The Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl was not great as it did not live up to the new title sponsor’s favorite phrase.
However, there were quite a few fun moments and the Arizona State newcomers were responsible for a good amount of them.
Here is the full newcomer report:
Offense:
With Eno Benjamin declaring for the draft and sitting out the bowl game, the running back position was one with intrigue heading into the game Tuesday.
ASU was forced to use redshirt-freshman running back A.J. Carter as its starter in the game. Carter, who has been relatively ineffective this season in a backup role, did not do himself any favors moving forward with his performance in the Sun Bowl.
On the first offensive play for ASU, Carter fumbled the ball and Florida State was able to recover. On ASU’s fifth drive of the day, Carter had his best moment of the game with a 15-yard run. However, three plays later he again fumbled the ball away to Florida State.
It did not get any better from there for Carter as he dropped a pass late in quarter No. 2 which may have been a touchdown if he was able to hang on. It instead brought up a third down. The Sun Devils then settled for a field goal. Carter finished with four carries for 12 yards and no receptions.
Carter was replaced with seldom-used true freshman Demetrious Flowers. While not making any big mistakes, Flowers had just 11 carries for 31 yards.
True freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels may have had his second-worst game, after his Utah performance, of his young career. He was just 12-28 with 195 yards. He did not turn the ball over but did not have any touchdowns. He overthrew his intended targets numerous times in the game.
While being off of his game through the air, Daniels had a couple of great moments running the ball. Early in the fourth quarter, Daniels escaped for a 27-yard run and made a defender miss with a great fake pass. With the big run, Daniels extended an ASU drive ending with a field goal. After the Sun Devils’ game-winning touchdown, Daniels had a juke move two-point conversion diving into a gaggle of Seminole defenders.
One of the coolest moments of the game for the Sun Devils was when true freshman linebacker-turned-fullback Case Hatch caught his first pass as a Sun Devil for a 26-yard gain early in the second quarter. Hatch also made a tackle on special teams in the game.
Other newcomers making an impact on offense were redshirt-freshman wide receiver Geordon Porter (2 catches, eight yards), true freshman wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (one catch, 19 yards and one rush, one yard) and true freshman tight end Nolan Matthews (one catch, eight yards). Porter caught what would have been his first career touchdown in the first half but it was waived off due to an illegal man down field.
Defense:
On defense, the fresh face who made the biggest impact was true freshman safety, Willie Harts. Harts, filling in for usual starter Cam Phillips who did not make the trip for undisclosed reasons, made the biggest play of the game for the Sun Devils. About a third of the way through the fourth quarter with the Sun Devils trailing 14-12, Harts intercepted a James Blackman pass and took it to the end zone 25-yards for six points.
“To be honest, I really didn’t see anything,” Harts said. “I just played where coach (Tony) White wanted me too…”
Harts’ pick-six gave the Sun Devils the lead and proved to be the decisive touchdown. Harts finished with three total tackles, the interception returned for a touchdown and a forced fumble.
Roe Wilkins, the graduate transfer from Rice, had a solid game as well for the Sun Devils. The redshirt-senior had three tackles (two solo) and a sack.
A surprising performance Tuesday was the performance of true freshman safety Kejuan Markham. Markham, who only saw action in seven games this season and had just one pass defended all year, showed great pursuit breaking up a pass on a would have been a walk-in touchdown for D.J. Matthews on a Blackman deep throw.
Other defensive newcomers making an impact were redshirt-junior USC transfer Jack Jones (two solo tackles), junior college transfer T.J. Pesefea (two solo tackles), true freshman defensive back Jordan Clark (four solo tackles in return from sports hernia injury) and true freshman linebacker Elijah Juarez (two solo tackles).
A negative on defense for the ASU young guns in the game was a 91-yard touchdown reception by FSU receiver Tamorrion Terry. Terry burned redshirt-junior Baylor transfer Timarcus Davis on the play. Davis did have a solo tackle and a pass breakup in the game.
Special Teams:
On special teams, redshirt-sophomore punter Michael Turk was again the star for the Sun Devils among the fresh faces. The Lafayette transfer averaged 45.8 yards per punt on his eight punts in the game. Two of his punts were over 50 yards, including a 64-yarder. Four of his punts fell inside the 20 yard-line.
Redshirt-junior Kicker Cristian Zendejas capped off his first season as ASU’s starting kicker going 4-4 on field goals. Zendejas was huge for the Sun Devils making kicks of 40, 26, 24 and 34 yards.
With wide receiver and usual kick and punt returner Brandon Aiyuk also sitting out the bowl game for NFL draft reasons, Porter returned kicks and Jones returned punts.
Other newcomers seeing time in the game were true freshman quarterback Ethan Long (threw a pass that didn’t count officially due to an FSU pass interference call), true freshman defensive back Keon Markham, redshirt-freshman offensive lineman Spencer Lovell, redshirt-freshman offensive lineman Ralph Frias, true freshman wide receiver Andre Johnson, redshirt-freshman defensive end Michael Matus, true freshman defensive lineman Anthonie Cooper, true freshman left tackle LaDarius Henderson (started), true freshman right guard Dohonovan West (started), true freshman wide receiver Jordan Kerley and true freshman defensive lineman Stephon Wright.
True freshmen who played in all 13 games
OL Dohnovan West
WR Jordan Kerley
WR Ricky Pearsall
LB Case Hatch
LB Elijah Juarez
True freshmen who have played less than 13 games
S Willie Harts (11 games)
QB Jayden Daniels (12 games)
TE Nolan Matthews (12 games)
LT LaDarius Henderson (10 games)
ATH Ethan Long (10 games)
DB Kejuan Markham (8 games)
True freshmen who played in less than 5 games this year and thus redshirted
RB Demetrious Flowers (2 games)
LB Fritzny Niclasse (4 games)
S Connor Soelle (1 game)
CB Jordan Clark (2 games)
WR Andre Johnson (4 games)
DL Stephon Wright (4 games)
DE Amiri Johnson (4 games)
DL Anthonie Cooper (1 game)
True freshmen who did not play this year
OL Ben Scott
OL Roman DeWys
OL Alijah Bates
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