Dillingham eyes Mississippi State contest, plans to thrive in ‘chaos’

Two days after opening the season, Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham made one thing clear in his Monday press conference: the focus has shifted entirely to Mississippi State. With the first road test of the year looming in Starkville, Dillingham stressed preparation, discipline, and what he calls the “dawg mentality” as the keys to success.

Dillingham admitted that the biggest lesson from week one wasn’t about results but about readiness for what comes next. Northern Arizona’s exotic looks were disruptive, and that takeaway is driving this week’s practice plan.

“We’re just going to practice craziness,” Dillingham remarked. “It’s just a good learning experience for me to help our guys more. We need to have a couple of days in camp where we practice versus the schemes that are a little bit unconventional and a little bit crazy by nature. Not unsound. They’re very sound, but just crazy. Chaos is their middle name. So, we’re going to work on chaos a lot this week and get better at chaos.”

That focus on embracing chaos will define ASU’s approach as it prepares for an SEC opponent that thrives on controlling pace and forcing mistakes. 

The environment itself will also pose a challenge. While ASU faced two SEC opponents last season, it never experienced the intensity of an away game against either team. Having coached in the SEC at Auburn, Dillingham knows exactly what to expect from Davis Wade Stadium: a wall of noise and a sea of ringing cowbells.

“Cowbells, baby. You know what I mean? It’s gonna be fun,” Dillingham said. “They love their football down there… They’ll be there at 9:00 a.m. for a 6:30 kick, and they’ll be getting ready to roll. It’ll be their first home game of the year. So, I’m excited. The football down there is really good.”

To prepare, ASU will begin simulating the cowbell noise in practice to replicate the atmosphere of Starkville. The goal isn’t just to mimic the sound—it’s to sharpen communication under pressure.

“They play so fast that if you can’t get lined up, you’re screwed,” Dillingham explained. “If you have one MA (missed assignment), they’re going to score a touchdown. So, you cannot beat yourselves. That’s the communication piece.”

The Sun Devils aren’t just adjusting to a hostile environment—they’re also facing a Mississippi State team that looks very different from the one they saw last year. In that previous matchup, now-NFL draftee Cam Skattebo carried the offense with 262 rushing yards, while sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt managed just 69 passing yards, and Mississippi State went on to finish the season 2-10.

Dillingham stressed that the Bulldogs, whom ASU narrowly beat 30-23 last year in Tempe, are not the caliber of squad they’ll see this week.

“They’ve added over 30 transfers. They’ve added eight junior college players. So, around 40 veterans to their football team,” Dillingham noted. “This team is really 65, 70% new from last year’s team. A completely different football team.”

Mississippi State underwent one of the most drastic roster overhauls in the country after a rough 2024 season—a reminder of how quickly a program can rebound in the NIL era, as seen just Saturday when last year’s 2-10 Florida State stunned No. 8 Alabama.

Nine of those transfers came on the offensive line and eight on the defensive line, meaning Mississippi State can study and game-plan for ASU’s returning starters, while ASU has little to draw from last year’s matchup against a mostly new Bulldogs team.

Still, ASU must prepare not just for the speed and noise of Starkville, but also for the fresh identity that head coach Jeff Lebby has instilled in Mississippi State.

“You can see Coach Lebby and his identity is starting to show up, and the passion he has for the game is starting to show up,” Dillingham said.

Perhaps the biggest challenge Mississippi State presents is its blistering pace on offense. Dillingham explained how his staff is replicating that tempo in practice.

“We’ll do two huddles,” Dillingham commented. “One huddle will run a play and then the next huddle will run a play, and our defense has to get aligned… All they need is for you to misfit one thing, miscommunicate one thing, and you just gave them a free touchdown.”

One area of focus will be on eliminating free plays. ASU surrendered a Dillingham-era high of 13 penalties for 93 yards against NAU, while the Bulldogs committed 14 such infractions for 119 yards in a 34-17 win against Southern Miss. In a matchup like this, the game could come down to which team commits the fewest mental errors, and with both squads facing opponents far more talented than their season opener foes, even a single misstep could be costly.

Offensively, Dillingham wants ASU to establish itself as a downhill running team. In Week One, the Sun Devils ran the ball just 14 times, despite averaging 9.2 yards per carry —a balance that Dillingham admitted they need to emphasize moving forward.

“I think we’re going to try to get those three guys and continue to get them involved in the game plan, because I thought they did play really well. All three of them,” Dillingham said. “I probably should have run more direct runs in the game plan… At the end of the day, that’s going to be our identity — downhill running the football.”

ASU arguably established its identity as a run-first team during this same matchup last year, as All-American running back Cam Skattebo posted 262 yards on 33 carries, ironically not scoring that night, and current starting quarterback Sam Leavitt registered 68 yards on 11 carries, scoring twice. The 346 rushing yards from that 30-23 victory may be impossible to replicate this weekend, but generally establishing a strong ground presence could be a key step in improving on a sluggish victory over the Lumberjacks. When asked about carrying the same fire that fueled last year’s victory over Mississippi State—and raising their level of fight—Dillingham said it ultimately comes down to mindset.

“At the end of the day, like how bad you want something matters,” Dillingham explained. “What you pour into your cup is what you’re going to pour out… Getting a game like that hopefully out of the way, surviving a good team that was chaotic and had a lot of good schemes, hopefully we get to learn from that game and get back to that passion.”

That passion, he added, can’t be faked or flipped on when convenient. It has to be lived daily. “We’ve got to show it in practice. We got to practice with it. And then we have to be able to go play with that level of intensity,” he said.

With the Big 12 starting strong nationally and a retooled Mississippi State ready to test them, Dillingham knows ASU has little margin for error. But rather than framing the challenge as intimidating, he sees it as an opportunity to set the standard. 

The cowbells will be loud, the pace relentless, and mistakes costly—but with preparation, communication, and a refined “dawg” mentality, he believes his team can thrive in the chaos.

“I love our football team,” Dillingham said. “I think we’re as good as we want to be. And I think that’s the best thing….We’re going to work on chaos a lot this week and get better at chaos. And then it’s time to go play football.”