BREAKING: S Lyrik Rawls is Done For The Season, Won't Return For Arizona State

Three days away from putting the pads on at Mountain America Stadium, ASU football has already taken a hit.

Sun Devil safety Lyrik Rawls, who already missed extended time after an injury vs. Baylor, is out once again. This time, a potential season-ending situation.

Here is what you need to know about the ASU loss in their secondary:

Tough News at Practice

Rawls has been steadily making his way back to the field ever since his leg injury on Oct. 3. However, ASU head football coach Kenny Dillingham would blindside the public with an update on the transfer safety.

"Barring something crazy, he'll probably be out for the year," Dillingham said. "So you know, unless something drastic happens, it's not a positive, but more than likely, he'll be out for the remainder of the year."

Rawls is a fifth-year senior, meaning his options to extend his playing career due to this injury are slim to none.

"By the rules, no. I'll say it like (that), I don't know, though," Dillingham said about Rawls' chances at playing again in college. "By the current rules, no, he cannot get a year back. There are no more waivers. There are no more injury waivers."

ASU Defensive Coordinator Brian Ward

"It's immeasurable when you have a leader that's out for the year. That's two years in a row. We've lost a leader in the safety room who is kind of an old guy in the room that just has a lot of experience and a lot of wisdom and maturity and brings the habits that you want into that room every day for those younger guys to learn and have an impact on,"

"Losing a guy like that, you don't replace him. You have to find different ways to adapt without him. So, losing him is a big deal. But we have guys stepping up, we've been without him for the last four weeks, I believe, so we've been steadily progressing, without him, but with a plan for him to come back, this came as a shock to all of us,"

"It's like anything else: how do you respond to adversity? You can't change the plan. You've got to just adapt, you've got to adjust, and got to continue to find ways to re-emphasize things that are important in order to be successful."

So, What Now?

As Ward mentioned, the ASU defense has been without Rawls for a month now, so there won't exactly be a notice in his absence out on the field.

Arizona State's defense has put together some solid showings in recent weeks, even with being Rawls-less, holding Kansas State to under 20 points and keeping the Devils in the game at No. 7 BYU.

Ward also mentioned being in this situation before: Top safety Xavion Alford suffered an early-season injury in 2025, missing the rest of the year as well.

While the Devils are used to being a man down, it doesn't make the sting any lighter. Especially when taking on two of the top offenses in the Big 12 (Oklahoma State and Arizona) in the final four weeks.

Arizona State will try to put the hard news behind them when they take the field vs. Colorado this Saturday at 5:30 p.m. AZT.

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