Redefining the preseason narrative, which projected the Sun Devils to be in the basement of the Big 12, Arizona State (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) is currently third in the conference standings after 11 weeks. This is following a testy 35-31 home victory over the University of Central Florida and in the absence of two integral players on either side of the ball.
Despite all of the positive anecdotes the program has earned in 2024, the defying-the-odds mentality the program has thrived on will be alive and well this weekend when ASU travels outside of Arizona for their final time in the regular season, facing No.20 Kansas State (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) in Manhattan.
“I definitely think our guys understand we have an opportunity,” Dillingham said Monday. “We’re back in an underdog role; we’re back being counted out. We’re playing a team with a head coach who’s won four national championships and was picked to finish first in our league [Big 12] on the road.
“If this isn’t a game that’s challenging and stacked against us, then I don’t know what it is. It’s the biggest game because it's right now, but also because it's the last game we play out of state. So we gotta do whatever we gotta do to play our best football game this week and then come home and stay home.”
A road challenge against the Wildcats, one that has Kansas State early in the week as a touchdown-plus favorite, poses a plethora of challenges. For starters, despite its biggest margin of victory in conference play taking place at Oklahoma State, ASU has normally played worse on the road in comparison to its showings in home matchups. In between the lines, Kansas State scores at a comparable rate to Dillingham’s squad, posting an average of 31.2 points versus the Sun Devils’ 31.6.
Rushing defense, however, could spell trouble, as ASU will match up with the top unit in the league with its leading running back, senior Cam Skattebo, who is still questionable for this contest. Furthermore, Wildcat junior running back DJ Giddens and company place second in the Big 12 in average yards per carry at 5.8 and just one of three programs in the conference averaging over 200 rushing yards per game as well.
“Different beast this week,” Dillingham noted about the team’s upcoming opponent. “ You'd hope we have the confidence of we’re 2-2 on the road and we’ve won a few games now. It's a really good environment, a really good team coming off a bye-week in November, unfortunately.”
Dillingham has long been familiarized with the Wildcats’ signal-caller, sophomore Avery Johnson. The Wichita native has been more than formidable as a passer, completing 61% of his attempts on the year with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. In his past coaching stints as an offensive coordinator in the ACC and Pac-12, Dillingham was hot on the recruiting trail of Johnson, creating a full circle moment ahead of the Saturday showdown.
“ Avery’s a star,” Dillingham remarked. “I recruited Avery at Flordia State and at Oregon; he’s a really good smart kid that runs a 4.3 [40-yard dash] and can throw it 50-something yards. He has a very bright future in football.”
The Sun Devils have repeatedly proved their resiliency this year, recording a 5-1 mark in one-score games, closing out with victories both at home and on the road in adverse situations. For Dillingham, the assuredness of his players late in games starts at the top, although not with him or his assistants but rather with the leaders in between the lines.
“I think the guys have a belief that they’re going to win the game,” Dillingham described. “They don’t wavier. With our leaders on defense, people can look at them and are like, ‘alright, we’re gonna win the football game,’ and you look at who makes the game-winning tackle. It's one of our kids on the leadership council and another who plays hard 24/7 [junior safeties Xavion Alford and Myles Rowser].”
The apparent sense of belief has been a staple in the blueprint of ASU’s program culture. A team heaped with transfer additions going through a significant roster may have fueled the belief outside the program and with some national pundits that the 2024 version of the Sun Devils wasn’t going to fair much better, if at all, from the three-win teams of last season. Arizona State's head coach noted that this outside perception was also created due to some of the newcomers not being highly regarded at their previous teams.
“There's a reason that most of these guys transferred here; their last place didn’t think they weren’t anything anyways,” Dillingham commented. “That was the nature of our team, a whole bunch of people with chips on their shoulders. We recruit guys that were driven internally to be good; I think those kids being comfortable here be themselves here; I think that balance of having a lot of fun but working really hard has really put these guys in a position to start believing in one another.”
To continue on its exponential trajectory, Dillingham feels ASU needs to maintain its hunger, be proud and motivated by success, and maintain a sense of humility, not turning accomplishments from a strength into a deterrent.
“We’re trying to figure out the balance of confidence and cockiness,” Dillingham admitted. “I felt like we were on the verge of that, and I told the team on (last) Thursday, ‘Are we confident or are we cocky right now?’ Because we’re right there. It was bothering me a little bit. We haven’t experienced success. Maybe this is how we handle it. I felt like we gotta get a little bit back to that underdog (mentality), and I kind of got us out of that mindset a little bit. I felt like I did a poor job managing.”
Success naturally breeds and trust among teammates, and the program has certainly railed behind redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt, who impressed down the stretch in the win against UCF. On the night, he completed 16-25 passes for 161 yards and, for the second week in a row, threw three touchdowns, two of which came in the second half, regaining the lead for ASU in the closing stages of the game. And due to this performance, Leavitt was awarded the Big 12’s Newcomer of the Week honor.
“On offense, people can look at Sam, and they just have a lot of confidence that Sam gonna make plays when the games on the line, and he’s going to get it done,” Dillingham stated.
Leavitt's second-half heroics would not have been possible without the aid of sophomore wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, who scored both of the passing touchdowns along with recording five other receptions for a combined 99 yards. And in recent games, the wide receiver has consistently been a key player in the waning moments of each half. Four of his TD receptions this season have come in the final five minutes of a half (two in the first half and two in the second half). THREE of his seven touchdown catches have come in the fourth quarter of games.
Conversely, Tyson has been much more targeted than any of his teammates, who have not been able to truly shoulder some of the load in the passing game. Tyson’s number of season completions, 46, is in stark contrast to the number two wide receiver on that list, senior Xavier Guillory, who has 13 catches.
“I think their time will come,” Dillingham said regarding the wide receivers’ overall contributions. “We had some opportunities this week; we had some opportunities throughout other games where we’re close to getting more people involved. We’re just not quite there yet, and hopefully, maybe this is the week; I keep saying this is the week, and I’m hoping I'm right.”
To reload in the wide receiver room for the next year and compensate for the senior who will depart and overall attrition, ASU has received two commitments from players who visited this past weekend: former TCU pledge Chance Ables and 6-foot-7 junior college transfer Jordan Scott.
A large part of any recruiting success is rooted in the coaching staff, and former NFL wide receiver Hines Ward, who serves as the Sun Devils’ wide receivers coach, has proven that his pedigree is effective in attracting young talent. His 14-year professional career provides a good degree of credibility, although Ward’s humility is also an attractive trait in the recruiting process.
“Other than 10,000 yards and 100 touchdowns and a Super Bowl MVP, he's just a really humble person,” Dillingham remarked. “You’d never know the accomplishments he’s had in his career. That’s his secret sauce. Nobody sees him as the first one in the building almost every single day. He’s honest with the dudes, he’s done what they want to do, and he can be honest with them because they have to naturally respect what he’s accomplished.”
Four-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week running back Cam Skattebo was sidelined with a shoulder injury against UCF, which affected ASU's ground attack and overall offensive effort. Dillingham stated that the running back is “questionable” heading into the Kansas State game, yet unlike last week, he could practice some throughout the week starting Tuesday. According to Dillingham, the senior would’ve played on Saturday if it was up to the player himself.
“I think he's gonna try to practice [Tuesday] at least jog through some things and run around a little bit, so that’s a positive. He was trying to get me to put him in the game in the middle of the third quarter,” Dillingham laughed. “We’ll see what it looks like this week; even if he’s cleared, I wanna make sure that we’re going to get the best version of Cam if he goes out there.”
Skattebo is among the minimal shortlist of players sidelined for injury. Junior linebacker Keyshaun Elliott, who also missed the UCF game due to a neck stinger, is also questionable for this weekend. At this late juncture of the season, staying healthy is as critical as any factor to success, and that is the thought that is guiding Dillingham’s handling of these two players and injuries overall.
“I hope they feel good,” Dillingham said. “We’re playing meaningful games in November. We’re pretty healthy knock-on-wood, but the bangs and bruises and soreness that's real, that's football. Guys are gonna not feel good, how do you get them to feel their best come Saturday, that's my job, what's the balance between preparing and also getting them to feel the very best they can feel when they take the field Saturday?”
Join your fellow Sun Devil fans on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, run by the longest-tenured Sun Devil sports beat writer, to discuss this article and other ASU football, basketball, and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today and get your daily fix of Sun Devil news!
