What to expect from Arizona State offense with Mikey Keene running the show

The Arizona State offense will differ a bit from how it has looked behind Cutter Boley when Mikey Keene gets the start on Saturday, a quarterback change that head coach Kenny Dillingham confirmed to Arizona Sports.

“Mikey’s going to be the starter,” Dillingham told Bickley & Marotta on Friday. “There was no point to release it before a team could game plan, but I always want our guys to know internally who the guy’s going to be. Our players have known for the week.

“He’s a veteran that has unbelievable leadership qualities. He’s got a lot of dog in him. You can feel his passion when he’s on the field. ‘Cause he’s a vet, he knows where to go with the ball quickly.”

Keene, a sixth-year college quarterback with 2,200 snaps before he transferred to ASU last offseason, took over for Boley at halftime of last week’s 53-25 loss at Texas Tech, when the deficit was 43-10 following two interceptions (one pick-six) from Boley.

ASU was much more efficient behind the more experienced Keene, as the offense totaled 242 yards in the second half after managing 173 in the first. That included more than doubling the pass yardage, up from 124 to 256.

a look back at asu with newly named starter mikey keene against texas tech, who earned the second-best passing grade among big 12 qb's for the week (81.7).

much more efficient and much more reliant on the quick game compared to when cutter boley's running things. pic.twitter.com/bGC1yoWpWo

— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) October 23, 2026

The biggest differences in offensive approach behind Keene as opposed to Boley were the speed of the ball getting out of the quarterback’s hands and the depth of throws down the field.

Keene’s time-to-throw was 2.38 seconds on average, nearly 15% quicker than Boley at 2.77 seconds.

The sixth-year quarterback’s average depth of target was 9.1 yards, less than three-fourths of the starter at 12.5 yards. While half of Boley’s throws were beyond 10 yards down field (four of eight pass attempts that were in bounds), only about one-third of Keene’s were (12 of 33 pass attempts in bounds).

Keene finished with the second-highest passing grade among Big 12 quarterbacks for the week at 81.7, according to Pro Football Focus. Boley ranked last at 34.0.

The wide receiver personnel will certainly be one factor working in Keene’s favor as he makes his first ASU start.

Beyond Reed Harris and Omarion Miller being NFL-caliber talents, Keene played with Jalen Moss at Fresno State (2023-24). Derek Eusebio, a 2025 All-Big 12 honorable mention, returned to the rotation last week after dealing with injuries to the tune of seven catches and 89 yards (both team highs), and most of his practice reps before last week came with Keene.

Dillingham on Wednesday’s Sparky’s Den Podcast said supplementing what Keene is doing in the passing game with a running game will be key to opening things up for him, which the Sun Devils couldn’t accomplish last week with the deficit being what it was.

Cardae Mack had led the running back room in total yards in back-to-back weeks (72 and 151, respectively) before Kyson Brown paced the group at Texas Tech (52). Getting one in rhythm should be a top priority against Kansas State.

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