After blowing out Kent State 30-7 last Thursday, Herm Edwards and Arizona State (1-0) host to the Sacramento State Hornets (1-0) Friday night in Tempe. The Hornets jump-started their 2019 campaign by crushing Southern Oregon 77-19 at home. The 77 points edged out the old school record by a single point (76 points scored against San Francisco in 1968). Sacramento accumulated 685 yards of offense against a Raider defense that had an extremely rough night to say the least. Things will be a lot tougher on Friday when they face a Sun Devil defense led by Kobe Williams and Merlin Robertson.
Still, there are a few Hornets that could prove dangerous Friday night:
Junior quarterback Kevin Thomson - He went off in Sacramento’s first game of the season against Southern Oregon, passing for 303 yards and slinging four touchdowns. He also avoided throwing any interceptions. Thomson showed last Saturday he can use his legs as well, adding 90 rush yards and a score to go along with his passing totals. Not known for throwing many interceptions (just one in 2018), it will be up to ASU’s defense to try and pressure Thomson into heaving up some ducks.
Sophomore wide receiver Pierre Williams - The speedy sophomore emerged as Thomson’s favorite target in the Hornets’ season opener. Williams made five catches for 140 yards (28 yards per catch), including one grab that went for a game-high 75. He also pulled in three of Thomson’s four touchdown tosses. To put things in perspective, no other Sacramento State wideout caught more than two passes. Williams should return to Earth on Friday, as Edwards will most likely stick senior captain Kobe Williams on the Hornet sophomore.
Senior defensive back Allen Perryman - Perryman led the Hornets with six tackles against the Raiders last weekend. He also reeled in an interception, one of four INTs by the Sacramento State defense in their season opener. Perryman’s 38 tackles a season ago were more than he had in his first two years with the program combined, and his numbers have improved each year since coming in as a freshman in 2016.
This will be Arizona State’s last chance to iron out any kinks before taking on a ranked Michigan State squad in East Lansing during week three. Friday’s game is set to get underway at 7 PM MST on the Pac-12 Network.