Field Level Media
Aug 30, 2019
Freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels passed for 284 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score when Arizona State stopped Kent State 30-7 in the season opener for both at Sun Devil Stadium on Thursday night.
Daniels scored on a 1-yard run and threw a 77-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk in the third quarter, when the Sun Devils broke from a 10-0 halftime lead to win their 21st straight season opener, tied with Illinois for the third longest active streak in the FBS.
Aiyuk caught four passes for 140 yards and halfback Eno Benjamin rushed for 102 yards and caught three passes for 32 yards and a touchdown. Benjamin had a school-record nine 100-yard rushing games last season.
Daniels, from San Bernardino (Calif). Cajon High, is the first true freshman quarterback to start the first game of the season for Arizona State. Freshmen became eligible in 1972.
Arizona State had 455 yards total offense and limited Kent State to 200.
The Golden Flashes did not score until quarterback Woody Barrett hit Isaiah McKoy on a 21-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter.
Barrett completed 9 of 14 passes for 83 yards and halfback Jo-El Shaw rushed for 67 yards for the Golden Flashes, whose play at Auburn on Sept. 14.
Cristian Zendejas had three field goals for the Sun Devils in their first meeting between the two.
Daniels' first completion, on his second attempt of the game, went for 42 yards to Frank Darby, setting up Zendejas' 35-yard field goal to cap ASU's first drive. Darby had three receptions for 53 yards.
Quarterback Ethan Long, another true freshman, took two snaps in the first quarter and rushed for 17 yards to set up Daniels' 8-yard scoring pass to Benjamin for a 10-0 lead with 3:57 left in the first quarter.
The Sun Devils have scored at more than seven points in 135 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the FBS.
--Field Level Media