Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham has been vocal about the significance of making hustle plays, expressing pride in his team’s early-season efforts. However, after a week of self-scouting during their bye week, Dillingham senses that the Sun Devils are drifting away from that crucial message as they prepare for their Big 12 conference home opener against Kansas this Saturday.
Assessing ASU’s Performance
Currently sitting at 3-1, ASU is coming off its first loss of the season, having fallen 30-22 to Texas Tech on the road. Reflecting on the past week, Dillingham remarked, “I thought it was a productive bye week.” He continued, “I told the guys today we got to get back to playing the game really hard. We didn’t play (Texas Tech) very hard. Not as hard as we had in weeks 1 and 2. The more I watched it on tape, the more you see it. It’s a simple game if you play it really hard. We got to get back to that being a strength, not just a tie for us — that has got to be an advantage.”
The Need for Consistent Effort
Early in the season, ASU jumped to significant leads against Wyoming and Mississippi State. However, in their last two games, the Sun Devils found themselves in difficult positions. They managed to rally against Texas State but fell short against Texas Tech. Dillingham emphasized the need for his team to bring consistent effort from the outset.
“Early in games we have to worry about us, keeping the emotions high because you have to play this game with a high level of passion and emotion, but it has to be controlled,” he explained. “I think, at times, the last few weeks we’ve more bark than we have bite. We’ve been, ‘Oh, have you seen our tape? We play really hard and physical.’ And we’ve talked about that more than we’ve actually played like that.”
Addressing Team Focus and Intensity
Dillingham further noted, “The first two weeks, their coach went to the press conference and talked about how hard we played when they got asked a question about what do you think about ASU. The last two coaches have not said anything about how hard we played. That tells us everything we know about how we’ve let that slip away.”
Despite the challenges, Dillingham acknowledged that his tendency to overload players with information could have impacted their intensity on the field. Known for his creativity, the 34-year-old coach admitted, “I was doing too much.”
Previewing the Kansas Matchup
Looking ahead, ASU enters the matchup against Kansas as the favored team on paper. The Jayhawks, currently at 1-4, have lost four consecutive games and sit at the bottom of the Big 12 standings. However, their record might be deceiving.
The four losses came by a combined margin of just 24 points, and Kansas has held leads in the fourth quarter in three of those games. Dillingham emphasized that with a few pivotal plays, this Kansas team could have a drastically different record.
“They’re the same team that was predicted to potentially win the league to start the season,” he said. “They’ve had two end of the first halves where they’ve turned the football over, and the opponent has gotten seven points to essentially end the first half, which is the difference in two of their games, Illinois and UNLV. This is a really good football team. They’ve turned the ball over a lot, and really, that’s the only statistic that’s much different for them from last year, is turnover margin. It’s amazing what turnover margin does. They’re that close to still being the team that everyone predicted them to be.”
Healthier Roster for ASU
As the Sun Devils prepare to face the Jayhawks, they expect to be healthier. Dillingham reported that the players who “should be in the depth are all back,” including running back Raleek Brown, defensive linemen Jacob Kongaika, linebacker Tate Romney, and defensive back LT Welch, all of whom missed the Texas Tech game.
With renewed focus and improved health, ASU aims to get back on track against Kansas, making hustle plays a priority to secure a much-needed victory.
