Amid a staff change, ASU prepares for a Big 12 Championship game rematch
For the first time since November 2023, Arizona State lost at home at Mountain America Stadium, falling 24-16 to now-No. 22 Houston last Saturday. A flurry of injuries, and Special Teams Coordinator Charlie Ragle taking a step back for medical reasons, and an away game against Iowa State, all clutter the task sheet of ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham.
Despite all these issues that need to be resolved for the Sun Devils, Dillingham’s focus is on improvement.
“The process of growth is consistent, it’s not linear,” Dillingham said during his weekly press conference. “You just hope at the end you’re higher than when you started. I think the growth is there; sometimes it doesn’t show.
“It is pretty much the same process; you do have to potentially message things differently, but in terms of the messaging, there’s only one way to get better: to work hard, take ownership of things, and try to improve.”
For the first time since September of 2023, ASU went scoreless through the first three quarters last Saturday. Usually, when a team struggles to put points on the board, the offense comes to a complete standstill. The Sun Devils, however, posted 426 yards of total offense, 42 more yards than Houston.
The issue that’s been the Sun Devils’ Achilles’ heel throughout 2025 has been their inefficient play in opponents’ territory. Senior kicker Jesus Gomez missed two free kicks from 31 and 42 yards, and sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt fumbled after driving down 57 yards in four plays.
“Two times we missed (field goals) for multiple reasons,” Dillingham noted. “Then we had a turnover on the 50-yard line. It wasn’t like we were just going three and out … for some reason, we’re still not getting it done scoring points.”
The problems on offense began last Wednesday, when junior wide receiver and projected top-10 pick in the 2026 NFL draft, Jordyn Tyson, was ruled out of the Houston game due to a lower-body injury. Tyson, despite missing the game, still leads the Big 12 in receptions (57) and touchdowns (8) while placing second in yards per game (89.7).
“Having Jordyn is an absolute game-changer,” Dillingham admitted. “That’s why he’s going to be a first-round draft pick. I think there’ve been moments where we’ve overcome it and we just gotta get in a rhythm, and that’s tough because the pieces are changing every week.”
The pieces changed during the game as well, with Leavitt being sidelined in the first and fourth quarters due to two undisclosed injuries. Leavitt completed 18-of-35 passes for 270 yards and a touchdown.
Backup signal caller, redshirt senior Jeff Sims, stepped up in Leavitt’s absence, completing 6-of-11 pass attempts. Sims notably threw a touchdown to senior tight end Chamon Metayer to cut the Houston lead to just eight points in the fourth quarter.
The other senior to make a statement is senior wide receiver Malik McClain, who had a career day, hauling in seven passes for 159 yards. McClain had just six receptions for 51 yards coming into the game.
“I can say I was very happy with how Malik played, I was happy with how (junior wide receiver Jalen Moss) played, and I was very happy with how Jeff,” Dillingham said on players who performed well offensively.
ASU’s head coach remarked that it is critical for his team to flush the loss ahead of his team’s upcoming contest with Iowa State on Saturday. Ames will be a hostile host for ASU as the teams face off in a rematch of the 2024 Big 12 Championship game. The Sun Devils dominated the neutral-site matchup in Arlington, Texas, in a 45-19 rout and lifted the conference title trophy in their first season as a Big 12 member. Both teams, however, are on the outside looking in on the title race: ASU is currently seventh in the standings, while the Cyclones are ninth and have lost their last three games, including a 41-27 loss to now-No. 10 BYU.
“They’re dinged up like we’re dinged up,” Dillingham elaborated. “They played an unbelievable football game last week; the score was not a reflection of the football game they played last week.
“For our guys, it’s understanding we’re going to face a team that’s going to be one angry from what happened last year, then two hungry because they just played a really good game they could’ve won and they didn’t win. It’s almost like we’re playing ourselves.”
Dillingham stated that he won’t give any injury updates before Wednesday, but did speak to the difficulties of balancing practice with health.
“I think (last week) we had a good week of practice,” Dillingham commented. “We just didn’t have some guys, but those guys have earned the chance to play on Saturday if they feel good to play.”
After ASU’s top-10 victory over Texas Tech, Dillingham said the team would never practice again without intensity; however, at the root of all his decisions is a player-first mindset.
With 8:57 left in the first quarter, Leavitt went down hard after rushing for 14 yards, looking to pick up a first down. He jogged off the field unassisted and entered the medical tent on the sidelines. According to Dillingham, Leavitt was itching to get right back in the game, yet he would not let him do so.
“I think about the best interest of the players,” Dillingham explained. “When Sam got up in the first quarter, he said, ‘I’m going back in,’ I said No, you’re not, you’re going to the locker room.’ When you have really competitive people, it’s our job and the medical staff to make sure they’re safe.”
On the topic of injuries, former ASU running back and 2024 Heisman trophy finalist, Cam Skattebo’s hot start to his rookie season with the New York Giants hit an abrupt end Sunday. He will miss the remainder of the year after suffering a gruesome ankle dislocation against the Philadelphia Eagles. Monday, Dillingham, and Skattebo spoke briefly before he headed in for surgery.
“I called Skat, really sad deal he worked his butt off to get to where he’s at,” Dillingham noted. “Regardless of his future, he’s going to be successful based on the passion he has for the game. Through football in 10-15 years, that dude has built a brand for himself that is sustainable.”
Earlier today, The Athletic published an article speculating that Dillingham is one of multiple current head coaches who are potential replacements for marquee coaching positions that’ve opened up in college football, such as LSU. ASU’s head coach had a unique response when asked about this speculation.
“I’m trying to win as many games as I can here,” Dillingham claimed. “We all live in this reality TV show … everybody’s doing the same thing, everyone is trying to win. I tell our guys, if you get lost in people making you a reality show, this thing is going to be miserable for you as a player. I’m so singularly focused on this building, you better not get lost in the show.”
On the subject of coaching, Dillingham spoke of special teams coordinator Charlie Ragle and his decision to take a medical leave of absence effective immediately.
Ragle and Dillingham have a storied history. In 2007, as the head coach of Chaparral High School, Ragle gave Dillingham his first start in coaching after Dillingham tore his ACL in his senior year as a member of the Firebirds, ending his playing career. Dillingham went on to become the varsity team’s offensive coordinator at age 21, and the rest, as they say, is history.
“I told him, however long that is, it is,” Dillingham explained. “Let’s have a conversation and go from there. Thoughts and prayers for him and his family as he starts to get on track.
“I can tell you this isn’t good for his health, and it’s sad to say because he had so much more value than what people see on a Saturday night.”
Sun Devil special teams coordinator Jack Nudo will be taking over for Ragle for the time being, and offensive analyst John Wozniak, who has experience coaching special teams, will focus his efforts on that group.
“He’s just a really sharp guy,” Dillingham said of Nudo. “Good energy, good ideas, I think it’s a good opportunity for him to really see what he can do. My role is to help wherever I think we need help, so my involvement last week is going to continue on the field at a high level.”
Special teams have become a major area of concern for ASU, as they’ve pushed opponents back an average of just 32.5 yards, while over half the conference averages over 41 yards per punt and rank 134th nationally in net punting. The Sun Devils rank 21st in punt returns but 112th in kick returns. 87 yards of return yards were negated due to three of the five penalties called on special teams.
“We’re giving the officials too many opportunities to throw flags,” Dillingham noted. “We’re going to focus on not being in chase mode this week. Both of our return unit penalties were chase mode penalties; we met about that as a team.”
