STARKVILLE — Mississippi State defensive lineman Kalvin Dinkins appears to have avoided a major injury this time after leaving Saturday’s game against Eastern Kentucky in the second quarter.
Dinkins was on the ground for several minutes before being helped off the field, and he did not return to the game. Head coach Jeff Lebby said Dinkins is improving day by day and will be a game-time decision for Saturday night when the Bulldogs (1-0) visit Arizona State.
“He’s doing a lot better today than he was yesterday, and he was a lot better yesterday than he was Saturday night,” Lebby said. “Right now, he’s got a chance to travel with us and go play.”
After redshirting as a true freshman in 2022, Dinkins made three tackles in his collegiate debut in the 2023 season opener against Southeastern Louisiana but missed the rest of the season with an injury. In his first appearance in 364 days, Dinkins brought down Colonels quarterback Matt Morrissey for a sack but was on the grass clutching his right knee three plays later.
Lebby also said wide receiver Kelly Akharaiyi’s condition is improving, though he was not listed on MSU’s Week 2 depth chart and is unlikely to play against the Sun Devils. The depth chart remained unchanged from last week, without wide receiver JJ Harrell, safety Corey Ellington or running back Jeffery Pittman. Cornerbacks Traveon Wright and DeAgo Brumfield were listed on the depth chart after missing the EKU game.
“Kelly’s getting closer and closer,” Lebby said. “We need to be patient with him. Hopeful for him to be able to have a good week and create some confidence for himself as much as anything, but I’m not ready to say he’s going to be available yet.”
Scouting Arizona State
The Sun Devils (1-0) are coming off a 3-9 season in 2023 in head coach Kenny Dillingham’s first year in Tempe, ranking last in the Pac-12 in total offense and scoring offense and also allowing 31.8 points per game. But in their first game as members of the Big 12, they had no trouble against Wyoming, defeating the Cowboys 48-7 with two defensive touchdowns.
Zyrus Fiaseu returned an interception 29 yards for a touchdown in the first minute of the game and Arizona State cruised from there, putting up 499 yards of total offense and holding Wyoming to 118. Redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt, who played in four games last year at Michigan State, was 14-for-22 for 258 yards and two scores and is also a threat to run.
“What I see is a group at Arizona State that played with a ton of confidence, a ton of energy,” Lebby said. “There was great excitement inside their stadium. We’ve got a great challenge on our hands. Being able to go out there, play on the west coast, 9:30 kickoff to us, our guys have to do an incredible job preparing. We as coaches have to put them in positions for success.”
Much of the Sun Devils’ success in Week 1 was on zone reads and screen passes, and they had their way against Wyoming’s linebackers. Leavitt’s first touchdown pass came after several seconds of dancing in the pocket before he connected with tight end Chamon Metayer. His second came on a bubble screen to running back Kyson Brown, who picked up a few key blocks and raced 68 yards for the score.
Like the Bulldogs, Arizona State retooled its offensive line in the transfer portal, bringing in six transfers who had made 151 combined starts. There’s nowhere to go but up for this group under new offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo, the former head coach at UNLV.
“(Leavitt) makes a lot of plays off rhythm,” Lebby said. “They have some dynamic skill players who they can do some things with when they get the ball in space. So it’ll be about open-field tackling, it’ll be about creating turnovers and going and playing sound football.”
On defense, the Sun Devils return just three starters but are solid up front with guys like Prince Dorbah, Clayton Smith and C.J. Fite. Transfers make up most of the starting defense, a unit that allowed a mere 2.3 yards per play last Saturday.
Linebacker Zyrus Fiaseu led San Diego State in tackles last year, safety Xavion Alford saw significant playing time in 2021 at USC, and cornerback Cole Martin played in every game last year as a true freshman at Oregon.
“It’s going to be a great measuring stick,” Lebby said. “You look at Arizona State, the way they played in all three phases Saturday night, really just a dominant performance over a very well-coached, tough Wyoming football team. You watch the tape and you see, these guys are a completely different football team than they were a year ago.”
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