Arizona
2026 K-State Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 7:Arizona State
The Week 7 matchup between K-State and Arizona State will feature two of the youngest coaches in all of college football: Kenny Dillingham and Collin Klein. They are tied for the youngest in the Power 4 conferences, and only Kirby Moore of Washington State (35) and Zach Kittley (34) are younger Division I coaches.
While Dillingham didn’t play football at Arizona State, like Klein, he is at his alma mater. An injury in his high senior year forced him to stop playing and get into coaching. He became the offensive coordinator at Chaparral High School at 21 years old, and was hired just two years later by Mike Norvell as an offensive analyst at Arizona State. He went back to Tempe in 2023, after spending the previous season as the offensive coordinator at Oregon.
Both of these guys are looking to lead their alma maters to a Big 12 Championship, and this is one of those games that could be pivotal in that pursuit.
K-State Early Opponent Preview Series: Nicholls| Washington State| Tulane| Cincinnati| Houston| Kansas
Offense
Quarterback Sam Leavitt wasn’t able to live up to the hype after leading the Sun Devils to the Big 12 Championship in 2024, and he announced he was transferring to LSU during the off-season. Dillingham and his staff were quick to fill the vacany, as they picked up former Kentucky quarterback Cutter Boley in the transfer portal.
Boley was the highest-rated quarterback to ever commit to Kentucky, as he was a consensus 4-star recruit. He had an up-and-down freshman year in 2025, as he threw for 2,160 yards, 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. In a loss to Tennessee, he showed off the talent by throwing for 330 yards and five touchdowns.
The offense lost two great playmakers in Kaleek Brown and Jordan Tyson. Brown was one of the best running backs in the Big 12, as he rushed for 1,141 yards and 4 touchdowns. Tyson had to deal with injuries, but he still had 61 catches for 788 yards and eight touchdowns and ended up going No. 9 to the New Orleans Saints in the 2026 NFL Draft.
One guy who could make a strong impact in the Arizona State offense is Boston College transfer Reed Harris. He had 39 catches for 673 yards and five touchdowns. He is a matchup nightmare, as he towers over defensive backs with his 6-foot-5 frame. He plays a style similar to Tyson, and he stands three inches taller and 17 pounds heavier.
Defense
There are a lot of changes on the defense at Arizona State, but defensive lineman C.J. Fites is a player who is capable of being an anchor on a defense. He took a major leap last season, finishing the year with 27 tackles and 6.5 sacks. He was named a preseason All-Big 12 defensive tackle and is a guy who figures to hear his name in the 2027 NFL Draft. Fite’s presence will force offenses to throw double-teams at him, and should open up opportunities for others to get after the quarterback.
The two leading tacklers last year were linebackers Jordan Crook and Keyshaun Elliott, who had 101 and 98 tackles, respectively. With both of these players gone, Martell Hughes is a guy who the Sun Devils will need to step up.
While there were losses in the off-season, the Sun Devils’ secondary has a chance to be one of the better units in the country. They bring back two very talented safeties in Adrian Wilson and Jessiah McGrew. The cornerback duo of Rodney Bimage Jr. and Montana Warren was good, but the arrival of LSU transfer Ashton Stamps.
He made major news last year after he hit the transfer portal after playing in only one game against Louisiana Tech. While it was a weird year, he is the type of talent that could give the Sun Devils the best secondary in the Big 12.
Schedule
In today’s college football, many teams are becoming hesitant to take big challenges during the non-conference season. However, that isn’t the case with the Sun Devils, as they go to College Station to take on Texas A&M in Week 2. After that game, the schedule lightens up. Including the matchup against K-State, four of Arizona State’s next five games will be at home.
The challenging part of the Sun Devils’ conference schedule is that some of their toughest matchups are on the road. They have road trips at Texas Tech, BYU, and Arizona, who are looked at as contenders in the Big 12.
Outlook
Dillingham has been outstanding early in his tenure in Tempe. After going 3-9 in his first year in 2023, he helped lead the Sun Devils to an 11-2 record and an appearance in the College Football Playoff during the 2024 season. Last year, they finished the year 8-5, despite losing quarterback Sam Leavitt early in the year.
The Big 12 is wide-open, and the Sun Devils once again to have the pieces to compete for a spot in the conference championship.
Game Info
Date: Saturday, October, 24
Time: TBD
TV: TBD
Location: Mountain America Stadium
Series history: Arizona State leads the all-time series, 6-1. The Sun Devils have dominated this series, and won the most recent game 24-14 in 2024. The only time the Wildcats have knocked off Arizona State was in the 2002 Holiday Bowl.
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PHOENIX (AZFamily) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to reduce and space out the federally recommended childhood vaccine schedule. But local health experts say parents should not expect to see any changes, at least not anytime soon.
What the order calls for
The order recommends 11 vaccines for all children, down from the current 18. It also calls for spacing out the MMR vaccine across three separate doctor visits and includes hepatitis B, which is currently given to newborns at birth.
“We’re changing it to visits over a period of a year, year and a half, so they get 20% of what they would have gotten in one big shot,” Trump said.
The president said the move comes in response to a recent rise in autism.
Local experts call the claims baseless
That reasoning drew a direct rebuttal from local health expert Will Humble, who said the science does not support the link between vaccines and autism.
“There is no correlation between vaccines and autism. It’s among the most studied things globally, not just in the US,” Humble said.
Why the order may not change much
Vaccine recommendations in the United States are made by a committee of experts who advise the CDC and are then adopted by the agency’s director. Critically, only states, not the federal government, can require vaccinations for children to enter school or day care.
Humble said that distinction matters when it comes to insurance coverage as well.
“Congress has hardwired those recommendations into what’s required to be covered by health insurance. So, like, the executive order, it’s aspirational what they want to do, but it will not change reimbursement,” Humble said.
Families could face higher costs if order takes effect
If the order is ultimately implemented, Humble warned that vaccination rates could fall as families are forced to pay out of pocket for additional doctor visits.
“The vaccination rates would plummet because parents would have to pay cash for some of these vaccines. Some of them are really cheap, like MMR. Some of them are like meningococcals, a couple hundred bucks. So you’re going to see vaccine rates really plummet,” Humble said.
A court order already stands in the way
The path forward for the administration is not straightforward. In March, a judge blocked a prior federal attempt to cut the number of vaccinations, and this executive order cannot override that injunction.
To proceed, the administration must either successfully appeal that ruling to a higher court or issue a new executive order with a different legal basis, which would likely face its own legal challenges.
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Arizona
Kauaʻi’s Kawaihau team rallies past Arizona, moves closer to trip to Little League World Series | Kauai Now
The Kawaihau Community Little League Majors All-Stars will face a team from Southern California at 3:30 p.m. in the winner’s bracket of the West Region Tournament.
The Kawaihau Community Little League majors All-Stars from Kapaʻa are one step closer to a trip to Williamsport, Penn., to play in the prestigious Little League Baseball World Series.
Kawaihau opened the Little League West Region Tournament with a 7-3 comeback victory Sunday over Arizona’s Chandler National Little League.
Kawaihau trailed early before scoring five runs in the sixth inning to pull away from Chandler at Al Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino, Calif.
The Hawaiʻi state champions will next play Tuesday against Southern California’s representative Sweetwater Valley Little League of Bonita in a nationally televised matchup on ESPN. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. HST.
Southern California beat Northern California 16-4 on Sunday to advance to the winner’s bracket against Hawaiʻi.
If Kawaihau beats Southern California, the team will face Arizona — the 7-5 winner against North California in the elimination bracket — in the West Region championship game on Friday at 3 p.m. HST. The champion advances to the Little League World Series.
Kawaihau’s path to the regional tournament came after the team battled through the Hawaiʻi state tournament, where it captured the state championship and earned the right to represent the islands in San Bernardino.
Kawaihau has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help offset transportation, lodging and other expenses for the players, families and coaches as they prepare.
Click here to view the complete team schedule calendar.
A former leader of a Northern Arizona University fraternity pleaded guilty Monday to hazing and causing a pledge’s death by making him drink excessively at an off-campus rush event.
Carter Eslick, 20, entered the plea to a felony hazing charge involving the death of Colin Daniel Martinez, 18, in Coconino County Superior Court in Flagstaff.
Under an agreement with prosecutors, Eslick would serve no more than four years of probation. A judge will determine the length and could also impose up to a year in jail at a Sept. 30 sentencing hearing.
Martinez, who was pledging to the now-defunct Delta Tau Delta fraternity chapter at NAU, was found unresponsive Jan. 31. An autopsy found his blood-alcohol level was 0.425%, which is considered life-threatening.
Coconino County Attorney Ammon Barker said the plea doesn’t diminish the “profound harm caused or the sorrow of Colin’s death.”
The Associated Press left an email and voicemail for Eslick’s attorney, Burges McCowan, requesting comment on Monday. The AP also left a phone message with the attorney for Martinez’s family.
Eslick was serving as the fraternity’s pledge master at the time, responsible for welcoming new members. He’s no longer a student at NAU. Martinez was among four men pledging to Delta Tau Delta who shared two bottles of vodka to ensure they vomited, according to court documents. Witnesses reported adjusting Martinez’s sleeping position and checking his pulse and breathing to look for signs of alcohol poisoning throughout the night, the documents said.
The university suspended the Delta Tau Delta fraternity after Martinez’s death, and the national organization closed the NAU chapter.
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