Kansas may be in the midst of a four-game losing streak, seeking their first win since their season opener. Nonetheless, ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham is hardly moved by the Jayhawks’ 1-4 record since it inaccurately portrays them. Arizona State’s upcoming opponent has held a lead in the fourth quarter in each of their four losses, and if not for a couple of inopportune plays, their season mark and current perception would look much different.
“Kansas is a really weird team,” Dillingham remarked. “They don’t look like a team that’s struggling much. They’re the same team that was predicted to potentially win the league at the start of the season. This is a really good football team. They’ve turned the ball over a lot, and that’s the only statistic that’s much different than last year for them.”
In its first five games, Kansas has allowed an average of 338 total yards, with 211 of them coming via the passing game. The Jayhawks are known to generally focus on halting ground attacks rather than aerial ones, which could provide an opportunity for ASU redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt to grow in his game, as the Sun Devils are looking to be more efficient in the air.
“They want to run the ball and stop the run,” Dillingham observed. “That’s their identity, so I don’t think they care if they give up intermediate passes. I think that’s why they’re good on defense over a long period, is if you can be that efficient in the intermediate passing game, which most college teams can’t be, then do it. I think it is what it is, and they want to stop the run, get the quarterback uncomfortable, whether that's a four-man rush or five-man rush.”
Leavitt’s growth has been linear through the first four games, both on the stat sheet and in his overall comfortability on the field. His ability to be effective with his elusiveness outside the pocket is also one of the aspects that have allowed him to run for four touchdowns and generally pass the ball accurately while scrambling. ASU's head coach is cognizant of the narrative concerning the signal caller virtually changing after each and every Leavitt throw.
“Sam has played four college football games for us,” Dillingham noted. “Three of those he’s thrown for roughly 250 yards, and he’s run and escaped a lot of pressure. So, when you look at what he’s done through four games, it just depends on how you look at the picture. The beautiful thing about sports is the eye of the beholder. That’s the definition when you’re a young quarterback, is people get to pick if you’re playing really well or playing poorly a lot when you’re young.”
The Sun Devils were able to recollect themselves during the bye week and prepare for the Kansas contest while also deeply self-evaluating themselves after the first third of their season. The energy and effort displayed by ASU, which was formidable in the first two weeks, seemed to have come to a standstill in recent games. Therefore, it was an element that Dillingham brought to the attention of his players during this brief hiatus, one that he thought benefitted his team.
“We’re trying to break up the monotony, have a little fun, and then go back to what we want to be in this three-game stretch,” Dillingham expressed. “With the different bye weeks, you really get an opportunity to have an identity to tweak and self-scout yourself for three games. I told the guys we had to get back to playing the game hard. We gotta get back to that being a strength, not just a tie for us.”
The Sun Devils’ depth in the secondary has been challenged ever since spring practice when senior cornerback Ed Woods decided just days before the transfer portal closed to leave the team and join Michigan State. The attrition continued midway through fall camp when senior nickel corner Macen Williams left the team, and last week, fellow nickel corner and sophomore Cole Martin was ruled out for the season due to a hip injury.
This gave true freshmen cornerbacks Rodney Bimage Jr. and Kyan McDonald (lining up at backup nickel) an opportunity to establish themselves in the two-deep. Although they were available against Texas Tech, Dillingham chose to stick with his veteran starters. Nonetheless, ASU's head coach recognizes the opportunities he will have to increase the newcomers’ number of snaps to keep his top players fresher as the season progresses.
“They’re both doing a really nice job,” Dillingham recognized. “I think both of those guys have really bright futures here. Getting Laterrence Welch (back from injury) will be really good for us at the corner, and I think we need to play guys more. Last game, we didn’t play a lot of guys, especially in the back end. The only way to get better is through practice and game reps. Not just for right now, but for the future of the program and where we’re going, we got to get some of those younger safeties in the game, like Kamari Wilson and Montana Warren.”
One significant factor that needs improvement following the first four weeks of the season is red zone efficiency. The Sun Devils are tied for 96th in the country with a .789 offensive efficiency percentage, while Arizona State's defense has yet to generate a stop in this region of the field, allowing nine touchdowns and two field goals in 11 opponent opportunities.
“That’s our number one category of improvement that we gotta get better at,” Dillingham stated. “Whenever both sides of the ball are failing at something, that means we’re (the coaches) probably not working on it enough. We worked the red zone during the bye week for four different segments, which is more than we normally work because we have to get better in that category. When you’re trying to win these games, you have to win the margins and be more efficient in the red zone.”
A team dropping its level of overall concentration is not uncommon during a bye week, but Dillingham is confident that this didn't define his players at all last week. With the loss lingering around during the extra week of preparation, he believes that the Sub Devils are hungrier than ever and resolved to prove that no lapse in focus took place. Dillingham has preached that course correcting following a bye is challenging but not impossible.
“I don’t think when you lose, you have to refocus,” Dillingham said. “We’ve been sitting on this (loss) for a week now; let’s get back to it. I think that’s the guys’ mentality, but it’s easy to say. It’s hard to go out there and work really hard all week. The reality is most teams are average because that’s the definition of average. You have to do things better to not play at an average level, and that’s difficult.”
The first two home games of the season saw the first time that the student section was filled with over 10,000 fans in consecutive weeks to open the season. Now, with Arizona State’s Family Weekend taking place in conjunction with ASU’s first ever Big 12 home opener on Saturday, having another five-figure student attendance at Mountain America Stadium is plausible. With temperatures forecasted to be north of 100 degrees during the 5 p.m. kickoff, ASU will incentivize the students who cheer on the Sun Devils for the entire 60 minutes.
“Right now, we’re very close to a sellout,” Dillingham remarked. “It’s Family Weekend, and Chick-fil-A is giving out free food to students who stay the whole game. I think that’s something our athletic department has been working on, trying to create perks. If it’s 106 degrees out and we have a sold-out crowd, you better get comfortable with the person next to you. This should be a really fun game to be out here at Mountain America Stadium.”
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