(Photo: Scott Russomano/WCSN)
TEMPE — College football is a game of absolutes. There can only be winners and losers, with no room for middle ground. Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham is well aware of that.
After last Saturday’s 55-19 thumping from Baylor, Dillingham found himself doing something he never does: Googling his own name.
He typed those dreaded 15 characters into the search bar in front of his entire team. Dillingham’s decision to look himself up during the Sun Devils’ lowest points of the season was intended to teach his team to tune out the narratives.
Dillingham and his squad faced a considerable amount of scrutiny from fans and press after the home loss, but he’s tuning out any outside noise — good or bad — ahead of the Sun Devils’ (2-2, 1-1 Big 12) bout against Hawai’i (1-4, 0-3 Mountain West).
“They love you. They hate you. ‘You’re the best. “ You’re the worst,” Dillingham said. “Don’t get involved in the show. Just live your life in our world with real tangible things, but don’t get involved in the reality show of sports. It will drive you nuts.”
Dillingham is using Saturday’s game against the Rainbow Warriors as a reset. After relinquishing 320 yards through the air and 244 on the ground to Baylor — both season highs — the Sun Devils are looking for substantial improvements across the entire defense.
The progress begins with ASU’s secondary. After a performance marked by 18 missed tackles and four receiving touchdowns allowed, ASU’s pass defense will be the subject of many eyeballs against Hawai’i, the nation’s most pass-heavy offense.
Second-year Hawai’i quarterback Micah Alejado has passed for 1,361 yards through five games, the 19th-best mark in the country. Though the numbers might be flashy, the yards haven’t equated to points. The Rainbow Warriors average only 17.6 points per game, which ranks 112th out of 138 FBS teams.
Alejado might not have the wins to back up his production, but ASU defensive coordinator Brian Ward had high praise for the 2025 Mountain West Freshman of the Year.
“He’s a good quarterback, “ Ward said. “He knows where to go with the ball. Some of the throws he makes are outstanding in terms of the reads. He can see things before they happen. He creates plays with his feet, and he has some big wins under his belt.”
A big part of Hawai’i’s scoring inefficiency stems from a lackluster rushing attack that has struggled to complement Alejado’s production through the air, leaving the Rainbow Warriors’ offense one-dimensional and unable to consistently turn yardage into touchdowns.
Hawai’i rarely hands the ball off to begin with, and even when it does, not much comes from it. Its 3.8 yards per carry ranks 110th in the FBS, and its 86 rushing yards per game ranks third worst.
ASU lost the time-of-possession battle against Baylor, but if it can limit Hawai’i’s pass attack, the Sun Devils could be in for a fruitful night on both sides of the ball.
The biggest change to ASU’s offense will be the play calling. Dillingham announced on Tuesday that offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo will resume play-calling duties. Arroyo called plays from 2024 through the 2025 season up until the Sun Bowl, when Dillingham took over.
Now that shots are being called from the coaches’ box, Dillingham can go back to the sideline role he’s held for the past two seasons — keeping his players energized and accountable.
Dillingham has become known across college football for his electric presence on the sideline. The coach will more often than not walk into his postgame press conference with a hoarse voice after yelling at the top of his lungs for the duration of a game.
Saturday looks to be a golden opportunity for the Sun Devils to get back on their feet. And no matter what comes from the game, Dillingham is looking nowhere but internally moving forward.
“We’re in an industry where it’s ‘what have you done for me now?’ Not ‘what have you done for me lately,’” Dillingham said. “And what have we done now? You look at the film; (we’ve) been bad… So let’s fix it. We know how to fix it. We know how to coach, we know how to play, let’s just go do it.”
