Everything is bigger in Texas. That won’t change this Saturday in Dallas.
Once picked to finish last in their premiere season in the Big 12, No. 15 Arizona State (10-2, 7-2) has surpassed all expectations to become the top seed in the Big 12 Championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. No. 16 Iowa State (10-2, 7-2) will aim to stop the red-hot Sun Devils, and potentially snatch a College Football Playoff bid out from under them.
Though they are now conference foes, this is the first time the Cyclones and Sun Devils have ever faced off with each other. Iowa State has only appeared in the Big 12 title game once before. A Brock Purdy-led Cyclones team suffered a 27-21 defeat at the hand of then-No.10 Oklahoma back in 2020.
Arizona State has won five straight entering the contest, including ranked wins against No. 18 BYU and Kansas State, and most recently, a 49-7 thumping of rival Arizona.
While everything had been trending toward the Sun Devils, they finally caught a bit of bad luck in last week’s blowout. Standout redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jordyn Tyson suffered an injury that will sideline him for the remainder of the season.
Tyson has been far and away the biggest weapon for the ASU passing game, nearly doubling the rest of the wideouts in catches and yards this season. He amassed 75 catches, 1,101 yards, and 10 touchdowns for freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt this season. Iowa State has allowed an average of 156.9 passing yards per game this season, good for third-best in the nation. It will be the biggest test for Leavitt this season without his top target.
“I’m not worried about the nerves,” Leavitt told reporters. “I’m just super excited. I mean, I get to go play on this stage. This is what you dream about when you are a little kid.”
Head coach Kenny Dillingham isn’t backing down from the challenge, citing the adversity the team has already dealt with this season.
“I’m excited,” Dillingham told reporters. “We’ve played a game without [Cam Skattebo]. We’ve played a game without Sam…I’m excited to see the guys step up. We’ll have to look a little bit different, obviously. I guess there’s some advantages because you have to get a variety of people the ball. Nobody can just replace [Tyson].”
Without Tyson, the Sun Devils will lean more often on redshirt senior wide receiver Xavier Guillory, who has generated big plays downfield in recent weeks. Guillory caught a 31-yard touchdown pass at Arizona last weekend and a 61-yard score against BYU the week prior. Guillory should be more involved on the left side of the offense, while redshirt senior wide receiver Troy Omiere replaces Tyson as the outside receiver on the right side.
Another potential replacement is senior wideout Malik McClain. McClain, a six-foot-four receiver who transferred to Tempe from Penn State last spring, had been redshirting this season. However, since postseason games do not count toward the NCAA’s redshirt policy, McClain took first-team reps in practice this week, a stark change from his normal work on the scout team.
Iowa State’s best attack is through the air with redshirt sophomore quarterback Rocco Becht. Becht has thrown more than 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns with just eight interceptions in his second season leading the Cyclones. Becht has a pair of thousand-yard receivers to throw to in senior wide receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. Higgins is enjoying a stellar final season in Ames, putting up a career-high 80 receptions and 1,068 yards with nine scores. Noel has caught 67 passes for 1,013 yards and six touchdowns. The senior duo has combined to produce 67% of the receiving yards for Iowa State, so the Sun Devils’ defense will have its hands full.
The Cyclones defense has been susceptible to big gashes in the running game this season, which means the green light is on for senior running back Cam Skattebo in Dallas. Iowa State’s run defense ranks 96th in the country, giving up 176.4 yards on the ground per game. Skattebo carried the Sun Devils offense this season, rushing for 1,398 yards and 17 touchdowns while being the team’s second-leading receiver with 35 receptions for 468 yards and two touchdowns. With Leavitt missing his top passing option, Skattebo could be asked to carry an even bigger workload this week.
Dillingham called this season “the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of from a team.” The former Auburn, Florida State, and Oregon offensive coordinator believes the connection between the players is unique in this day of college football.
“In an era where…there are different motives than there used to be,” Dillingham began. “I think our guys’ motive being winning, and like the competitive nature of like, ‘I just want to win.’ That sounds so fundamental, but like, there’s so many other distractions now. And it’s not the guys’ fault and there’s nothing wrong with those distractions. But like, ‘Woah they just want to win?… I want to create that message of ‘Man, you can do this together and receive individual rewards?’ That’s what it’s meant to be.”
A season of transcending expectations as the underdog has flipped on its head for the title fight in Dallas. The Sun Devils are a slim two-point favorite in their first conference championship appearance since 2013, in which they fell to then-No.11 Stanford 38-14 in the Pac-12 Championship. Kenny Dillingham will attempt to lead his alma mater to a likely College Football Playoff bid in just his second season at the helm.
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