This is the Depth Dossier: the Arizona State Sun Devils, Week 8.

Arizona State needed two separate heroes to pull out a 28 to 17 win over Kansas State, and neither of them was supposed to be the headline act.

Quarterback Mikey Keene was rolling before a lower-body injury knocked him out late in the first half. His replacement, Cutter Boley, couldn't get anything going, so head coach Kenny Dillingham turned to true freshman quarterback Jake Fette, a guy who'd thrown exactly two passes all season. Fette sparked the comeback, and true freshman running back Cardae Mack finished the job, piling up 159 yards and four touchdowns, including the two scores in the fourth quarter that sealed it. On the other side of the ball, the defense held Kansas State to just 84 rushing yards after getting torched for 50-plus points in each of the previous two weeks.

Let's talk about how strange this win actually was under the hood.

The passing game's best moments came from a unit with almost no continuity. Wide receiver Reed Harris caught only six passes but turned them into 147 yards, a huge 24.5 yards a catch, including a 51-yard connection with Keene on the very first snap of the game. Arizona State kept hitting those deep shots even while shuffling three different quarterbacks in and out.

And that quarterback shuffle is really the story behind the story. Keene was sharp and explosive before he got hurt. Boley came in cold enough to draw groans from the home crowd, not a small thing for a team that had just blown a 33-point second-half lead the week before. Dillingham's response was to bench a guy who'd started six straight games in favor of a true freshman who'd barely played a snap. That's not a conventional call, but it worked.

Defensively, this felt like a complete reversal. Kansas State came in with a strong run game, and Arizona State held them to just 2.6 yards per carry. That kind of number doesn't happen by accident against a run-heavy Big 12 offense, especially one that had been gashing this defense for two straight weeks.

Now to the injuries and the jobs that changed, because there's a lot here heading into next week.

Keene is officially questionable, and Dillingham has already said Fette would likely start if Keene can't go. That's a real vote of confidence in the freshman over Boley, who started the previous six games before stalling out in relief. The quarterback race that looked settled a week ago is now wide open, genuinely a three-man competition.

Up front, offensive lineman Tana Alo-Tupuola started over the previously-starting Rob Lapuaho, who still played a good number of snaps in a backup role, another sign that the offensive line keeps reshuffling.

On the defensive line, Jalen Thompson jumped up to about four-fifths of the snaps, while CJ Fite, Blazen Lono-Wong and Roman Pitre all climbed to roughly two-thirds, with Julian Hugo now working into the rotation. Linebacker Owen Long moved into a full-time role, a sharp reversal after the position had been de-emphasized the last couple weeks. In the secondary, defensive back Kyan McDonald climbed to about two-thirds of the snaps, while Daquwan Dunn's role shrank.

So heading into next week, the quarterback decision is the one to watch. If Keene can't go, Fette gets his first real start with the offense already buzzing from what he did in relief. And no matter who's under center, expect Cardae Mack's workload to keep growing.

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