# 2020 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

The 2020 Arizona State Sun Devils football team represented Arizona State University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Sun Devils played their home games at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe Arizona, and competed in the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They were led by third-year head coach Herm Edwards.
On August 11, 2020, the Pac-12 Conference canceled all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On September 3, the Pac-12 announced a 2020 football season featuring a seven-game conference-only schedule starting on November 7 and ending with the Pac-12 Championship Game on December 18.
Due to several games being canceled, the Sun Devils played only four games during the season, compiling a 2–2 record. The team announced on December 20 that it would not participate in any bowl game. Overall on the season, Arizona State outscored their opponents by a combined total of 161 to 93, largely on the strength of their 70–7 blowout win over Arizona in the Territorial Cup. It was the second-largest margin of victory in the history of the rivalry.

## Offseason
### Position key

| Back | B | Center | C | Cornerback | CB | Defensive back | DB |
| Defensive end | DE | Defensive lineman | DL | Defensive tackle | DT | End | E |
| Fullback | FB | Guard | G | Halfback | HB | Kicker | K |
| Kickoff returner | KR | Offensive tackle | OT | Offensive lineman | OL | Linebacker | LB |
| Long snapper | LS | Punter | P | Punt returner | PR | Quarterback | QB |
| Running back | RB | Safety | S | Tight end | TE | Wide receiver | WR |

### Recruiting

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Daniyel Ngata RB | Folsom, CA | Folsom HS | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | 193 lb (88 kg) | Jan 2, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 85 ||||||
| Johnny Wilson WR | Calabasas, CA | Calabasas HS | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Dec 18, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 84 ||||||
| Elijhah Badger WR | Sacramento, CA | Folsom HS | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jan 2, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 82 ||||||
| LV Bunkley–Shelton WR | Gardena, CA | Junípero Serra HS | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jan 4, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Jordan Banks LB | Harbor City, CA | Narbonne HS | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Oct 4, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| DeaMonte Trayanum RB | Akron, OH | Archbishop Hoban HS | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Jun 26, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Chad Johnson Jr. WR | Los Angeles, CA | Cathedral HS | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Oct 29, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Omarr Norman–Lott DT | North Highlands, CA | Grant Union HS | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 296 lb (134 kg) | Oct 6, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Joe Moore DE | Florissant, MO | Cardinal Ritter College Prep HS | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Oct 18, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| D.J. Taylor DB | Brandon, FL | Tampa Catholic HS | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jun 16, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| Caleb McCullough LB | Oxnard, CA | Pacifica HS | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Oct 18, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Macen Williams DB | Carson, CA | Narbonne HS | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Jun 1, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 76 ||||||
| T Lee DB | Buford, GA | Buford HS | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Nov 22, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 76 ||||||
| Edward Woods DB | Oakland CA | McClymonds HS | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Dec 9, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 76 ||||||
| Ben Bray OT | Mesa, AZ | Red Mountain HS | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 270 lb (120 kg) | May 21, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Daylin McLemore QB | San Mateo, CA | Junípero Serra HS | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Feb 5, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Jacob Nunez OT | Lompoc, CA | Lompoc HS | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 280 lb (130 kg) | Jul 4, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 74 ||||||
| Jake Ray TE | Fort Lauderdale, FL | St. Thomas Aquinas HS | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Feb 5, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 74 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| ‡ Refers to 40 yard dash Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height, weight and 40 time. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Arizona State Football Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 22, 2020. "2020 Player Commitments – Arizona State". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 22, 2020. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 22, 2020. "2020 Arizona State Sun Devils football team". 247sports.com. Retrieved January 22, 2020. ||||||

### 2020 NFL draft
#### ASU players drafted into the NFL

| Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL Team |
| Brandon Aiyuk | Wide receiver | 1 | 25 | San Francisco 49ers |
| Eno Benjamin | Running back | 7 | 222 | Arizona Cardinals |

#### Undrafted NFL free agents

| Player | Position | NFL Team |
| Cohl Cabral | Offensive lineman | Los Angeles Rams |
| Kobe Williams | Cornerback | Jacksonville Jaguars |
| Khaylan Kearse-Thomas | Linebacker | Tennessee Titans |
| Tommy Hudson | Tight end | Tennessee Titans |

## Personnel
### Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Consecutive season at Arizona State in current position |
| Herm Edwards | Head coach | 3rd Year |
| Shawn Slocum | Associate head coach / special teams coordinator | 3rd Year |
| Antonio Pierce | Associate head coach / co-defensive coordinator / recruiting coordinator | 3rd Year |
| Marvin Lewis | Co-defensive coordinator | 1st Year |
| Zak Hill | Offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach | 1st Year |
| Shaun Aguano | Running backs coach | 2nd Year |
| Prentice Gill | Assistant recruiting coordinator / co-wide receivers coach | 1st Year |
| Derek Hagan | Co-wide receivers | 1st Year |
| Tony White | Assistant coach / passing game coordinator / cornerbacks coach | 2nd Year |
| Dave Christensen | Offensive line coach | 3rd Year |
| Robert Rodriguez | Defensive line coach | 1st Year |
| Chris Hawkins | Defensive backs coach | 1st Year |
| Reference: |||

### Roster

Arizona State roster as of the first week. (as of November 7, 2020)

### Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* Aashari Crosswell
* DeAndre Pierce
* Cam Phillips
| WLB | MLB | SLB |
| Merlin Robertson | Darien Butler | Kyle Soelle |
| ⋅ | Caleb McCullough | Will Shaffer |
| ⋅ | Jordan Banks | – |
* SS
* Evan Fields
* Kejuan Markham
* Alijah Gammage
* CB
* Chase Lucas
* Jordan Clark
* T Lee
| DE | DT | DT | DE |
| Shannon Forman | D. J. Davidson | Jermayne Lole | Michael Matus |
| Stanley Lambert | Tautala Pesefea Jr. | Stephon Wright | Tyler Johnson |
| Anthonie Cooper | Corey Stephens | Omarr Norman-Lott | Amiri Johnson |
* CB
* Jack Jones
* Timarcus Davis
* Ed Woods
Offense :
* WR
* Frank Darby
* Andre Johnson
* WR
* Johnny Wilson
* Geordon Porter
* Keith Davis
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Kellen Diesch | Dohnovan West | Cade Cote | Henry Hattis | Ben Scott |
| Ralph Frias | Ben Bray | Jarrett Bell | Spencer Lovell | LaDarius Henderson |
| – | – | – | Jacob Nunez | – |
* WR
* Curtis Hodges
* Nolan Matthews
* Kyle Horn
* WR
* Ricky Pearsall
* LV Bunkley-Shelton
* QB
* Jayden Daniels
* Trenton Bourguet
* Daylin McLemore
* RB
* Rachaad White
* Chip Trayanum
* Daniyel Ngata
* Special teams
* PK Christian Zendejas
* PK Logan Tyler
* P Michael Turk
* P Kevin Macias
* KR Rachaad White
* PR Jack Jones
* LS Erik Dickerson
* H Kevin Macias

## Schedule
### Regular season

Arizona State announced its schedule on January 16, 2020. The Sun Devils had games scheduled against Northern Arizona, UNLV, and BYU, but canceled these games on July 10 due to the Pac-12 Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On July 31, 2020, the Pac-12 Conference announced revisions to the schedule.
Original 2020 Arizona State Sun Devils schedule :
| Date | Opponent | Site |
| September 3 | Northern Arizona* | Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, Arizona |
| September 12 | at UNLV* | Allegiant Stadium • Paradise, Nevada |
| September 19 | BYU* | Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, Arizona |
| September 26 | at USC | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California |
| October 3 | Oregon State | Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, Arizona |
| October 10 | UCLA | Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, Arizona |
| October 24 | at Colorado | Folsom Field • Boulder, Colorado |
| October 31 | at Washington State | Martin Stadium • Pullman, Washington |
| November 7 | California | Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, Arizona |
| November 13 | at Oregon | Autzen Stadium • Eugene, Oregon |
| November 21 | Utah | Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, Arizona |
| November 28 | at Arizona | Arizona Stadium • Tucson, Arizona (Duel in the Desert) |
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| November 7 | 10:00 a.m. | at No. 20 USC | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, California | FOX | L 27–28 | 0 |
| November 14 | 7:30 p.m. | California | Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona | ESPN | No Contest | 0 |
| November 21 | 8:00 p.m. | at Colorado | Folsom Field Boulder, Colorado | ESPN2 | No Contest | 0 |
| November 29 | | Utah | Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona | | No Contest | 0 |
| December 5 | 8:30 p.m. | UCLA | Sun Devil StadiumTempe, Arizona | FS1 | L 18–25 | 0 |
| December 11 | 5:30 p.m. | at Arizona | Arizona StadiumTucson, Arizona (Duel in the Desert) | ESPN | W 70–7 | 0 |
| December 19 | 8:30 p.m. | at Oregon State | Reser StadiumCorvallis, Oregon | ESPN | W 46–33 | 0 |
| Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time |||||||
    Schedule Source:

## Game summaries
### USC

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Sun Devils | 3 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 27 |
| No. 20 Trojans | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
* Date: November 7, 2020
* Game time: 9:07 a.m. PT
* Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C) Partly Sunny
* Game attendance: 0
* Referee: Chris Coyte
* TV announcers (Fox): Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, Jenny Taft
Game information :
First Quarter
Arizona State (12:11) – #45 Cristian Zendejas 38 yard field goal – Arizona State 3–0
USC (3:30) – #7 Stephen Carr 2 yard run TD (#48 Parker Lewis kick) – USC 7–3
Second Quarter
Arizona State (10:39) – #1 DeaMonte Trayanum 25 yard run TD (#45 Cristian Zendejas kicks) – Arizona State 10–7
USC (6:10) – #30 Markese Stepp 1 yard run TD (#48 Parker Lewis kicks) – USC 14–10
Arizona State (4:48) – #5 Jayden Daniels to #3 Rachaad White 55 yard pass TD (#45 Cristian Zendejas kicks) – Arizona State 17–14
Third Quarter
Arizona State (6:47) – #1 DeaMonte Trayanum 17 yard run TD (#45 Cristian Zendejas kicks) – Arizona State 24–14
Fourth Quarter
Arizona State (11:23) – #45 Cristian Zendejas 38 yard field goal – Arizona State 27–14
USC (2:52) – #9 Kedon Slovis to #4 Bru McCoy 26 yard pass TD (#48 Parker Lewis kicks) – Arizona State 27–21
USC (1:20) – #9 Kedon Slovis to #15 Drake London 21 yard pass TD (#48 Parker Lewis kicks) – USC 28–27
Passing
Arizona state – #5 Jayden Daniels – 11/23 134 yds 1TD
USC – #9 Kedon Slovis – 40/55 381 yds 2TD 1Int
Rushing
Arizona state – #1 DeaMonte Trayanum – 12 Runs 84 yds 2TD
USC – #30 Markese Stepp – 14 Runs 53 yds 1TD
Receiving
Arizona state – #3 Rachaad White – 3 Rec 70 yds 1TD
USC – #15 Drake London – 8 Rec 125 yds 1TD :

### UCLA

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bruins | 0 | 17 | 0 | 8 | 25 |
| Sun Devils | 0 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 18 |

### Arizona

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Sun Devils | 21 | 21 | 21 | 7 | 70 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
at Arizona Stadium • Tucson, Arizona
* Date: December 11, 2020
* Game time: 5:00 p.m.
* Game attendance: 0
* TV: ESPN
Game information :
First quarter
ASU – D. J. Taylor 100-yard kickoff return (Christian Zendejas kick), 14:47. Arizona State 7–0.
ASU – DeaMonte Trayanum 4-yard run (Christian Zendejas kick), 14:04. Arizona State 14–0. Drive: 1 play, 4 yards, 0:16.
ASU – Jayden Daniels 20-yard run (Jack Luckhurst kick), 2:21. Arizona State 21–0. Drive: 6 plays, 41 yards, 3:08.
Second quarter
ASU – Rachaad White 93-yard run (Jack Luckhurst kick), 11:45. Arizona State 28–0. Drive: 2 plays, 96 yards, 0:59.
ASU – Ricky Pearsall 31-yard pass from Jayden Daniels (Jack Luckhurst kick), 10:15. Arizona State 35–0. Drive: 2 plays, 26 yards, 1:15.
ASU – Daniyel Ngata 3-yard run (Jack Luckhurst kick), 5:25. Arizona State 42–0. Drive: 5 plays, 36 yards, 2:05.
UA – Michael Wiley 20-yard run (Lucas Havrisik kick), 3:38. Arizona State 42–7. Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 1:47.
Third quarter
ASU – Rachaad White 2-yard run (Jack Luckhurst kick), 10:28. Arizona State 49–7. Drive: 6 plays, 55 yards, 3:00.
ASU – Rachaad White 1-yard run (Jack Luckhurst kick), 6:29. Arizona State 56–7. Drive: 7 plays, 30 yards, 3:28.
ASU – Curtis Hodges 74-yard pass from Jayden Daniels (Jack Luckhurst kick), 4:00. Arizona State 63–7. Drive: 2 plays, 73 yards, 0:52.
Fourth quarter
ASU – Jackson He 1-yard run (Jack Luckhurst kick), 7:02. Arizona State 70–7. Drive: 7 plays, 43 yards, 4:01.
Top passers
ASU – Jayden Daniels – 9/11, 203 yards, 2 TD
UA – Will Plummer – 7/13, 83 yards
Top rushers
ASU – Rachaad White – 10 rushes, 133 yards, 3 TD
UA – Gary Brightwell – 17 rushes, 49 yards
Top receivers
ASU – Curtis Hodges – 1 reception, 74 yards, TD
UA – Majon Wright – 8 receptions, 85 yards :

### Oregon State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Beavers | 7 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 33 |
| Sun Devils | 7 | 19 | 14 | 6 | 46 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Coaches | RV | | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | | Not released |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL club |
| 6 | 187 | Frank Darby | WR | Atlanta Falcons |
Source: