Emerging ASU star Cardae Mack says college game feels ‘the exact same’ as high school

TEMPE — Freshman Cardae Mack has been Arizona State’s most productive running back in three of the last four games, and he says it hasn’t felt faster than the high school game he just came from.

Mack now owns both of the 100-yard rushing games from ASU running backs this season, surpassing 150 yards in two of his last three games.

That includes a career-best 159-yard output with four touchdowns in a comeback win over Kansas State on Saturday. It was the most rushing touchdowns in a game by a Sun Devil since Kalen Ballage had seven against Texas Tech in 2016.

It was a somewhat sudden emergence for Mack, who had 36 total yards on four touches across his first three games, but his time playing quarterback in high school gave him added comfort with the ball in his hands.

“It feels similar,” Mack said Tuesday. “Other than having the ball directly in my hands, but other than that, it’s the exact same.”

Not much faster or against defenders much bigger?

“No, it’s the exact same,” Mack doubled down.

Really?

“Yeah,” the freshman tripled down.

Sometimes, Mack does get the ball directly into his hands in the wildcat package, from which he’s produced three touchdowns already this season.

The package could continue to expand with more throws for Mack — who has not yet attempted a pass but threw for nearly 2,100 yards as a high school senior — as ASU may turn to freshman quarterback Jake Fette, who has the most athleticism of any current Sun Devil quarterback.

Mack’s emergence has not only caught the eyes of Sun Devil coaches and fans, but he has also appeared in the top 10 PFF-graded freshman performances in two of the past three weeks, including for his 154 rushing yards against Hawaii as well as the Kansas State win.

He called it a “blessing” to be coached by ASU running backs coach Shaun Aguano, who has coached several 1,000-yard rushing seasons since joining the staff in 2019.

“He teaches his running backs all NFL vernaculars and just preaching to us how we could be better at the next level,” Mack said. “I tell everybody it’s a blessing to be coached by him. There’s a lot of running back coaches out there, but not many of them coach how he coaches.”

Cardae Mack is half of a potential backfield of the future at ASU

Mack and Fette are set up to be a dynamic duo for potentially years to come, if ASU is able to retain both.

“I truly believed in him. Everything he worked on every week, every day he came here as soon as we got here, I believed in him,” Mack said of Fette. “It was nothing like a nervous feeling or none of that. He knew exactly what he was doing.”

Head coach Kenny Dillingham is very proud of the fact that no players ASU has signed out of high school during his tenure have worked into the two-deep rotation and then transferred out, so the pair could be a big test of whether that can continue.

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