The good, the bad and the ugly in Arizona State's Union Jack Classic win

In Arizona State’s win over Kansas, the Sun Devils still have a few things to clean up. The Jayhawks outgained them in London.

The Good

Senior wide receiver Jaren Hamilton’s kick return touchdown to start the second half helped the Sun Devils win the middle eight minutes 14-0. Dillingham often emphasizes the middle eight minutes of the game.

For the first time this season, the Sun Devils won the turnover battle, 3-1. They recovered two fumbles and an interception. In addition, the Sun Devil defense forced two turnovers on downs and got short field on a missed field goal.

The Bad

Punting struggled. Senior punter Nick McLarty averaged 42.4 yards per punt. Two of his punts resulted in touchbacks, one of which was almost not a touchback as sophomore wide receiver Corey Butler Jr. caught the ball a few inches in the end zone. One of the punts was returned by sophomore wide receiver Tate Nagy for a touchdown.

The rush offense struggled with 133 yards on 43 attempts. Arizona State averaged 3.1 yards per rush. Senior running back Kyson Brown had a rough day, going for 81 yards on 24 carries. Sixth-year Marquis Gillis was the only other running back to see action.

The Ugly

The pass offense struggled, with junior quarterback Cutter Boley held to 95 yards passing. Boley went 11 for 23 passing. 

Like the rush offense, the pass offense also only featured a handful of players. Brown and Gillis received a pair of targets. Senior wide receivers Reed Harris and Omarion Miller both logged nine targets. Fifth-year wide receiver Jalen Moss caught his lone target. Zero tight ends were targeted as senior Khamari Anderson left the game with an injury.

The Sun Devils struggled with penalties, as they had seven for 60 yards compared to the Jayhawks four for 40 yards. Junior tight end James Giggey III had a pair of penalties, one of which undid a first down. An illegal formation wiped away another first down.

Arizona State had two 15-yard penalties in the fourth quarter, one on senior safety Adrian “Boogie” Wilson and another on junior linebacker Martell Hughes.