Arizona State running back Jackson He (32) scores a touchdown with Arizona defensive back Jaxen Turner trying to defend in the second half during an NCAA college football game, Friday, Dec. 11, 2020, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
The Arizona State sideline erupted midway through the fourth quarter against Arizona on Friday. It was a louder cheer than what came from most of the other big plays that happened during the 70-7 Territorial Cup win, and there were a lot of big ASU plays.
On this particular moment, redshirt junior running back Jackson He took a handoff for a one-yard touchdown. It was a late-game score in a blowout, but this run was far from a meaningless garbage-time touchdown.
Not long after, Twitter exploded too.
He became the first Chinese-born player to score a touchdown in an FBS game. By the postgame press conference, he was trending nationally on Twitter and receiving messages from back home.
“It’s unreal. It’s unbelievable,” He said. “It’s crazy, all the support from my teammates and all the love from everybody on my team.”
After scoring, He pointed to the nameplate on the back of his jersey, which has his name written with Chinese lettering.
“I’m representing something different. Having this nameplate on my back is really cool,” he said. “I’m thankful for the equipment room at ASU … it’s just mad love, like crazy.”
Head coach Herm Edwards started putting in younger players as the score blossomed out of Arizona’s reach. The coach put He in with the intention of the running back getting a couple plays.
“I didn’t know we were going to give him a full series in there!” Edwards said. “I thought he was going to get one or two carries, but he stayed in there.”
Junior running back Rachaad White had been pushing for He’s appearance. White actually tried to give him a chance early in the third quarter, running out of bounds around the two-yard line, but offensive coordinator Zak Hill wasn’t ready to go to his bench at that point despite what had been, at the time, a nearly 40-point lead.
“He thought he was setting up Jackson He for the touchdown there. It was a little early, we weren’t getting him in at that point,” Hill said.
“Seeing him score, it was truly an honor,” White said. “Jackson, he’s a friend of mine, close friends. Been that way since I’ve been here.”
He, who chose his first name because of Michael Jackson when he moved to the United States, got his chance in the fourth quarter instead. It seems he listened to the pop icon’s advice in a song that played at the stadium pregame — “you better run, you better do what you can” — and got the ball over the goal line just before the defender threw him out of the end zone.
That put the icing on the cake for ASU, who also took some advice from the name of that song in the 70-point performance.
As He’s press conference ended, he paused for a moment and pointed at his shirt for reporters on the other end of the Zoom call. He said:
“Right here, it says, ‘Everything is possible’ in Chinese.”
As the only known Chinese-born person in CFB, He showed that Friday as he became the first to score.
“I’m the first one, but I’m not the last one,” he said. “There’s going to be more Chinese stepping on this stage and scoring.”
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December 12, 2020 at 12:27PM
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Jackson He becomes 1st Chinese-born player to score TD in FBS history - Arizona Sports
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