A swift start was derailed quickly in ASU's 24-14 road loss to Cincinnati. Some newcomers made their return to old stomping grounds in the Queen City, while others struggled on an afternoon they won’t soon forget. Here are the performances of ASU's first-year players in that contest
(Note: all transfer players, true freshmen, redshirt freshmen regardless of if they played last year, and other players, regardless of class, who redshirted last year are the ones mentioned in this article series)
Offense
Senior quarterback Jeff Sims made his first start of the season on Saturday. His collegiate tenure has awoken a mixed bag of opinions. An impressive three-year campaign at Georgia Tech combined with a difficult stint in Nebraska created a wide range of expectations for the fifth-year player. Sims completed 12-23 passes for 155 yards in Saturday's loss. It was a tepid performance for the backup quarterback, with no turnovers while not scoring any touchdowns himself. Left tackle Joas Atkins didn't allow any sacks. Head coach Kenny Dillingham was content with Sims's performance, focusing on the other areas of the offense that lacked luster over the weekend.
“His first start didn't turn the ball over. I think, like always, he would like to have a few throws back probably, would like to throw a couple of those balls in Rhythm,” ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “In the first half, but he didn't turn the football over, we got to play better around them, we got to play better as a football team, we got to coach better all around, we didn't play great as a football team.”
The remainder of the offensive newcomers had minimal impact on the game; however, wide receiver Jordyn Tyson imposed his consistent quality, being Sims' main target and completing six catches for 108 yards.
Tight end Chamon Metayer made his return to Cincinnati. The redshirt junior played 17 games for the Bearcats over three seasons. His breakout campaign was in 2023 when he caught 23 passes for 258 yards and five touchdowns. Metayer's homecoming wasn’t as fruitful as he would've imagined, however, with a single reception for six yards.
Defense
The defensive side of the ball struggled in the first half, particularly the second quarter, giving up 24 points in 21 minutes. However, holding Cincinnati scoreless in the second half, the defensive unit was able to impose its will down the stretch.
Metayer was not the lone returner to the Queen City. Former Bearcat Justin Wotdly played for the first time in Nippert Stadium since leaving the program. The defensive lineman struggled with injury in 2023, but his best year in the red and black came in 2022 when he made 31 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss with five sacks. On Saturday, his performance was admirable, as he posted four assisted tackles.
Defensive lineman Zac Swanson has improved his namaste in the rotation up front, only making one tackle. However, the redshirt sophomore has made an improvement upfront, recording tackles in four straight games.
Linebackers Keyshaun Elliott and true freshman Martell Hughtes had solid performances over the middle as Elliott made five tackles, while Hughes looked seasoned in between the lines, tallying two assisted tackles on Saturday.
The best newcomer performances were produced by the defensive backs. Safeties Myles Rowser and Xavion Alford combined for 23 total tackles, having to make plenty of stops in the secondary. Rowser, who leads the Sun Devils in tackles on the season, led the way with seven solo tackles, more than double those of any of his teammates.
Special Teams
An unlikely case in college football occurred Saturday, as the field goal performance stole all the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Kicker Ian Hershey missed two late-game field goals to chip away at the Beacats leads. Pulling a 48-yard attempt roughly 20 yards wide of the goal post and making an identical miss, this time from 41 yards, with under two minutes to play. Dillingham's post-game comments exacerbated the misses.
“Our kicking game is atrocious,” Dillingham admitted. “So if you can kick and you're at Arizona State, email me. We're going to have kicking tryouts on Monday, I'm dead serious we're going to put it out on our social we're going to have a kicking tryout on Monday we got to find somebody who can make a field goal.
“We’re missing too many kicks. We've missed five kicks in the last what three games anyone's responsibility specifically I mean it's just mine so how am I going to fix it we got to find somebody who can kick it.”
Dillingham, a coach who has commented on his outspoken and blunt nature before, continued his dialogue on the field goal unit, understanding changes need to be made. The comments made regarding the field goal unit with hypothetical ‘tryouts’ occurring have gone viral across social media. Hours after the post-game press conference, Dillingham later apologized for his comments on X reading,
"I talked about our kicking game like I do offense/ defense," Dillingham clarified. "However, the kicking game is always directed at one player. I should not have done that, and I apologize. This team’s losses will always 100% fall on myself.’
The rest of the special teams unit performed somewhat better. True freshman Kanyon Floyd punted four times for an average of 42 yards each and wide receiver Jake Smith also returned a kickoff for 35 yards, using his speed to burst past a few Bearcats before being forced down.
Speaking of defensive backs, Saturday marked the fifth season appearance for true freshman and nickel corner Kyan McDonald, and thus he avoids a redshirt year. The season-ending injury to Oregon transfer Cole Martin has cemented McDonald in the two-deep and forced him into early season action this year.
True freshmen who exceeded four game appearances and are unable to redshirt:
P Kanyon Floyd
LB Martell Hughes
DB Kyan McDonald
Newcomer Participation List for Cincinnati Game
QB Jeff Sims
WR Jordyn Tyson
WR Jake Smith
TE Chamon Metayer
TE Markeston Douglas
TE Coleson Arends
TE Cameron Harpole
DL Roman Pitre
DL Zac Swanson
DL J.P. Deeter
DL Jeff Clark
DL Jacob Kongaika
LB Keyshaun Elliot
LB Zyrus Fiaseu
LB Martell Hughes
LB Jordan Crook
LB K’Vion Thunderbird
DB Laterrence Welch
DB Javan Robinson
DB Xavion Alford
DB Myles Rowser
DB Montana Warren
DB Adama Fall
DB Keontez Bradley
DB Kamari Wilson
DB Kyan McDonald
K Parker Lewis
K Ian Hershey
K Carston Kieffer
P Kanyon Floyd
True freshmen who recorded four or fewer game appearances and can still redshirt:
DB Rodney Bimage (two games)
RB Jason Brown (one game)
DL Albert Smith (one game)
DB Tony-Luis Nkuba (one game)
True freshmen who haven’t appeared in a game this season:
OL Terrell Kim
OL Champ Westbrooks
OL Semisi Tonga
WR Zechariah Sample
TE Jayden Fortier
TE James Giggey
DL Ramar Williams
DL Salesi Manu
DB Plas Johnson
DB Chris Johnson II
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