Baylor Crushes Arizona State in Sun Devils Big 12 Home Opener

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Tempe, Ariz. -- "I gotta figure out the right recipe for this team," Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham said after his Sun Devils were embarrassed by Baylor 55-19 in front of a nearly sold-out crowd at Mountain America Stadium Saturday night.

Dillingham also added that the team was not playing "up to [their] caliber," which might be an understatement after being outscored 31-6 in the second half despite showing some promise late in the 2nd quarter.

The contest started off with the Sun Devils striking first on Carson Smith's 46-yard field goal.

34 seconds and 2 plays from scrimmage was as long as the Sun Devils would lead for the entire game.

After a nice gain on the first play of the ensuing drive, Baylor RB Ryelan Morris busted through the gap and had nothing but green grass in front of him on the 63-yard touchdown run.

QB Cutter Boley was able to orchestrate a solid drive inside of the Baylor 30-yard line to answer, but WR Omarion Miller fumbled the ball after picking up enough yardage for the first down on 3rd & 7.

Baylor wasted no time capitalizing on the mistake, as they would cap off a 9-play and 72-yard drive with DJ Lagway finding tight end Tony Livingston in traffic in the end zone to extend their lead.

After an Arizona State three & out, Baylor continued to shred the Sun Devil defense and DJ Lagway's second TD pass, this time to Louis Brown IV, capped off a 7-play, 64-yard drive less than a minute into the 2nd quarter.

With their backs against the wall, Arizona State finally got something positive going as they drove down the field to set up Carson Smith for a 32-yard field goal.

Baylor's offense went right back to work, putting together a 12-play and 55-yard drive. However, Rhett Armstrong missed a 38-yard field goal and for the first time in the game, the Sun Devils had an opportunity to get some real momentum going.

The Sun Devils went three & out again before forcing a Baylor three & out immediately after.

Finally, Arizona State was then able to get into the end zone. Boston College transfer Reed Harris caught back to back passes for a combined 52 yards before 2 plays later Cutter Boley found Colorado transfer Omarion Miller for a 30-yard touchdown pass.

Just when it looked like the Sun Devils would go into halftime only down one score after a disastrous start, DJ Lagway had other plans.

In their 2-minute offense, Lagway drove the Bears all the way down to the ASU 18 yard line to set up a Rhett Armstrong 36-yard field goal as time expired in the half.

After receiving the 2nd half kickoff, Lagway picked up right where he left off. He completed 6 of 7 passes for 71 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown pass to Hawkins Polley.

That is when the wheels started coming off for Arizona State. After yet another three & out, Baylor drove right down the field again and Lagway found Jadon Porter for his fourth touchdown pass of the night to extend their lead to 38-13 just six minutes into the third quarter.

Once excited fans began to head for the exits already and you could hear a pen drop in Mountain America Stadium with how stunned Baylor had made the crowd.

The Sun Devils would respond with a nice 13-play and 64-yard drive, but they could not convert it into a touchdown after getting down to the Baylor 19. Carson Smith drilled his third field goal of the night.

The very next play from scrimmage, Caden Knighten rushed 75 yards up the right side for a touchdown that put any hopes of a miracle comeback on ice, extending the Baylor lead to 44-16.

The Bears would pile on a couple more scores to make the final 55-19. Lagway finished the night with 306 yards, 4 passing TDs, and 1 rushing TD while the RB room combined for 253 yards and 2 TDs.

The frustration in the presser was palpable from head coach Kenny Dillingham.

"I'm a fan here just as much as I am a coach," Dillingham said. "I was frustrated as a Sun Devil more than anybody because I was the one responsible for it. That was not an acceptable performance from our football team."

Pinpointing what went wrong for his team, especially after what he called a great practice on Tuesday, was something that Dillingham said he needed to go back and watch on film to figure out.

"I usually have a good feeling for what's going to happen. And I did not expect what happened out there in any way, shape, or form. So I got to go back [into the film] and assess why it happened."

Next up: The Sun Devils do have what could be a "get right" game to look ahead to next Saturday at home vs Hawaii, but they won't have much time to get things figured out with an Oct. 17 date with defending Big 12 champion Texas Tech in Lubbock looming.

Top AZHSFB Alum Peformers

Baylor TE Matthew Klopfenstein (Horizon): 2 rec, 15 yards

Baylor LB Ryan Davis (O'Connor): 1 INT, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 2 total tackles

Arizona State WR Raiden Vines-Bright (Corona Del Sol): 4 rec, 15 yards

Arizona State LB Prayer Young-Blackgoat (Coconino): 3 tackles

Arizona State LB Tristan Bacon (Kellis): 2 tackles