Newcomer Report
It was one of the wildest games in ASU history Saturday night as the Arizona State football team defeated the No. 6 Oregon Ducks 31-28, ending the Ducks’ College Football Playoff hopes.
The newcomers, especially true freshman Jayden Daniels, were a huge part of the shocking victory.
Here is the full newcomer report:
Offense
On the offensive side of the ball, the newcomer who shined the most by far was Daniels. The quarterback, who was playing high school football last fall, outplayed Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert, a player projected to go in the top-10 of the 2020 NFL draft.
Daniels started his night going 12-12. He did not miss a receiver until 11 seconds remaining in the second quarter. He finished his first half 12-14 with 191 yards and a touchdown. Herbert finished just 8-14 with 111 yards and no touchdowns in the half.
What was impressive with Daniels on Saturday was his deep ball accuracy. It all started on ASU’s second drive of the game when Daniels threw a perfectly placed ball to wideout Frank Darby for a 57-yard touchdown.
The deep ball accuracy continued in the second half. After struggling in the third quarter, completing just seven of his 14 passes, Daniels found his first-half magic again in the fourth quarter.
With 12:43 remaining in the game, Daniels placed a ball even more perfectly into the arms of Frank Darby, who was interfered with on the play, for a 26-yard score.
Daniels put the dagger in the Ducks’ hopes with yet another amazing deep ball to his most reliable wide receiver this season, Brandon Aiyuk , for an 81-yard touchdown strike with 3:54 to go in the ball game to put ASU up 31-21.
ASU would not have won the game without the play of Daniels. He found his receivers when they were open and showed a noticeable improvement from earlier in the season on his deep ball accuracy.
Daniels continued to find Frank Darby who now has seven touchdowns in his last four games. It seemed as though Daniels and Darby were not on the same page in the first portion of the season but there is no question now about their chemistry.
Daniels finished his day 22-32 with a career-high 408 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. His numbers were far and away better than Herbert’s 20-36, 304 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.
While he did not have one of his better rushing performances with just eight carries for 10 yards, Daniels was smart with the football, taking just two sacks and scrambling out of the pocket when he needed to to avoid disaster. He was able to mostly avoid hits as he has been able to do all season and while his numbers did not show it, his legs were a big factor in the success of the ASU offense.
There were two other freshmen who made a small impact on offense in the game.
True freshman wide receiver Jordan Kerley had two grabs for 10 yards in the game and true freshman tight end Nolan Matthews had a catch for two yards.
On an interesting note, ASU started true freshman linebacker Case Hatch at fullback and played him a small number of plays at the position.
On a negative note, ASU true freshman left tackle Ladarius Henderson was called for a false start on the third drive of the game for ASU.
Defense
Defensively, it was USC-transfer Jack Jones’ shall we say "interesting" game making the headlines for the newcomers on defense.
The redshirt-junior had one of his classic up and down contests, he has come to be known for in his short time in Tempe.
After being called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from the sidelines when the Sun Devils were on offense early in the game and being beat on a throw he nearly picked off, he came back to make a crucial pass breakup and then an interception to set up the second Frank Darby score early in quarter No. 4.
Another transfer making an impact both positively and negatively in the game was the redshirt-senior transfer from Rice, Roe Wilkins.
Wilkins started in place of the injured George Lea and had a half of a sack as part of three total tackles in the game. However, he was whistled for a bad roughing the passer call that gave Oregon a first down on a Ducks’ touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
Redshirt-freshman Cam Phillips had maybe the most consistent game on defense for the ASU young guns on Saturday. The safety had a team-high 10 total tackles in the game.
A fascinating piece of information was true freshman safety Willie Harts’ absence from the lineup. He had played in every game so far this season.
Special Teams
The star for the ASU fresh faces on special teams was yet again redshirt-sophomore punter Michael Turk. Turk had five punts for 200 yards, including a 53-yarder and a punt that pinned Oregon at their own 5-yard line.
Redshirt-sophomore kicker Cristian Zendejas had a solid night as well, going 3-3 on field goal attempts. However, his range was not tested as his longest kick was 28-yards.
Handling the kickoff duties again for the Sun Devils was junior college transfer, Kevin Macias. He was solid the entire game and allowed no big returns for Oregon.
Other newcomers seeing playing time in the thrilling upset were redshirt-sophomore Baylor transfer Timarcus Davis, redshirt-freshman wide receiver Geordon Porter, true freshman wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (1 target), redshirt-freshman running back A.J. Carter, true freshman linebacker Elijah Juarez (came in on defense in four linebacker sets), sophomore junior college transfer T.J. Pesefea, true freshman Fritzny Niclasse (1 total tackle), redshirt-freshman offensive lineman Spencer Lovell, redshirt-freshman offensive lineman Ralph Frias, true freshman wideout Andre Johnson, redshirt-freshman defensive end Michael Matus, redshirt-junior junior college transfer Erik Dickerson and true freshman offensive lineman Dohnovan West (started at right guard).
True freshmen who played in all 11 games
OL Dohnovan West
WR Jordan Kerley
WR Ricky Pearsall
LB Case Hatch
LB Elijah Juarez
True freshmen who have played less than 11 games
S Willie Harts (10 games)
QB Jayden Daniels (10 games)
TE Nolan Matthews (10 games)
LT LaDarius Henderson (9 games)
ATH Ethan Long (9 games)
DB Kejuan Markham (7 games)
True freshmen who played in less than 5 games but are NOT expected to redshirt
DE Amiri Johnson (4)
DL Stephon Wright (3)
True freshmen who played in less than 5 games but are expected to redshirt
QB Joey Yellen (1)
RB Demetrious Flowers (1)
LB Fritzny Niclasse (4)
S Connor Soelle (1)
CB Jordan Clark Played (1) **recovering from sports hernia
WR Andre Johnson (3)
True freshmen who have yet to play this year
OL Ben Scott
OL Roman DeWys
OL Alijah Bates
DL Anthonie Cooper
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