Flushing away last week's woes is key ahead of clash with Texas Tech
After Arizona State was pummeled up front, allowing 276 rushing yards against Utah, head coach Kenny Dillingham was disappointed with his team’s physicality on both ends of the ball.
Tuesday, the Sun Devils ramped up the intensity by playing full speed with live to the ground tackling, a style of practice that even Dillingham admitted is unusual to do in-season, especially with a team already facing numerous injuries to key players.
Wednesday, ASU still practiced with an abundance of energy and physicality, as defenders wrapped up players but didn’t aim to bring them to the ground. Nonetheless, Arizona State’s DNA was on display.
“I think that’s our identity,” Dillingham said on the team’s physicality. “So, I think it’s like they’re like, ‘Man, how did that slip for a couple weeks?’ So, I think it’s more hey, we’re back to getting that. And like we said, you can’t say it’s your identity. It has to be your identity, right? It has to be an action.
“100%. I think we’ve definitely gotten better this week. I’m excited to go play football.”
Besides the uptick in tempo, Dillingham also had the pleasure of seeing sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt back in the fold this week. Leavitt missed last Saturday’s contest due to a right foot injury, but practiced on both Tuesday and Wednesday, taking all of the first-team reps.
The signal caller has posted 1,039 passing yards and eight touchdowns through five games played and had his best performance of the season against TCU in Week 5, throwing for 291 yards and putting up three total touchdowns, and he’s anxious to get back to the field.
“Sam’s always in a competitive positive mood like he’s on Cloud 9,” Dillingham laughed. “That’s how he operates. He operates as if like you know fourth and one every day. That’s what makes him great, he’s done the same thing this week.”
On a negative injury front, Dillingham broke the news on Wednesday that junior running back Kyson Brown would miss more time with a lower leg injury. Kyson Brown has only played four games in 2025 after suffering that injury against Mississippi State in Week 2.
“Sipp’s unfortunately going to be out for the foreseeable future,” Dillingham remarked. “We did some more testing and imaging, and he’s going to be out for the foreseeable future, probably all the way through the (Week 11 bye-week).”
In Kyson Brown’s absence, and without the help of junior running back Kanye Udoh, who missed Wednesday’s practice due to illness, freshman Demarius “Man Man” Robinson has been given an increased role over the previous two days out of the backfield.
“He cares,” Dillingham said of Robinson. “Care levels are high, you guys see it work level high, I can sleep at night knowing (Robinson) is going to play.”
ASU is just a few days out from stepping into the ring with a showstopping Red Raiders program that’s running through the Big 12. They have the number on scoring defense, allowing just 12.2 points per game. They’ve scored at least 34 points every game, and no team has even eclipsed the 17-point mark on them.
But for Dillingham, the battle on Saturday revolves around ASU being its best self.
“It’s about us,” Dillingham said. “Like, get back to our brand of football. Smart, tough, the ball is the team. It’s not about an opponent. It’s never about an opponent. We got to play our brand of football.”
Still, though, Dillingham had some choice praise for where he thinks Texas Tech stacks up with the other Big 12 teams he’s faced since the start of 2024
“(They’re) probably the most talented,” He said.
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Offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo has been dealing with injuries to some of his most vital players over the course of the season. Against the Utes, graduate offensive lineman Ben Coleman suffered a season-ending injury. As the leader of the offensive line group and the most experienced player on the front, his absence is another hit that Arroyo and his staff need to work through.
“Yeah, it’s a good challenge,” Arroyo admitted. “I mean, we got to I got to have an opportunity to get the chemistry between that new combination up front, playing a really, really physical, talented group. And so, I think these guys have been doing a nice job this week answering the bell and being physical and trying to come back to work after a tough week.”
The offensive line has seen progression from some of its younger players through the middle. Redshirt freshman center Wade Helton made his first start of the season at Utah, and on Wednesday, sophomore guard Makua Pule played plenty of reps at center with the starting unit as well.
With Leavitt coming back into the fold more seamlessly, Arroyo is starting to see the benefit of having the starting quarterback in his role. Although the offense is loaded with quality, including junior Jordyn Tyson, who’s beginning to take shape as one of the elite wide receiver prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft, according to Arroyo, the offense moves at its best on Leavitt’s beat.
“Obviously, we’re excited to have him out here to practice,” Arroyo noted. “ I think (Dillingham) is going to make that decision here as we move forward, but it’s awesome to have him back. He’s a catalyst for what we do, and anytime your quarterback is in the mix, your starter who’s had the impact he’s got on our program, I think we all understand how that goes.
“It’s not my first rodeo with a guy who’s a little bit questionable, and I think as we got into the week and we got into the bye-week, if you ever get anybody in any position that’s going to go down or you think isn’t going to play, your immediate attention goes to the backup.”
When the attention shifted to six-year senior quarterback Jeff Sims last week, the veteran came in and played his part, completing just 18 of 38 passes. However, his 124 yards and no turnovers weren’t the main component for the Sun Devils’ 42-10 defeat.
Despite not knowing who’ll be lining up behind center come Saturday afternoon, Arroyo’s content with the relationship Leavitt and Sims have with each other.
“They build bonds together,” Arroyo stated. “ Sam was with Jeff the entire time on the sidelines in that game, and it’s vice versa in the game when Sam’s out there. So, they’ve got a great relationship.”
The Red Raider defense has many high level qualities to worry ASU fandom, Senior linebacker David Bailey leads the Big 12 in sacks registering 8.5 sacks in just six games, including a hattrick in their most recent 42-17 win over Kansas.
Arroyo, however, despite the noise of a top-tier opponent coming to Tempe, is only all the more fired up for the competition.
“If you’re not a competitor and you don’t like this type of environment, you’re probably in the wrong sport at the wrong level,” Arroyo noted.
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In order to address the issue of “being too soft on a veteran team,” that Dillingham said after Tuesday’s practice, the coaching staff had to look themselves in the mirror and reevaluate their priorities before addressing the game plan attack.
Linebackers coach AJ Cooper noted the importance of being honest about said evaluations since everyone in the program has the same goal of improvement.
“Sometimes the truth isn’t meant to make you feel bad or good; it is what it is,” Cooper said. “And whether it’s the coaches, the players, whoever’s in the building, we’ve got to be able to listen to those things and take the personal feelings out of it.
“(Dillingham) really hit a couple of things on the head that we as a staff have really taken a hard look at and are getting the guys out in the field to do those things. And we got to coach them. That’s why it says coach on our shirt.”
As the majority of the coaching staff reiterated, Cooper acknowledged that ASU was dominated in terms of physicality, and even smirked when mentioning the importance of enjoying toughness when talking about his position group.
“They out physical us,” Cooper said. “And so that means us going back to the drawing board and really looking at our base fundamentals, whether for us it’s with our eyes, our feet, our hands, making sure those fundamentals before everything else is right.
“They’re linebackers. They’d better like to do that. Otherwise, they’re at the wrong place.”
Texas Tech finds itself in a similar situation to ASU, with a decision to make regarding the signal caller. Week 1 starter Behren Morton has played an impressive season thus far, throwing 13 touchdowns and just three interceptions in six games.
However, backup signal caller Will Hammond has also appeared in all six games, partly because the starters are blowing out opposing teams and partly due to an injury Morten has picked up.
Regardless of the quarterback, however, the Red Raiders haven’t disappointed.
“I think a you got to understand that they both have the ability to spin it and spin it really well,” Cooper said.
The goal for Cooper and his position group on Saturday is to excel in their roles, rather than playing beside themselves in hopes of creating highlight plays or blockbuster moments.
“Personally, I’ll tell the linebackers, we don’t need superheroes,” Cooper commented. “We don’t need Superman. We need Batman. If Batman were just a regular dude doing his job.”
