A marquee matchup for reflects the ultimate goal for the Sun Devils
The last time Arizona State traveled to Salt Lake City was on November 4, 2023, when it took on Utah. The season was head coach Kenny Dillingham’s first at the helm of his alma mater, and the season was rough to say the least, with ASU finishing 3-9. The final score of that contest was the largest margin of defeat in the Dillingham era, with a loss of 55-3.
Since that demoralizing defeat, the No.21 Sun Devils (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) have grown stronger, with an unforgettable 2024 run followed by a hot start to 2025. The Utes, however, have maintained a consistent level of success for decades. Led by head coach Kyle Whittingham, who has been at the helm since 2005, Utah’s record is 167-86, and it’s been ranked in the AP top 25 poll every season since 2014.
Saturday’s matchup in the Beehive State features one side with a built-in pedigree for decades and another that is actively creating its own culture in the modern day.
“At the end of the day, prior seasons don’t win football games,” Dillingham said during his weekly press conference on Monday. “The culture that (Whittingham) has established there is elite.
“We’re not playing a football team; we’re playing a football program. Sometimes you play teams, sometimes you play programs. A program that’s won for a long time, and those are the hardest teams to beat.”
Coming off the bye week, avoiding slow starts will be a point of emphasis, according to Dillingham. ASU has already fallen behind by 17 points in the first half of two games in 2025. In both cases, the team has gone on to take the lead in the game.
“We made an emphasis on it in our team meeting this morning,” Dillingham said. “We gotta start practice faster. We gotta have a sense of urgency when we start, so we’re going to change some things up.
“We’ve gotta create better plans early in games to help our guys get going. In-game, especially early drive that’s prep.”
Utah poses many matchup issues, but Whittingham’s teams tend to employ power and toughness, and that starts with junior offensive tackle Spencer Fano. The 6-foot-6 tackle is a projected first-round draft pick in the 2026 NFL draft, and The Athletic’s latest mock draft, released October 4, listed Fano as the No.4 player off the board.
The quality of the Utes’ offensive line has been apparent in their ground game. They lead the Big 12 in rushing yards per game at 242.6 and have given up just 15 yards due to sacks all season, the second-best mark in the league.
“This is a way different offense than what we’ve been seeing,” Dillingham said. “Because there’s a lot of triple option elements, we just gotta be extremely sound this week.”
The Sun Devils’ defensive line has shown, however, that it has dangerous potential, leading the Big 12 in sacks with 19 after just five games. That 3.8 average is the fourth best in the nation, and their pressure up front lays the foundation for the rest of the defense.
“We talk about it a lot in terms of team rush,” Dillingham said on defensive line preparation. “The best defenses are the ones, in my opinion, where the defensive line plays together.
“If you can rush four on five, you gain a hat … it becomes a numbers game.”
At quarterback for Utah is Phoenix native, junior Devon Dampier. The 5-foot-11 signal caller played his high school ball at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale and was coached by current ASU tight ends coach Jason Mohns.
“I definitely should’ve recruited him harder,” Dillingham admitted. “He’s definitely proved me wrong. I always thought he was a really good player, but how productive he’s been in college football, I’m super impressed by him.”
Dampier’s 2025 has been noteworthy; he averages 205.4 passing yards per game, completing a conference-leading 72.5% of his passes. He’s also a threat on the ground, putting up 51.6 yards per game, less than five yards shy of redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt.
“How he runs the offense and operates it is definitely a miss by me 100%,” Dillingham added. “He’s a tough guy to tackle, and he gets the ball out fast, and he’s won a lot of games. I’m happy for him, my brother-in-law coached him, and Jason Mohsn was his head coach, so even though we’re playing him this week, I got a lot of respect for him.”
On defense, Utah presents a multitude of problems; its 300.4 yards allowed per game is the fourth-best in the Big 12, while allowing just 14.6 points per game, the third-best mark in the conference. The defensive line, in particular, is a stout area of the defense, sacking quarterbacks for 94 yards in 2025, the fourth most in the Big 12.
“They play really good twist games,” Dillingham noted. “They have a really good scheme on top of the players. They do all the little things right that make you good.”
Leavitt will face a tricky test on the road Saturday; however, his play over recent weeks has also improved drastically. In ASU’s previous matchup against TCU, he threw for a season-high 291 yards and scored three touchdowns, including one with his legs. His completion percentage has also risen over time, connecting on 69.2% of his passes against TCU and 68.8% against Baylor.
“I like to go where people are now,” Dillingham said. “Last week, he was really good, really efficient on early downs, got the ball out fast. I was really impressed with how he’s played in the last three weeks.”
Following the Bye week, the Sun Devils’ next four contests are against teams with a combined record of 18-3, and Utah’s only loss was to No.9 Texas Tech. The schedule is a difficult stretch, to say the least, with the Red Raiders traveling to Tempe the week after playing Utah; however, for Dillingham, the nature of the beast is truly one game at a time.
“There are tons of parity,” Dillingham said. “Every week, you don’t know who’s going to win. The days of (undefeated teams) are getting harder and harder.
“This league is where anybody can beat anybody anytime. Home-field advantages in college are real; they change the dynamic of games. That’s why I stayed focused, one day, one game, who knows who is going to be good in three weeks? I don’t.”
Injury updates: junior wide receiver Jalen Moss is active again, while both junior defensive lineman Zac Swanson and senior safety Xavion Alford are out for Saturday’s contest.
