TEMPE – Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham is set to throw freshman quarterback Jake Fette into a figurative fire on Saturday.

Because Fette’s childhood days aren’t too far behind him, memories of dressing up for Halloween and trick-or-treating might be fresh in his mind, but Fette is set to face something much scarier than any decoration or costume this year on Halloween.

When the Sun Devils meet No. 8 BYU at Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah, they’ll do so against more than 62,000 fans, hungry for a win after an upset loss at Central Florida the previous week. Adding to the challenge is the Cougars defense, which ranks 26th in the nation in scoring defense (18.57 points) and 23rd in total defense (301.6 yards), the latter of which ranks second in the Big 12.

BYU (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) is on an 11-game winning streak at home, dating back almost two years. In their most recent home game, the Cougars took down then-No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 with a goal-line stand, ending the Fighting Irish’s 16-game winning streak.

While leading a team into Provo isn’t easy for any quarterback, it’s even harder for a player making his first collegiate start, and only the third appearance of his college career.

Based on practices this week, last week’s starter, sixth-year quarterback Mikey Keene, looks unfit to start Saturday. Even with that knowledge, Dillingham said he can’t fully prepare Fette for BYU.

“This is one of the best, most consistent fan bases in college football,” Dillingham said. “This is one of the best, most consistent coaching staffs in college football. When you have the consistency that they have as a program from the top … I don’t think there is a way to (prepare him).”

After Keene went down with an injury near the end of the second half and Cutter Boley, who started the first six games of the season, had an underwhelming third quarter, Fette played the fourth quarter last week in a comeback win against Kansas State.

The energy inside Mountain America Stadium flipped after Fette entered the game. While the El Paso, Texas, native only completed 3 of 6 passes for 45 yards, the Sun Devils scored two touchdowns with Fette on the field, winning the game 28-17.

As he prepared his young quarterback to enter that game, Dillingham had a simple message.

“It’s football,” Dillingham said. “You’ve been doing this since you were 6 years old. Go out there and play football. Trust your eyes, and if the read is there to sling it, sling it.”

Heading into this week’s practices, Dillingham had both Fette and Keene practice as if they would be starting on Saturday. Although it appears the true freshman will start in ASU’s most challenging game of the season, Dillingham isn’t trying to speed up Fette’s development. 

“Just continue to work,” Dillingham said. “There’s no way to expedite the progression. The progression is the progression. You just go to work as hard as you can every day, and try to be the best version of yourself on Saturday. It’s cliche, but it’s all you can really do.”

There’s no way to spin a game at BYU as an easy endeavor. In 2024 and 2025, the Cougars finished with a top-three defense in the conference, ending 2024 as the top unit in the Big 12.

Both of those seasons, BYU’s defense was ranked in the top 20 nationally.

Despite the challenges, offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo likes what he sees in Fette’s abilities on the field.

“Jake can extend some plays with his feet and do some things that some other guys can’t do at that level,” Arroyo said. “That poses a threat, that’s fun for us to see and fun for us to take advantage of when we can still be smart with him.”

The praise from the offensive coordinator goes beyond what he sees with the football in Fette’s hands. Arroyo also sees the positives in Fette’s attitude.

“He’s just himself,” Arroyo said. “He’s authentic. He’s kind of quiet, kind of goes by the beat of his own drum. Everybody enjoys when a young guy can come into an environment like we play in, and everyone’s looking at you, and there’s a lot of pressure and a lot of demands and a lot of exposure, and you can still be yourself. That says a lot about his maturity and his upbringing.”

While the quarterback will end up with most of the attention, Fette is not the only freshman making waves.

Running back Cardae Mack rushed for 159 yards against Kansas State, accounting for most of ASU’s points by scoring four touchdowns.

Mack’s four touchdowns were the most by an ASU freshman since Leon Burton in 1955, earning him Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors.

Ahead of a game in which ASU will need a strong performance from two freshmen, Dillingham had nothing but good things to say about the pair of young Texans.

“Those are two confident humans,” Dillingham said. “It’s kind of crazy to say, ‘Wow, there’s a chance that you have two true freshmen in the backfield together going on the road at BYU.’ Exciting, but if you are going to have two freshmen doing it, those are two guys that you would like to have.”

Something that may have fueled Mack’s recent breakout is his mindset, evidenced by his approach this week. Despite all the challenges ahead on Saturday, Mack was acting like it’s just another week.

“I don’t look at it as like a crazy game,” he said. “I look at it like a normal game. I look at everybody as a normal opponent. I don’t take anybody differently. I take everybody the exact same every week.”

This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.