TEMPE - Arizona State didn’t just beat Kansas State on Saturday. It rode a quarterback shuffle, a sideline chorus of “we want Fette,” and a fourth-quarter burst from a freshman into a 28-17 win that felt every bit like a team searching for the right spark and finally finding it.
The Sun Devils’ night was already unsettled when sixth-year quarterback Mikey Keene went down after taking a hard hit with just under 30 seconds left in the first half. Keene had gone 10 for 20 for 160 yards and helped build a four-point halftime edge, but he stayed on the ground and grabbed his leg, sending concern through the ASU crowd.
The reaction from the stands came fast. Chants for freshman Jake Fette broke out, loud enough to make the choice feel less like a coaching decision and more like a public demand. Kenny Dillingham went a different direction first, bringing in Cutter Boley, who had started the previous six games.
That only intensified the noise.
Three ASU drives later, Kansas State had slipped ahead 17-14, and Dillingham finally made the switch fans had been calling for. Fette entered late in the third quarter, and the freshman finished the game by leading two scoring drives that helped lock up a much-needed victory for ASU, which had dropped two of its last three.
“We wanted some energy,” Dillingham said about the freshman, who had fewer than 10 real reps in practice during the week. “We felt like there was a lull.
You could see it with the guys on the sideline. We’re a team that can’t get into those lulls.
We can be suffocated by them at times.
“Jake’s got that look in his eye. Jake’s got the swagger, the confidence when he moves around. We just wanted the spark there with Jake.”
Keene had earned the start after a strong showing the week before in Lubbock against Texas Tech, and the Arizona native played most of the first half Saturday, taking all but four snaps before leaving. Dillingham said he was pleased with what Keene brought.
“He was juiced,” Dillingham said. “He was out there, playing football in his hometown, 20 minutes from where he grew up.
He scored 14 points early. We’re moving.
We feel the vibe. He played really well.
His leadership was good.”
Once Keene exited, Boley’s stint was brief. He played only 14 snaps, with 10 of them coming in the third quarter, and ASU’s offense stalled after freshman running back Cardae Mack opened the second half with a 13-yard run. Boley then directed three straight three-and-outs.
“I’m always going to defend our players,” Dillingham said. “I don’t care.
My players are first. I protect my players to my core.
It’s me and my team first.”
None of the three quarterbacks spoke afterward.
The energy shifted again once Fette took over. After ASU forced a turnover on downs, the defense came off the field ready to hand the freshman the room he needed.
“Coming off the field, we just told him to protect the ball,” junior linebacker Martell Hughes said. “We’re riding behind him.”
Fette wasn’t the only freshman making noise. Mack turned in a huge day from the backfield, pairing with the quarterbacks all afternoon before scoring twice in the fourth quarter. He finished with 166 scrimmage yards and four rushing touchdowns, the most by an ASU freshman since Leon Burton had five in 1955.
“They’re all amazing quarterbacks,” Mack said. “They all do their job.
They all work hard in practice. They’re all ready when their time is called.”
Dillingham still made it clear that putting a freshman quarterback into a close game in the fourth quarter is not a move made lightly. But with Fette, he saw enough poise to trust him in the moment.
“You could see his poise and you could see how calm he was back there in the game,” Dillingham said. “Getting prepared mentally week in and week out and preparing like he was going to play, I think it (paid off).”
He also acknowledged the risks of putting a young quarterback in that kind of spot.
“You want to do everything you can to protect really good freshmen at the quarterback position,” Dillingham said. “You never want to put them in a position that can ruin them, which sometimes you can do to quarterbacks. … But at the end of the game, we felt like he gave us the best chance to win because of his confidence.”
That confidence earned Fette the next turn. Dillingham said that barring any major changes to Keene’s health, Fette will start next weekend in Provo, Utah, against No. 2 BYU.
And Dillingham isn’t easing him into that one.
“It’s just one of the best environments you’ll get to play in college football,” Dillingham said. “It doesn’t get much louder or disruptive than this one.
“Throw them into the fire. I mean, here we go.”
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