Career rushing night by Jayden Daniels propels ASU in convincing victory

DeaMonte Trayanum’s ankle injury didn’t slow down No. 23 Arizona State from maintaining its identity as a run-first team. Jayden Daniels rushed for a career-high 125 yards, and the Sun Devils beat the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 37-10, moving to 2-0 on the season.

Daniels did not hesitate to take off with the football Saturday night, even during instances when he had a clean pocket. When the middle of the field was open, and ASU’s receivers cleared out its opponent’s linebackers, Daniels was quick to leave his linemen behind and attack the open space.

“If they’re going to give me those opportunities, then I’m going to take them,” Daniels said. “As long as we can stay on the field and as long as I can help the team win, I’m going to do whatever it takes.”

While Daniels moved the chains effectively with his legs, head coach Herm Edwards hoped to see him rely on his rushing ability a bit less than what was on display tonight. Edwards said the 13 rushing attempts from the star quarterback were “too much” and that the team needs to be careful exposing Daniels to big hits.

“It’s good, but not so good,” Edwards said as he reflected on the stat sheet from Saturday’s game. “I don’t want him running that much; that’s too many runs for him, to be quite honest. But he helped win us the game with his legs.”

The rest of the backfield enjoyed a productive night as well. Rachaad White rushed 22 times for 90 yards and two touchdowns, punching both scores in from inside the 10-yard line. Daniyel Ngata was efficient when he replaced White in the backfield, notching six attempts for 64 yards and a score of his own while averaging a team-high 10.7 yards per carry. Ngata might have garnered more carries if he had not been knocked out of the game in the third quarter with a thumb injury. The freshman later returned to the game.

The versatility from Daniels did seem to open up things in the air. Daniels completed 20 of 29 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns, although his night got off to a rough start when he threw an interception on the offenses’ first possession. After driving into the red zone, Daniels lofted the ball to Johnny Wilson on an end-zone fade, but the ball was placed on the wrong shoulder. UNLV cornerback Nohl Williams stepped in front of the 6-7 receiver and made the interception.

However, the duo bounced back when Daniels returned to Wilson on the next drive. On 3rd-and-Goal from the 3-yard line, Wilson cut inside and found a hole in the middle of the end zone. Daniels was off-target again, but Wilson was able to stretch back and corral the low throw.

Daniels’ second touchdown pass was a much better throw. LV Bunkley-Shelton shook his defender with a nifty double move and became wide open toward the left side of the field. Daniels delivered the throw before the defensive back could recover, which allowed Bunkley-Shelton to finesse his way into the end zone. The freshman receiver said he anticipated the score before he even left the huddle.

“As soon as I heard the play, I knew exactly what was going to happen,” Bunkley-Shelton said. “I saw the corner — he was playing kind of a Cover 3 look — so I knew that if I went vertical, he was going to have to take it. No matter how hard or how weak the post was, he had to respect it. And as soon as I broke out, I just saw him pass my face, and the rest is history.”

The touchdown held much more significance than just six points. The receiver lost his father, Michael Shelton Jr., over the offseason. Ahead of fall camp, Bunkley-Shelton traded numbers with fellow receiver Geordon Porter so he could honor his father by wearing No. 6. When Bunkley-Shelton dove into the end zone; he fulfilled a promise he made following the 2020 season.

“It meant everything,” Bunkley-Shelton said. “I told him next season before he passed I was going to score for him. And then when he passed, I just always thought about it.”

The chemistry in the passing game was noticeably improved during ASU’s second game of the season, but it also didn’t escape without its low moments. At the halfway mark of the third quarter, Bunkley-Shelton and White dropped passes on identical back-to-back bubble screens. Daniels sailed his ensuing third-down pass behind Wilson on the next play.

The Sun Devils are still on a quest to achieve consistency passing the football, and Edwards and Co. will continue to evaluate until the offense reaches a balanced state.

“It’s a B-minus,” Edwards said on the passing game’s performance. “It’s got to improve, and I think it will improve. It’s the sixth game with these guys, one thing to do it in practice and another to do it in the game, so it’s been six times so far.”

On the defensive side of the ball, it was another dominant performance. After allowing 136 yards in the first quarter, the Sun Devils tightened up for 19 yards across the remaining two quarters. UNLV quarterback Doug Brumfield completed just six passes for 60 yards, and the defense held running back Charles Williams to 35 yards on the ground. Two weeks before, Williams gashed Eastern Washington for 177 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Senior cornerback Chase Lucas was impressed with the defense’s patrol of the passing game, but understands the need for the unit to adapt, specifically when the signal-caller tucks the ball.

“I think we were doing what we were supposed to the entire game,” Lucas said. “UNLV’s quarterback was finding lanes to scramble, but after halftime, we talked to one another and said we were going to set up a spy on the quarterback, which worked in our favor to get the pressure that we needed to give our offense the ball. We did a great job in the end, but we have to start better defensively.”

Lucas also itched for a turnover, something ASU did not record Saturday after securing 38 takeaways over the team’s last twelve games. But the defense stayed keen hunting the quarterback. Darien Butler led the pass rush with two sacks, while Tyler Johnson and Gharin Stansbury contributed solo efforts. BJ Green and Kyle Soelle shared a sack.

The defense will look to continue their dominance against a tougher opponent in BYU next weekend. The Cougars are hoping to ride the momentum of their victory over Utah Saturday, which ended a nine-game losing streak for the program. For Edwards, the mentality right now is all about getting the entire team situated.

“This third game is going to be a little bit different,” Edwards said. “We just were trying to get some young guys in the game, so we don't want to make it too much on their plate right, but we're still trying to build our nucleus of what we want to do offensively and defensively.”

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