Arizona State will look to bounce back from a lopsided loss on Saturday afternoon in a Big 12 Conference game in Tempe, Ariz., against Kansas State, which is coming off its first conference win of the season.
The Sun Devils (3-3, 1-2) fell 53-25 on the road last week against then-No. 10 Texas Tech, while the Wildcats (4-2, 1-2) posted a 35-24 home victory over rival Kansas.
Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham benched starting quarterback Cutter Boley against Texas Tech at halftime and went with senior backup Mikey Keene.
Boley threw two interceptions — including one that was returned for a touchdown — but Keene provided a spark in the second half, completing 25 of 34 passes for 256 yards and two TDs.
In his weekly press conference Monday, Dillingham refrained from announcing whether Boley or Keene will start against Kansas State.
“Conference opponent, I’m not gonna get into much detail about that,” Dillingham said. “Our players will know. Who knows, it may leak it out. I hope not.”
Dillingham added that he and his staff met for almost four hours Sunday to discuss shortcomings of this year’s team and how to avoid “falling short in our plan again” next season.
The Sun Devils gave up 260 rushing yards and managed only 35 on the ground against Texas Tech.
Kansas State, meanwhile, produced 568 total yards vs. Kansas, including 359 via rushing. The Wildcats’ Avery Johnson threw for 209 yards and ran for 132, and Joe Jackson had a team-high 159 yards on the ground.
Kansas State has converted 59.3% of its third-down attempts, the second-best rate nationally this season.
“We have to keep building, we have to keep improving, and keep working our process and keep moving it forward because there’s a lot out there for us,” Wildcats coach Collin Klein said Monday in his weekly press conference. “We got a big challenge this week in Arizona State. It’s a very talented group. … A lot of respect.”