The good, bad, and ugly in Arizona State's win over Morgan State

TEMPE, Ariz. – In a game where Arizona State dominated, winning by 63 points, there are not many bad and ugly things to pick apart. 

The Ugly

The only ugly play was the Cutter Boley sack/fumble early in the first quarter. Donta Jenkins Jr. ran around left tackle Luke Baklenko and sacked Boley from his backside, causing the ball to come out. Shortly after, Champ Westbrooks replaced Baklenko at left tackle.

The Bad

The Bears had a singular scoring drive. On that drive, the Bears logged three consecutive plays over 10 yards before a two-yard touchdown run. 

On the first play, Morgan State wide receiver Joseph Kennerly Jr found a soft spot in a zone against corner Ashton Stamps. Then, wide receiver Justin Perry ran a hitch route on Rodney Bimmage, who protected a deeper part of the field. Running back Marquez Spells exploded for a big run after defensive lineman Zac Swanson got blocked out of the play, creating a hole for Spells. None of the next-level players made a play, allowing an explosive play.

Boley also threw the ball across his body while on the run; it was almost intercepted, but the Morgan State defensive back dropped it.

The Good

Senior wide receiver Omarion Miller looked great in his debut, making great plays with the ball in his hands. He went for 102 yards and a touchdown.

The same can be said about senior wide receiver Reed Harris, who raked in several plays with huge yards after the catch. He received 137 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Outside of the one drive, the defense kept Morgan State off the scoreboard. It only had a pair of sacks and no takeaways, but all but the final two drives were five or fewer plays.

The special teams looked great. Kickers Carson Smith and Carston Kieffer made all of their extra points. Smith also converted an onside kick.

The offense was efficient in scoring touchdowns. The first team averaged just under two minutes across its nine drives on four and two-thirds plays per drive. That includes a long five-minute, 41-second, 12-play drive, two minutes and double the number of plays compared to the next longest. The second team averaged just over three minutes on its two drives.

Sophomore running back Grayson Rigdon had a great game. He averaged 5.5 yards on four carries and scored two long reception touchdowns, totaling 110 yards across the pair.

The running game was excellent. The team averaged 7.1 yards per carry across nine carriers, four of which scored touchdowns. Senior Kyson Brown, junior Jason Brown Jr. and sixth-year Marquis Gillis all averaged more than ten yards a carry, with Brown and Brown Jr. recording those numbers on more than five carries each.

Arizona State’s backups performed great as well. The second-string offense scored touchdowns on both of its drives. The second-string defense held Morgan State to zero points.

Red zone efficiency was a problem at times last season. The Sun Devils were perfect in the red zone against Morgan State, scoring only touchdowns with no field goals.