The Sun Devils Pick up a victory on Opening Night against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. The Sun Devils opened the week by announcing they were implementing a self-imposed 1-year bowl ban, ultimately hoping to close the Herm Edwards era. This comes after Arizona State announced they would be joining the Big 12 along with recent commitments from in-state rival Arizona, the newly retooled Colorado Buffaloes, and the Utah Utes.

There has been a lot of noise surrounding Ray Anderson and his employment with the university. Many fans are calling for the Sun Devils to part ways with the Ray Anderson who has been the Athletic Director since 2004 and was one of the only pieces of the staff that remain since the allegations were brought up against Herm Edwards. The Sun Devils making this move now makes sense in many ways, with first-year head coach Kenny Dillingham working on changing the culture in Tempe. This allows the Sun Devils to move past the previous era and retool the University for Dillingham to be successful for years to come. Also, ASU does not want to make their Big 12 debut with anything hanging over their head from the Edwards era.

Head Coach Kenny Dillingham was impressed with Freshman Quarterback Jaden Rashada’s college debut: “I thought he did really well…. I mean, poise, collected no turnovers, hitched up, and ran a few times. I thought he did a phenomenal job.” Rashada threw for 236 yards, and 2 touchdowns with a 143.3 Passing rating in his home debut. The California native came in with big expectations becoming the 2nd true freshman to start at quarterback for ASU, as Jayden Daniels became the first 2 seasons ago.

Now that the pressure of making a bowl game has been removed from the shoulders of coach Dillingham, he can now focus on player development and making sure to build a program that can compete with the elite in the Big 12 year in and year out.

Next up the Arizona State Sun Devils host the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday in a night game that will give us a good idea of what Coach Dillingham has with this team. As of now, it looks like the Sun Devils will be riding with Freshman QB J. Rashada against the Cowboys on Saturday night in Tempe. The Sun Devils travel to USC in week 4 and Colorado in week 6, so we will figure out what this year has to offer for the Sun Devils rather quickly this season.