Three Arizona State Sun Devils who could be a problem for Texas Tech on Saturday

This will be a unique weekend at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock. That's because, for the first time, Texas Tech and Arizona State will meet as Big 12 Conference foes.

Of course, this isn't the first time that these two schools have been in the same conference. From 1932 - 1957 both were part of the Border Conference.

During that time, the Sun Devils and the Red Raiders never met on the football field, though. In fact, the schools didn't play each other until the 1999 season when the Red Raiders lost in Tempe 31-13.

Thus, Saturday's matchup will be the first time ASU and TTU have squared off as conference rivals. Having the opportunity to play the first Big 12 game in program history was not lost on Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham this week.

"This will go down in literally history," he said. "There's only one game that's a first. And very few times in sports do you get to accomplish a first. Like a real first. Not like first time to have a hundred-yard receiver and two sacks and three [fumbles], all the crazy firsts. Like a real first. It's the first one and it'll be remembered forever as Arizona State's first Big 12 game."

Dillingham also said that he is excited to the atmosphere that his team will encounter in Lubbock. He even mentioned one of Texas Tech's favorite game-day traditions.

"The crowd there," he said, "I'm excited for the tortillas. I've heard there's tortillas that get thrown around, you know what I mean. I'm excited for it because it's a challenge. But it's what college football is supposed to be."

Because Texas Tech and ASU have not met since 2017, Red Raider fans might not know too much about the Sun Devils. So with that in mind, let's take a look at three Sun Devil players that could be an issue this weekend if the Red Raiders aren't on top of their game.

RB Cam Skattebo is to ASU what Tahj Brooks is to Texas Tech

This game will feature arguably the two toughest runners in the Big 12. Thus, expect plenty of broken tackles by each team.

Red Raider fans know that Tahj Brooks is one of the nation's best running backs. But not many are aware of Arizona State's Cam Skattebo who is hell to bring down.

The senior is only 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds. But he plays much bigger than that.

In fact, the Arizona State football website states that he entered 2023 having forced 150 missed tackles in his college career, which includes two years at Sacramento State, an FCS program. While missed tackles forced is not an official statistic, that estimate shows how difficult Skattebo is to get on the ground.

In 2023, he ran for 783 yards and nine touchdowns on just 164 rushes. What's more, he caught 24 more passes for 286 yards and another score.

This year, he's on pace to smash those numbers. He's already amassed 373 yards and three touchdowns on 68 carries (5.5 yards per rush) and he's caught seven passes for 73 yards.

This week, Tech must be ready to have multiple players ready to bring down Skattebo each time he touches the ball because he moves a bit like the old cartoon Tasmanian Devil. He has the ability to make something out of nothing each time he has the ball and he is one of the keys to the Arizona State offense.

ASU's Sam Leavitt is a dual-threat QB and that should terrify Texas Tech football fans

Arizona State has a redshirt freshman, Sam Leavitt, playing quarterback for them this year. That's normally a reason to think that Tech could have an edge in this game.

However, while the Michigan State transfer isn't an accomplished passer just yet, he should scare the water out of Texas Tech fans. That's because he can use his feet to pick up critical yards.

Now, to be fair, Leavitt isn't the type of runner who is likely to break off an 80-yard touchdown run (though against the Red Raiders, anything is possible). Rather, he's more likely to pick up eight critical yards on third and seven to keep a drive alive. When that happens, it is maddening for the defense and fans alike.

This year, Leavitt has attempted only 72 passes (Behren Morton has attempted 119 for Texas Tech by comparison) and he's completed less than 60% of them. What's more, in three games, he's averaging just 191 yards per game through the air.

However, when he runs, he's averaging 5.2 yards per carry. What's more, he's averaging 10 carries per game.

It will be imperative that Tech makes Leavitt try to win this game with his arm and not his feet. But given that we are just two weeks away from seeing Washington State QB John Mateer gallop his way to 197 yards and a touchdown against a Red Raider defense that looked clueless when trying to stop the quarterback run game, it isn't wrong for Texas Tech fans to have nightmares about what Leavitt may do with his legs in this game.

ASU edge rusher Clayton Smith will test a suspect Texas Tech offensive line

On the other side of the football, Texas Tech will have to slow down junior edge rusher Clayton Smith. The former transfer from Oklahoma already has three sacks this year, which is more than Texas Tech has as a team.

Last year, his first season with the Sun Devils, the Texas native racked up 4.5 sacks. What's more, he recorded a QB pressure on 14.8% of his pass rush attempts (good for 8th-best in the PAC-12).

Smith is a rangy 6-foot-4, 240-pound athlete. As a high school prospect, he was a five-star recruit when he signed with the Sooners so he has a pedigree that suggests he could be an impact player.

He'll be facing a Texas Tech offensive line that may be playing two tackles who didn't start game one of the season. A head injury suffered against Washington State makes starting left tackle Sterling Porcher questionable this week meaning junior Dalton Merryman may have to start his second-straight game.

What's more, the loss of No. 1 left guard Vinny Sciury for the season has forced Tech to move week-one starting right tackle Caleb Rogers to guard. In his place has stepped backup right tackle Ty Buchanan who has only two career starts.

Thus far, Tech's offensive line has been average at best when pass-blocking. It took a step forward last week against North Texas but Arizona State's pass rush will be a stiffer test as the Sun Devils already have nine sacks this season. Keeping Smith from adding to that number on Saturday will be a priority for the Red Raiders.