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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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Arizona State has been difficult to figure out this season. The Sun Devils are 4-3 overall and 2-2 in Big 12 play, with convincing wins over Morgan State and Hawai'i, along with a comeback victory against Kansas State last weekend, but also multiple blowout losses. They fell 48-10 at Texas A&M early, then 55-19 at home against Baylor, and just lost 53-25 at Texas Tech two weeks ago. The offense is averaging 30.9 points per game, but their defense is allowing 29.9, leaving little room for error.
That's what makes Saturday's game at No. 8 BYU so critical. The Cougars are 6-1 and 3-1 in conference play, but were also just upset 39-31 by UCF. A win for ASU could give them some much-needed momentum heading into the final stretch of the regular season, while a loss would drop them down to .500, putting them in jeopardy of potentially missing a bowl game this season.
With just 24 hours to go before kickoff, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported a major quarterback change for the Sun Devils, revealing that freshman Jake Fette is currently in line to start on Saturday against BYU. It would be the first start of his college career, though the decision is not yet final. Sixth-year quarterback Mikey Keene is considered a game-time decision after suffering a knee injury against Kansas State.
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Fette is a 6-foot-1 freshman from Del Valle High School in El Paso, Texas. He arrived at Arizona State as a four-star recruit and the program's top signing in its 2026 class, ranked by 247Sports as the No. 9 quarterback in the country. He held more than a dozen offers before committing to Arizona State, choosing the Sun Devils over Auburn, Baylor, California, Houston, and others. As a senior at Del Valle, he threw for 2,737 yards and 28 touchdowns, along with 1,105 rushing yards and 18 rushing scores.
However, while he's an exciting prospect, he still hasn't much experience under his belt at the college level. He's appeared in just two games this season, completing 4 of 8 passes for 58 yards with zero touchdowns or interceptions. Fette would be stepping in for a proven veteran in Keene, who was limited in practice this week and will still likely get the start if he's healthy enough to play.
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How the rest of this season plays out could have massive implications for the future of this program, specifically head coach Kenny Dillingham. Dillingham led Arizona State to a 3-9 record in his debut season before breaking out in 2024 with an 11-3 record, a Big 12 championship, and a College Football Playoff appearance. But the Sun Devils slipped up last year, dropping to 8-5, and now could be on the verge of an even worse finish this season. Dillingham has said publicly he has no intention of leaving, but he continues to be linked to several other jobs nonetheless.
After BYU, the Sun Devils will host Colorado before traveling to UCF, hosting No. 24 Oklahoma State, and then closing their season out at No. 22 Arizona.
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