It was another painful loss to a Los Angeles school on Saturday for the Arizona State football team as the Sun Devils dropped to 0-2 on the season.
While not performing up to their full potential in the game, the ASU newcomers were much improved from the Sun Devils’ first matchup against USC on Nov. 7.
Offense
On the offensive side of the ball, the young guns who again shined the most were running backs Chip Trayanum and Rachaad White.
Trayanum again showed that despite being a true freshman, he is ready for Pac-12 competition. He carried the ball 15 times for a career-high 108 yards, an average of 7.2 yards per attempt.
“Chip is getting better and better,” said ASU quarterback Jayden Daniels. “Each and every day, each and every week. Every game he (continues) to build. That kid is special.”
White, the junior college transfer from Mt. San Antonio Community College in Walnut, California, had seven carries for 53 yards and three catches for 53 yards. His 51-yard reception on a trick play from wide receiver Ricky Pearsall early in the third quarter was the highlight of the night for the Sun Devils.
The young wideouts showed drastic improvements for the Sun Devils on Saturday.
Redshirt-freshman wide receiver Andre Johnson had his first career catch in the game midway through the first quarter. The play went for 35 yards and was the longest completion to a wide receiver on the season for ASU. Johnson then had a 39-yard touchdown reception later in the game, but it was called back due to graduate-transfer Kellen Diesch clearly being an ineligible man down the field.
Wideout Johnny Wilson showed up ready to go on Saturday. The true freshman, who did not record a single reception against USC, made his presence known against the Bruins. He recorded four catches for 39 yards. He converted a two-point try but was not up to the line of scrimmage when the play was run, and ASU was whistled for an illegal formation, negating the two-point conversion.
Another true freshman wide receiver performing well on Saturday was LV Bunkley-Shelton. He equaled his reception total against USC with four more against UCLA. However, he increased his receiving yards output from 28 against the Trojans to 43 against the Bruins.
“They got the first game jitters out of them,” Daniels stated. “We just been practicing. Been working on building more chemistry.”
A newcomer with a particularly rough night on the offensive side of the ball was tight end, Kyle Horn. UMass's graduate transfer did not record a single reception while picking up two holding penalties, one of which was on a Jayden Daniels run to the UCLA one-yard line.
Defense
On defense, the fresh face showing out the most for ASU was redshirt-freshman defensive back Jordan Clark, who filled in for the suspended Jack Jones on Saturday.
Clark had five total tackles in the game, four of which were solo. And he had perhaps the biggest defensive play for the Sun Devils when he chased down UCLA running back Brittain Brown to save a potential touchdown.
An ASU newcomer with somewhat of a difficult day on defense was Boise State transfer, DeAndre Pierce. The safety had a pass interference penalty late in the fourth quarter, giving UCLA a fresh set of downs on the ASU three-yard line. ASU then had to allow UCLA running back Demetric Felton to score a touchdown on the next play in order for the Sun Devils to have enough time to drive down the field to try and tie or win the game.
Special Teams
Special teams were interesting for ASU from a newcomer standpoint.
Late in the first quarter, ASU starting kicker Cristian Zendejas missed a 45-yard field goal that would have given ASU the 3-0 lead at the end of one. This made the ASU coaching staff decide on a switch at kicker. And on ASU’s next field goal attempt with time expiring in the first half, redshirt-freshman Jack Luckhurst boomed a 49-yard field goal for the Sun Devils’ longest made field goal since Brandon Ruiz made a 44-yarder in the 2018 Las Vegas Bowl.
“(Jack) Luckhurst comes in and makes two kicks for us,” Edwards described. “He’s been the guy that’s been kicking the ball and never getting an opportunity, and he kicked a long one too. He has a leg; you can’t argue with his leg strength; just sometimes, it doesn’t always go through the pipes. But in a pressure moment when we needed points, he put some points on the board for us and gave us momentum and came back and made another big one.”
Florida State transfer Logan Tyler again handled the kickoff duties for ASU on Saturday and again did not show off the leg strength he was known for at FSU. He averaged 48.3 yards on three kickoffs and had no touchbacks, leaving him with just one touchback on nine kickoffs in the first two games.
The standout young player for ASU on special teams was true freshman D.J. Taylor. Making his debut as a kick returner, Taylor had a 42-yard kick return to set up the Luckhurst field goal. He would have gone even further if not for being illegally tripped by UCLA’s James Dinneen.
“D.J. did a marvelous job,” Edwards remarked. “I don’t think he knows it yet, but he’s our kick returner. Another little freshman guy went out there, and he showed off. I don’t know if you all have interviewed this young man, but do it one day and see the delight he has and his personality; it’s radiant. He’s always smiling. One day I looked at him and said, ‘This is your first time returning kicks, right?’ And he said yes, and said he’s going to return one back for me. I tell you, if they didn’t get him back on the one, he might’ve ran one back. He is a special guy with the ball in his hand.”
Other newcomers seeing the field for the Sun Devils on Saturday were freshman running back Daniyel Ngata, redshirt-freshman defensive lineman Stephon Wright, freshman linebacker Will Shaffer, freshman linebacker Dylan DeVito, graduate transfer tight end John Stivers, graduate transfer right guard Henry Hattis, redshirt-freshman right tackle Ben Scott and redshirt-freshman defensive lineman Anthonie Cooper.
