Arizona State heads to College Station in Week 2 with a chance to make some noise against Texas A&M, and the Sun Devils will need a few key players to deliver if they want to leave Kyle Field with a win.
The matchup comes after both teams opened the season last week, with Arizona State coming off a victory over Morgan State. Now the challenge gets real for Kenny Dillingham’s group, and the path to an upset starts with turnovers and a defense that can make life uncomfortable for Mike Elko’s Aggies. If that happens, the offense gets a better chance to find its rhythm.
One of the biggest names to keep an eye on is Omarion Miller, who looks like Arizona State’s most NFL-ready wide receiver. He played in 27 games over three seasons and finished his time with Colorado with 66 receptions for 1,258 yards and 120 touchdowns. He brings the kind of speed and explosiveness that can flip a game fast, and Texas A&M’s secondary, including Marcus Ratcliffe and Dalton Brooks, will have to stay locked in.
Miller is more than just a deep threat. He can work vertically, he has a strong catch radius, and once the ball is in his hands, he can create yards after the catch. That makes him a major problem for Lyle Hemphill’s defense, especially if No. 4 gets room to accelerate.
On the other side of the ball, CJ Fite looks like the kind of defender Arizona State wants setting the tone. The 6-foot-2 senior from Tatum, Texas, has spent all three of his college seasons in Tempe and has become a disruptive force for Dillingham’s defense. He is viewed as one of the unit’s anchors, and his presence has a way of lifting the players around him.
Arizona State will need Fite to help slow down Texas A&M’s run game. With four of the five Aggies offensive linemen new, there’s a chance someone will have to find him quickly or even help with a double team.
Fite’s ability to play with leverage against the run, along with his reputation as a tackling machine and a projected top 100 pick, makes him a central piece in this matchup. Through his time in Tempe, he has recorded 74 total tackles, 40 solo tackles, 34 assists, three sacks and passes defended, and he’ll be aiming to bring pressure on quarterback Marcel Reed.
Then there’s Cutter Boley, the junior quarterback who arrived at Arizona State after spending a few years at Kentucky. In two seasons in Lexington, he completed 224 of 354 passes for 2,498 yards, posting a 63.3 completion percentage and averaging 7.1 yards per attempt. Arizona State is counting on him to help push the offense forward and move the program back toward the College Football Playoff.
Boley’s arm strength stands out, especially when he’s taking shots downfield and fitting passes into tight windows. But this game will also test how comfortable he looks in a new system.
He is expected to work plenty of play action, and while he is not known as a major dual-threat quarterback, he can use his legs and tuck the ball and run when needed. That part of his game could matter against Texas A&M.
In Other News...
Rival Coach Just Turned LSUs SEC Controversy Into A Bigger Story
Mike Elko did not need much prompting to weigh in on LSUs recent run-in with the SEC, and the Texas A&M coach used a pointed analogy to describe what happened around Baton Rouge. Speaking after LSUs dispute with the league over its attempt to roster former NFL players, Elko compared the episode to a child pushing limits before the consequences arrive, a sharp way to frame a controversy that briefly had the Tigers staring at possible expulsion.
The SEC ultimately backed off after LSU filled those roster spots with eligible student-athletes and severed ties with the former NFL rookies, defusing a situation that had threatened to become much bigger. Elko said he expects things to settle down and LSU to remain in the league, but his remarks added another layer to a strange little saga that already had the SEC office and one of Texas A&Ms biggest rivals in the middle of it. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Elko Just Turned Up Texas A&Ms LSU Tension Again
Mike Elko has a way of making the SECs biggest rivalries sound a little more personal, and his latest remarks only added to the edge around Texas A&Ms meeting with LSU. The Aggies coach drew a comparison between the conferences disciplinary response and a parent correcting a child, a blunt way of saying LSU is being kept in check as the league weighs the fallout from the Tigers offseason activity.
For Texas A&M, it is the kind of comment that keeps an old SEC tension simmering in public view rather than letting it fade into the background. With future games between the Aggies and LSU looming, Elkos framing only sharpens the sense that this is about more than one isolated conference issue, because the rivalry already has enough history without needing any extra fuel. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M Is Bringing Back One Of Kyle Fields Most Meaningful Traditions
Texas A&M will add a familiar layer of meaning to its upcoming Red, White and Blue Game against Arizona State at Kyle Field, using the matchup to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The Aggies are planning to wear special red, white and blue helmets and gloves, reviving a tradition that stretches back to the years immediately after 2001 and has long tied the programs on-field presence to a larger moment of remembrance.
The game has also carried a charitable side in the past, with previous Red, White and Blue Games helping raise funds for organizations connected to 9/11 relief efforts. For a fan base that values the symbolism attached to Kyle Field traditions, this one will once again be about more than just the opponent across the field. [Read more 🡒]