Instant Recap: No. 25 Arizona State vs. Southern Utah

The Logan Tyler opening kick off went out of bounds to open the game, but it did get better (maybe not for the special teams) from there. Led by the dynamic backfield of Rachaad White and DeaMonte Trayanum, Arizona State (1-0) beat Southern Utah (0-2) 41-14 on Thursday.

White and Trayanum finished the game combining for 110 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Each running back had a highlight run into the end zone. White benefited from a huge hole on a fourth-and-1 play in the first quarter, taking it in from 26 yards out. Trayanum showed a few nice moves on his second touchdown score on his 20-yard run.

Trayanum did limp off the field in the third quarter and never returned.

Daniyel Ngata got the bulk of the carries in the fourth quarter. He added a 9-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. He finished with 37 yards on 11 carries.

The first non-running back touchdown still came on a rush. Ricky Pearsall showed his skills running a reverse to increase the lead to 34-7 to start the second half. He also hauled in two receptions for 27 yards.

Jayden Daniels and the passing attack didn’t show a ton in the win. Despite opening the game throwing a 31-yard deep ball to Andre Johnson, Thursday’s win left more to be desire out of the passing game. Daniels finished the contest 10 for 12 for 132 yards through the air. He also left the game with what appeared to be cramps.

The defense forced four turnovers for the Sun Devils. Darien Butler, who had a tremendous game and added five tackles, picked off two balls. DeAndre Pierce intercepted a ball on the first drive. Jack Jones also forced a fumbled.

The special teams did not have a special performance. Tyler had an extra point blocked and missed another one. The receiving team let Southern Utah recover a kickoff in the first half. There was a roughing the punter call that allowed a first down. On the bright side, Eddie Czaplicki’s first career punt in place of Michael Turk pinned Southern Utah at its own 1-yard line.

The penalties were also very bad for the Sun Devils. Highlighted by a targeting call that got Tyler Johnson ejected, Arizona State committed 12 penalties for a total of 104 yards. That has to be cleaned up along with special teams going forward.

Arizona State won easily, but it was far from pretty.