the good news. The rest of the offensive picture was rough.
Dillingham didn’t spend much time hunting for bright spots after the game, and he wasn’t really able to find many.
“Not many offensive positives,” Dillingham said. “But if you were to say offensive positives, if I'm going to reach for some deep in the pocket, you know, winning the end of the first half and controlling the ball at the end of the game are what wins games. … So if there were any positives there offensively, it was that the situations, the offense won the situations that win games.”
ASU’s offense never found much rhythm against Kansas. Boley finished 11 of 23 for 95 yards and a touchdown, his worst statistical outing in a game where he attempted more than 15 passes. The Sun Devils were outgained 414-228 and also lost the ground battle 179-133.
Even so, they got what mattered most: a win in their conference opener and the Union Jack Classic crown.
“The thing I was proud of was we found a way to win,” Dillingham said. “Last week, we won the stats and lost the game.
Give me losing the stats and winning the game 100 times out of 100. So I was glad that we found a way to win, even if it was ugly.”
The victory came with a cost. ASU’s offensive injury list grew again, and that’s a problem with a bye week giving way to a brutal run of nine games in nine weeks.
Tight end Khamari Anderson and offensive lineman Rob Lapuaho both left the game hurt. Anderson exited in the first quarter and was later seen on the sideline in a walking boot and using crutches.
“He's probably going to be out for a significant amount of time, unfortunately,” Dillingham said on Anderson. “I'll have more updates when we get back across the pond.”
Anderson’s setback stings even more because he had already missed nearly all of fall camp while recovering from a fractured right fibula suffered in an April scrimmage. His absence leaves a thin tight end room even thinner. Junior James Giggey stepped in after Anderson went down, but he picked up penalties on back-to-back drives in the first two series after the injury.
Lapuaho also left after filling in for injured starter Wade Helton. He was replaced by junior Leni Lapuaho and appeared to be favoring his right ankle after the play. Helton was expected to miss several weeks with a lower leg injury, Dillingham said last Saturday, which leaves ASU with more questions up front heading into the break.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier after that. The Sun Devils will face two of the Big 12’s strongest defenses in a three-week span, with No.
13 Texas Tech and No. 11 BYU looming in mid-to-late October.
“Toughness is a core value of what I always want our football teams to look like,” Dillingham said. “I think our offense tried to play with it. But we're just not showing up at the rate we need it to right now.”
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