Kansas vs. Arizona State (Saturday – 12pm ET – London, England)
Kansas and Arizona State both fell to 1-1 last week, and come off their losses to meet in Big 12 play on an international neutral field. However, when you dig deeper into the Week 2 losses, they told completely different stories.
Kansas hosted Missouri in a Friday night Border War, and got off to a good start playing in front of a hyped up crowd. The 14-14 halftime score was misleading, as Missouri had a kick blocked and Kansas returned it for a touchdown. The second half told more of the story, as Missouri got whatever it wanted and rolled to a 38-21 win.
Austin Simmons threw for almost 300 yards and three touchdowns for the Tigers. Backup RB, Jamal Roberts, ripped off 125 rushing yards and a score. Meanwhile, the Jayhawks struggled to get the run going, and Isaiah Marshall made a lot of mistakes at QB.
While it appears the Sun Devils got blown out at Kyle Field, they gave the Aggies a very tough game. A pair of late interceptions taken back to the house led to a 48-20 final, but it was Arizona State that out-gained Texas A&M by more than 100 yards.
Cutter Boley looks the part under center for the Sun Devils, and he has an elite WR room, thanks to the transfer portal. Reed Harris feasted on a good SEC defense at Kyle Field, snagging nine balls for 189 yards and a pair of touchdowns. After watching what Missouri did to the Jayhawks secondary, I expect Arizona State to have success in the passing game.
On the flip side, I do not expect Kansas to get much going on the ground. KU got literally nothing on the ground against Missouri, and this Sun Devil defense just held Texas A&M and a mobile QB to 2.6 yards per carry.
I see a lot of edges for Kenny Dillingham and his Arizona State squad on Saturday in London. I’ll lay the points with what I believe to be the much better team in the Sun Devils.
CFB Pick: Arizona State -5.5 (-108)
