Devils Digest learned earlier this week before news broke Saturday afternoon that due to an injury to starting quarterback and true freshman Jaden Rashada, ASU's returning starter at signal caller junior Trenton Bourguet will make his season debut tonight in a home contest versus Fresno State. Notre Dame transfer and sophomore QB Drew Pyne is expected to rotate with Bourguet tonight as he makes his own 2023 debut. Each quarterback is expected to play two series in the first half, and the coaches will determine the rotation for the second half during halftime.
Rashada didn't practice all week due to an undisclosed injury, while Pyne returned to practice last week after a hamstring tear suffered on August 12.
Bourguet played in the teams' last five games of the 2022 season and saw action in seven contests last year. His most memorable performance was leading the Sun Devils to an upset win at home against No. 7 Washington, competing 15-21 passes for a 71.4 percent completion, three touchdowns, and an interception. The junior posted a 71 percent completion rate on the year (14 of 204), tallying 11 touchdowns and six interceptions.
In 11 games played for Notre Dame in the 2022 season, Pyne completed 64.6 percent of his passes for 2,021 yards and 22 touchdowns, throwing six interceptions. His record as a starter is 8-2, as he took over the starting duties following an 0-2 start by the team. During those ten starts, he tallied a 4-1 record against Top 25 teams. He also rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
Rashada was the only quarterback to play this season, passing for 403 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception in two games, completing 34 of his 60 pass attempts and a 56.7 percent completion rate.
Updated following the Fresno State game
Head coach Kenny Dilingahm said that Rashada aggravated a high school injury and thus will miss the next 4-6 weeks. He added that there will be an effort to preserve the true freshman's redshirt year, which means not playing him in more than two additional games this year.
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