State of the Sun Devils podcast: How can ASU beat Oklahoma State?

On the latest episode of State of the Sun Devils, an Arizona Sports podcast, Jesse Morrison, Jeremy Schnell and Jake Anderson are joined by Oklahoma State reporter Scott Wright of The Oklahoman.

Morrison, Schnell and Anderson then take a deep dive into how ASU can upset the No. 11 OSU Cowboys in front of a raucous crowd at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater on Saturday night.

For the Arizona State offense, it will be a strength versus strength battle, as the one-two punch of running backs Xazavian Valladay and Daniyel Ngata go up against a stout Oklahoma State run defense that was the fifth-best in the country last season at a clip of allowing 87.6 yards per game.

If the Sun Devils are able to establish a rushing attack against a very experienced Cowboys defensive line, that will open up the play-action game for quarterback Emory Jones to utilize the likes of 6-foot-8, 255-pound tight end Messiah Swinson, especially in the red zone.

Defensively, Arizona State will have its hands full with Oklahoma State QB Spencer Sanders, both in the air and on the ground.

Sanders accounted for six of his team’s eight touchdowns in its 58-44 win over Central Michigan last week, throwing for four touchdowns and 406 yards on 28 of 41 passing (68%) while adding 57 rushing yards for two TDs on 11 carries (5.2 per attempt).

And in the third phase of the game, ASU true freshman kicker Carter Brown will look to build on his perfect 4-for-4 performance that was awarded him with the Week 1 Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week.

Arizona State kicks off against No. 11 Oklahoma State on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. MST on ESPN 620 AM and 98.7 FM HD-2.

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