When asked if true freshman Jayden Daniels was going to need to be eased into his first collegiate game, Likens had a simple response regarding hid signal-caller about to make his debut on Thursday night.

“We’re hitting the ground running,” Likens remarked.

The Sun Devils’ offensive coordinator went on to reference throwing in Dillon Sterling-Cole last season versus USC on the road and leading off with a long bomb on his first play.

Confidence is something that Likens showed as a first-year offensive coordinator during the 2018 season and is one that he will continue to demonstrate despite having the school’s first true freshman starting quarterback on opening day.

“I’m pretty comfortable,” Likens replied when asked about Daniels’ readiness. “Probably going to take a few things out and we all knew that going in (the game). We worked extensive drop back passing game all throughout camp and that’s going to help us in season, all throughout the season.

“We might not necessarily run some of those plays in this game, but we just wanted to work on his eyes, dropping back, pocket presence, feeling the pocket, all that stuff and just getting as many reps as possible.”

Likens’ sense of calmness in the quarterback situation is one he has shown whenever the persistent topic of quarterback came up. His trust in his freshman quarterbacks of Daniels and backup Joey Yellen have breathed a sort of confidence into not only the young signal-callers but those around the team as well.

While his assurance may help, the presence of school record holder Eno Benjamin has to help as well. The junior running back will act as a sort of failsafe for Daniels and the offense to turn to in times of need.

“When in doubt just turn around and hand it off to Eno Benjamin,” Likens said. “That kid is a get out of jail free card. You don’t have to feel the pressure and the world is not on your shoulders and so we have a good run game, we work on our run game, it’s not a secret. If we were to put a pyramid up of how we designed our offense, the bottom of that pyramid is the run game. That’s the base foundation so just trust in the base foundation.

“We have a lot of good run plays in and we feel really good about it and you don’t have to anything outside the framework of the offensive structure. Just do what you’ve been coached to do and don’t feel the pressure.”

The presence of Benjamin is one that will no doubt help ease the mind of Likens and those around the team, but ASU’s offensive coordinator still believes his freshman quarterback is mature beyond his years. Referencing Daniels’ maturity as one of the reasons he was able to win the starting job over fellow teammates Dillion Sterling-Cole and Yellen.

This sense of maturity is one that Likens senses will benefit the freshman not only on opening night, but moving forward into conference play as well.

“He’s off the charts in that area,” Likens declared. “I make it really hard for him in practice and I tell him if some little, short, 51-year-old man can get you out of your game by yelling at you, wait until you play some big games in the Pac-12. He just looks at me like I’m crazy half the time and just shakes his head, turns around and goes on to the next one. He doesn’t let me faze him; anybody faze him.”

***

The Sun Devils will play host to a Kent State team which ASU is taking extremely seriously despite a wide margin of talent discrepancy on paper. Likens referenced Kent State’s ability to stop the inside zone runs as one that will make life difficult for the team to over the ball on the ground against, an obvious strength of the Sun Devils.

“They put strong guys up front, hold the line, hold their gap in the run game,” Likens explained, “let the safeties come downhill. They got experienced linebackers doing a good job stopping the run and they commit guys to the run so you’re going to have to beat them with play-action pass, throwing the football, things like that.”

Those challenges aside, Likens believes in his team’s ability to consistently move the ball with his freshman quarterback.

“We named him first-team quarterback for a reason,” Likens stated. “Because we believe in him.”

Gonzales impressed with Daniels’ leadership and defensive growth

On the defensive side of the ball, the team will look to do their part in being the best yin to the offensive’s yang as the ground and pound approach will look to keep the Sun Devils’ defense off of the field.

As much an expected run-heavy scheme will look to cut down on the number of the snaps the defense will have and keep its legs fresh, defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales knows his group will, in turn, have a vital part in helping the offense and its newcomer signal-caller.

“He’s 18 and never played a Division I football game,” Gonzales commented of Daniels. “It’s different now. You stand down the sideline and they’re big and they’re mean and they’re nasty and they try and kill you, and he’s skinny. And they’re going to try and kill him. And so he knows what’s coming and we’ve got to protect him and our side of the ball has to do their job.”

Gonzales, echoing the comments of Likens has also been impressed with the maturity of Daniels given his mere age of 18 and has been impressed with the freshman’s ability to command an offense filled with veteran players around him.

“Leadership. The way he commands the huddle,” Gonzales described. “I get to because I sit back there behind the defense, I can get in there and listen to him command the huddle and they listen to him. He gets their attention when he’s talking. When they’re not on the ball when they’re over there on the sideline of someone isn’t paying attention, he’ll call them out.

“And when they gravitate to somebody like that and he gets their attention you have a chance.”

Leadership is a trait that Gonzales has not only noted as a strong point for Daniels, but one for this year’s defense as well. Following a 2018 campaign which was defined by a defense filled several freshman starters, a full season of experience for the now sophomores have improved the sense of leadership and have raised the expectation level for this unit.

“They understand the puzzle pieces better,” Gonzales noted. “They’re faster, stronger, play harder, they’re in better shape. I think that lends itself to us having a chance to be more successful than we were last year. They weren’t very good last year, and we have a long way to go.

“For my expectation, we have a long way to go. They understand what it is and now we have to coach them to get them there and play well.”

The dominant component of the team’s sophomore players comes in shape of the linebacking core, one that houses the team’s tackle and sack leaders. Team captain Darien Butler and fellow sophomore Merlin Robertson look to build upon a successful first year in Tempe.

“They played a ton of snaps last year,” Gonzales said. “Most in the nation for a combined linebacker corps of freshman. They’ve got a lot of experience, now they have some strength behind them now that they had a year in the weight room. So, my expectation for them, they kind of know now that they can’t ever satisfy me because when they do something even minutely wrong, I bark down their throat.

“And they’re starting to understand and take it the right way instead of getting their feelings hurt. We’re ruining society by being so nice to everybody, they’re getting their feelings hurt.”

Gonzales’ tough-minded mentality has been one that has begun to grow on the team, giving the team a certain mental edge. This attitude is one that led to Gonzales wanting to “stone” Kent State on Thursday night and is one that he will continue to bring into each and every game.

“That’s what I go into every week and when they (the opponent) get a yard it drives me crazy,” Gonzales admitted. “I hate it. They understand that our guys understand it. I think they have a lot of the same mindset.”

Gonzales didn’t have to draw upon the upset win by Hawaii over Arizona, for example, to know that Thursday night’s matchup will be no walkthrough. He pointed to Kent State’s fast-tempo offense as a formidable test for the Sun Devils’ defense.

“They go fast,” Gonzales stated. “We’ve got a great challenge. [Jo-el Shaw], the running back, ran for over 700 yards last year. They’ve got another gentleman by the name of Craig Elmore. I’ve been reading all of their stuff online. Shoot, I’m a Kent State stalker right now. Every article they’ve got I’m trying to figure out who’s doing what and how they’re doing.

“They’ve got a 5-foot-9, 230-pound running back, redshirt freshman (Elmore), that I think can come in and cause some problems. So, our boys have a great challenge ahead of them and it’s the coach's job to make sure they don’t think it’s going to be easy because Kent State is going to be a good football team coming in here”

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