👋 GOOD MORNING — Happy Friday! Did you catch the NFL opening kickoff last night?

Pro football is back, and this could be a good year for the Cardinals. Of course, that was all highlighted in yesterday’s edition of the Daily, and make sure to check out Monday’s edition for takeaways from all of your favorite football teams, whether it’s the Cardinals, Sun Devils and/or Wildcats.

Time for your weekly joke to help you through the rest of the day: What did the football coach say to the vending machine? I want my quarter back!

Let’s run it back next week. On to the show!

— Patrick Brown, PHNX Sports Daily Editor

Last week was a good start, but college football is just getting warmed up.

Both the No. 12 Sun Devils and Wildcats are back in action tomorrow, looking to build on their opening-weekend victories. Arizona likely won’t have much trouble against outmatched Weber State — they lost 45-10 last week to James Madison, for crying out loud — but Arizona State is in for a tougher test against SEC foe Mississippi State.

ASU defeated the Bulldogs 30-23 in Tempe last year.

Let’s dive in to this weekend’s matchups.

No. 12 Arizona State (1-0) at Mississippi State (1-0)
Game info: 4:30 pm, ESPN2
bet365 odds: Sun Devils -6.5
Last Meeting: Mississippi State 23, Arizona State 30

Last season’s matchup against the Bulldogs was an interesting one. Sam Leavitt threw for just 69 yards, but Cam Skattebo rushed for 262 (yet had no touchdowns). Leavitt ran for 68 yards and two touchdowns, but the Sun Devils raced out to a 30-3 lead before holding on for deal life to earn their first-even win over an SEC team.

The Bulldogs rolled to a 34-17 win over Southern Mississippi last week.

Flags were a concern in the Sun Devils’ win over Northern Arizona last weekend, as they were penalized 12 times for 93 yards in the contest. Sure, ASU still came away with a win, but the mental mistakes must get cleaned up, or that perfect record will come crashing down in a hurry.

Coach Kenny Dillingham inadvertently provided the Bulldogs with a little bulletin board material earlier this week when he seemingly took a shot at the city of Starkville.The remarks were innocent enough during a press conference, but even so, Mississippi State didn’t need any added motivation while looking to bounce back.

Starkville can be challenging a challenging environment, and the Sun Devils need to be dialed in from the opening kickoff.

ASU accounted for 203 rushing yards against Northern Arizona, a welcome sight following the departure of Cam Skattebo to the NFL this past offseason. Kyson Brown was especially impressive, averaging 10.4 yards on seven carries, but Raleek Brown and Kanye Udoh combined for 57 yards. The Bulldogs held Southern Miss to 102 yards and zero touchdowns last week.

Weber State (0-1) at Arizona (1-0)
Game info: 7 pm, ESPN+, Listen online
bet365 odds: N/A — No odds set
Last Meeting: Never faced each other

Arizona erased the memories of a disappointing 2024 season in a hurry, demolishing Hawai’i 40-6 last week. Weber State, meanwhile, fell 45-10 at James Madison.

No wonder the oddsmakers wouldn’t bite on this matchup.

Stating the obvious here, but don’t fall into the FCS trap! Not only does that sting, but it also ends up meaning the losing school paid the winning school to come on the road and post an upset. This season is off to as good of a start as it can possibly be — there’s no need to get lazy and overlook the Wildcats (Yes, Weber State is also a Wildcat school).

Tomorrow is a perfect time for quarterback Noah Fifita to bounce back from a somewhat lackluster performance against the Rainbow Warriors last week. He didn’t need to be spectacular, but still only completed 13 of his 23 throws, and also avoided turning it over while accounting for a touchdown.

He also rushed the ball eight times … for -14 yards.

Not much to be concerned about, but it would be nice to see a dominant performance from the junior.

Coach Brent Brennan’s team dominated the turnover battle last weekend, recording five takeaways while not turning it over at all. It’s cliche for a reason, but an output like that — which frankly shouldn’t be terribly hard to repeat against Weber State — guarantees a 2-0 start to the season.

Seeing Red: The D-backs have a chance to climb back to .500 this weekend, hosting the Red Sox beginning tonight at 6:40 pm. Boston is fresh off a series win over Cleveland, and has been playing some of its best ball of the season over its last 15 games.

We’re Going Streaking: The Mercury kicked off their quick two-game road trip with a 75-69 win in Washington, D.C., notching their sixth straight win in the process. Kahleah Copper led all Phoenix players with 18 points, while Alyssa Thomas chipped in 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

The Mercury are back in action on Saturday, facing the Sun in Connecticut (10 am, Arizona’s Family Sports).

Vegas, Baby: Rising FC continues its home stand tomorrow night with a matchup against the Las Vegas Lights, looking to continue their chase for a USL postseason spot. Phoenix is fifth in the USL Championship Western Conference table, and a win over the bottom-dwelling Lights would go a long way for a playoff berth.

Kicking it Off: It’s finally time! The Cardinals open their season in New Orleans against the Saints (10 am, CBS), and it’s one of the most anticipated season openers in recent memory. Make sure to tune in to our PHNX Cardinals crew, who will be coming to you live from NOLA multiple times: Saturday at 3:30 pm (AZ time!), as well as pregame, halftime, and postgame shows during the game.

What do you think?

Heading into the weekend with both college and pro football like: