Arizona State University College Featured Sun Devil Moments

ASU Football victorious behind freshman RB’s birthday breakout game

VIDEO – Tempe, if you didn’t know, now you know. Allow me to introduce you to Cardae Mack.

 

“We all work to get better as running backs,” Mack said. “Us keep building and making each other better every day is the goal.”

A true freshman trusted with the keys to the ground game against Hawaii – and he delivered.

154 rushing yards on 13 carries including nearly 12 yards per carry and took two to the house.

 

On his 19th birthday nonetheless.

Mack’s mom asked Kenny Dillingham pregame: “Is my boy gonna play today?”

Kenny said, “Yes he is… and boy did he play today.”

Mack, whose father passed about a year ago after suffering a stroke, put things into perspective for us.

“Every day you wake up, you’re blessed to live another day,” Mack said. “Staying focused on what the next day brings to you is the most important task of that day.”

 

On the gridiron – while it was a win – it didn’t come without a thought of how much better this team could play compared to what it’s shown thus far.

For example, being 3 of 10 on third down conversions simply won’t cut it against the Big 12’s higher level programs.

“You’ve gotta find a way to win games while you’re growing,” Dillingham said. “Being transparent, I think there’s a little bit of us still figuring us out.”

The growing pains are clear to see, but even though there weren’t a ton of plays that blew the game open, the offense was steady enough to keep the chains moving until Mack provided the boom they were looking for.

It was a balanced attack with the run established. That opened the skies for star WR Reed Harris, who finished with a pair of touchdowns himself to go along with eight receptions.

Defense applied more pressure on Hawaii QB Micah Alejado in the second half after Dillingham felt Alejado had too much time to get creative. While the Rainbow Warriors did a solid job gaining yardage throughout, Arizona State’s defense was stellar in the red zone and limited damage.

“We’re in the grind of it now,” Dillingham said. “We’re seven straight conference games. It’s on.”

ASU heads to Lubbock to face No. 11 Texas Tech on October 17 at 12:30 PM (MST).

More sights and sounds from ASU vs Hawaii:

 

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