ASU’s Cardae Mack, Owen Long earn Big 12 weekly awards after win over Hawaii

The Big 12 recognized Arizona State running back Cardae Mack as its Freshman of the Week and linebacker Owen Long as one of the conference’s two Defensive Players of the Week on Monday.

Mack scored the first two touchdowns of his college career in a 30-12 win over Hawaii on Saturday, while Long recorded 10 total tackles.

Mack finished with 13 carries for 154 yards, the most rushing yards by an ASU freshman since 2005.

His first touchdown came out of the wildcat package from one yard out, and the other was a 67-yard breakaway where he made one cut down the middle of the field and was gone.

“Just truly a blessing. Everybody did their part,” Mack said of his big night, which coincided with his 19th birthday. “I’ve been practicing hard, doing everything right and it’s just paying off.”

The big play to give the Sun Devils a 24-6 lead came after he had runs of four, nine and 16 yards to get the drive started.

“he’s the person he is ‘cause of his mama. she did a great job raising him.”

kenny dillingham on the historic night from birthday boy cardae mack had (while praising his upbringing) and his increasing role as a result: https://t.co/korp4G5tj7

— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) October 11, 2026

He was coming off what was previously his best college game in the loss to Baylor, in which he totaled 72 scrimmage yards to lead ASU running backs.

“A lot of football is momentum and just, like, swagger. We’re going to run the ball,” head coach Dillingham said of how the rushing attack turned a corner. “The mindset of a team is so important. … For them to get some confidence tonight and be like, ‘OK, we can do this.’ … Those are positive things, so hopefully we can just build on it.”

Dillingham said Mack is “going to get the ball more” going forward.

Kyson Brown had been ASU’s starting running back, but he has 63 rushing yards combined over the two games where Mack paced the room in total production.

Brown averaged 5.3 yards per carry on 12 rushes over that span while Mack has averaged 10.4 on 18 carries.

Long, a junior, has recorded double-digit tackles in three straight games.

He led the Sun Devils in defensive snaps with 73 out of 77 and recorded a pressure and a quarterback hit. His 47 total tackles this season are third among Big 12 players despite Arizona State having gone through its bye week already.

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