The Union Jack Classic, and a stadium first
Wembley has staged NFL games, Champions League finals and Olympic football. It has never staged a college football game. That changes Saturday when Arizona State meet Kansas.
The Big 12 fixture carries a grand enough name: the Union Jack Classic. Both sides arrive at 1-1 and will spend most of the week in London.
Kenny Dillingham defended the trip on Tuesday after a session in suburban London. “It’s an experience. These are still college athletes, and I wasn’t going to stop them from crossing the Atlantic, seeing London and doing things like this,” the Sun Devils coach said.
Try it for $0.99.
Four turnovers, 24 points handed over
The football has been rougher than the travel itinerary. Arizona State were beaten 48-20 at Texas A&M on Saturday and flew to London straight from Texas.
Look past the scoreline and it gets stranger. The Sun Devils outgained the Aggies 369 yards to 255 and held them to 14 first downs. Then they turned it over four times and gave up 24 points off those giveaways. That is the mess Dillingham has a week to fix.
Cutter Boley, the Kentucky transfer, still leads the Big 12 in passing with 641 yards and eight touchdowns through two games. In College Station he went 21 of 34 for 254 yards, two scores and two picks.
Kansas cannot find the ground game
The Jayhawks lost 38-21 at home to Missouri on Friday night, which at least gave them an extra day before the flight. Dillingham mentioned the advantage without dwelling on it.
Their trouble runs along the ground. They put up 277 rushing yards in a 51-6 win over LIU, then managed 80 against Missouri. Isaiah Marshall’s line moved the same way: 246 yards and two touchdowns against LIU, then 13 of 30 for 168 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Lance Leipold is keeping the week light and saving a full practice for Friday. “We’ll do a recovery session when we arrive on Wednesday, just to get the travel out of our legs,” he said.
Discover the rest of the SPORT news on our website and mathodds app!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply