ASU gashed by Baylor’s physicality, unable to stop the bleeding in blowout loss

TEMPE — Baylor’s physicality on both sides of the ball overwhelmed Arizona State in a 55-19 Sun Devils loss on Saturday.

ASU (2-2, 1-1 in Big 12) hung its hat on run defense the previous two seasons, a category that has strongly correlated to teams playing in the Big 12 title game. The run defense has been well below that standard this season, but Saturday’s loss marked a new low point.

Baylor (4-1, 2-0) rushed eight times for 114 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter alone for an average of 14.3 yards per carry. The Bears totaled 244 rushing yards and 6.8 yards per carry on the night.

The Bears’ early effectiveness included a 63-yard burst to the house from Ryelan Morris, in a play that foreshadowed the poor tackling that would be seen throughout the night.

busted run defense from asu on a 63-yard touchdown by ryelan morris to give baylor a 7-3 lead.

looked like it was lyrik rawls who came up and missed a tackle while rodney bimage jr. was unable to shed his block. https://t.co/mOMRgDi9wt

— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) October 4, 2026

ASU entered the game 15th nationally in total yards allowed in first halves (121.3), and the Bears hung 299 yards (24 points) on the Sun Devils in the first 30 minutes Saturday. It was a 21-3 deficit after just 16 minutes of game time.

There were plenty of early miscues on offense, too, such as a drop by Reed Harris that would’ve given ASU goal-to-go if not a touchdown and a fumble by Omarion Miller that prematurely ended the Sun Devils’ second drive.

Cutter Boley was limited in what he could do in the pocket, as the offensive line play was porous at best with three sacks allowed and a few other near-sacks that the quarterback narrowly avoided.

Early in the second half as ASU faced a 31-13 deficit, the space around Boley dissolved almost instantly and forced him to throw the ball away, but he threw it straight toward a Baylor defender for his third interception of the season.

first down field interception for cutter boley in an asu uniform.

pocket collapsed on him almost instantaneously and he tried to throw it away, but he threw it right at former o’connor high school standout ryan davis, who had no one around him. https://t.co/yUwUqbmwC1

— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) October 4, 2026

Conversely, Baylor quarterback DJ Lagway was much more comfortable operating in the face of pressure, carving up the ASU defense for 306 passing yards and four touchdowns on a 63% completion rate. Three of his four touchdown passes came on third downs.

After Baylor capitalized on Boley’s interception with Lagway’s fourth touchdown pass, it followed that up with a 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of its ensuing drive to extend the lead to 29 points.

Omarion Miller’s breakout game a small silver lining for ASU

After Miller was held to 47 receiving yards on 12 catches over the previous two games combined, he had a bit of a breakout with his best game against an FBS opponent as a Sun Devil.

Following the early fumble, he had explosive plays of 27 and 30 yards, the latter going for a touchdown. Miller finished with 85 yards on five catches.

His fellow Sun Devil receiver, Reed Harris, continued to shine with 125 yards on seven catches, including a contested grab over the top of the defense for 41 yards.

However, the pair’s Baylor counterpart, Gavin Freeman, was even more impactful with seven grabs for 115 yards, two of which were explosive plays to convert third downs. He entered the matchup leading all FBS receivers in catches.

Related

Cam Skattebo wants Giants fans to rally around the team similar to Arizona StateBaylor’s DJ Lagway presents a different kind of challenge for rolling ASU defenseKenny Dillingham is resetting how aggressive ASU is on fourth downs due to 1 key factorStart times announced for Arizona State, Arizona’s Week 6 gamesCam Skattebo’s helmet just can’t hang; former Sun Devil crashes into Jameis WinstonBig 12 power rankings with full dose of conference play on the docket