(Photo: Janes Reyes/ WCSN)
TEMPE – Arizona State football (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) has hit its stride after a rocky start, but Saturday night, another difficult test awaits up North.
The Sun Devils started the season 1-1, and with plenty of questions. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt hadn’t found his groove – completing just 57.4% of his passes and throwing three interceptions.
Since the Sun Devils lone defeat of the year, a 24-21 loss at Mississippi State, the players have seemingly settled in, helping ASU rattle off three straight victories and position itself as the No. 21 team in the latest AP top-25 Poll. Coming off its Week 7 bye, ASU is well-rested and prepared to take on the Salt Lake City environment and Utah (4-1, 1-1). Preparation, though, can only get you so far against the Utes.
Just two seasons ago, the Sun Devils played the worst game of the Kenny Dillingham era at Rice-Eccles Stadium, registering 83 yards of total offense in a 55-3 loss. Both teams have changed drastically since then, but one thing that hasn’t is the danger of Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham and the players under his command.
Utah (4-1) is consistently one of the toughest teams to play in the FBS. The Utes have a 171-87 record under Whittingham, are currently fourth in the Big 12 in touchdowns and touchdowns allowed and have only lost to No. 9 Texas Tech this season. While Dillingham has faith in his team, he showed nothing but admiration for his opponent during his Monday press conference and knows it’ll take maximum effort, and then some, to arrive back in Arizona with a victory.
“Sometimes you play teams, sometimes you play programs,” Dillingham said. “We’re playing a program. We’re playing a program that’s won for a long time, a system that’s won for a long time, a coach that’s won for a long time and a place that’s won for a long time. Those are the hardest teams to beat.”
One of the key players who makes this iteration of Utah so scary is junior quarterback Devon Dampier, who is in his first season as a Ute after two years at New Mexico.
The signal caller has nailed the transition to the power conference level, hitting the ground running with a triple option offense. Through five games, Dampier has 11 passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns and is leading the Big 12 in completion percentage (72.5) for good measure.
Dillingham didn’t offer Dampier a scholarship when he came out of high school, but the two parties have connections. Before heading off New Mexico, Dampier played at Saguaro high school in Scottsdale, Arizona. Where his quarterback coach was Dillingham’s brother-in-law and his head coach was Jason Mohns, who now serves on Dillingham’s staff as ASU’s tight ends coach. He might’ve underrated him then, but Dillingham has nothing but respect now.
“I definitely should’ve recruited him harder,” Dillingham said. “He’s definitely proved me wrong. I always thought he was a really good player, but how productive he’s been in college football, super impressed by him. … I got a lot of respect for him, his game, how he plays, how he goes about his business and how he continues to prove people wrong and has a chip on his shoulder.”
While some teams use bye weeks to add different elements and dimensions to their offense, the threat of Dampier forced the Sun Devils to attack their bye week differently. ASU focused on tightening the ship and battening down the hatches before turning to the future.
“We just wanted to get better at what we didn’t get better at,” Dillingham said. “Then also get a jumpstart on Utah, because obviously they’re a really good football team. Their one loss is to a top 10 football team in the country and they could’ve easily won that game. It was a one-possession game in the fourth quarter.”
One unfortunate side effect of the bye week is that it can throw the offense out of a game rhythm, which could be an issue for an ASU team that has struggled with slow starts throughout the year.
The Sun Devils have scored more than three points in the first quarter just one time this year, and twice they’ve fallen behind 17-0 before getting on the scoreboard. They’ve climbed out of those holes both times – against Mississippi State and Texas Christian – but Dillingham has admitted that’s not a recipe for success.
“We made an emphasis of it in our team meeting,” Dillingham said. “We got to start practice faster. We got to have an urgency when we start this thing. We’re going to change some things up, not a bunch, but make little tweaks to try to create some urgency at the start of practice.”
One player who could potentially help ASU’s early offense is redshirt junior wide receiver Jalen Moss, who Dillingham announced will be returning to game action this week. The Northern California native has dealt with injuries and illness since Week 1, but was slated to have a big impact in the slot after posting 1,269 yards and 10 touchdowns across his previous two seasons at Fresno State.
Moss’s return could add another wrinkle to the offense if he can reach his preseason potential and be another dangerous weapon for Leavitt, who’s looked more like his late last season self recently.
“Last week he was really, really good,” Dillingham said of Leavitt. “Really efficient on early downs, got the ball out fast, weren’t forcing first and seconds, weren’t scrambling on first and seconds.”
Leavitt posted his season high in completion percentage (69.2) and passing yards (291) last time out against TCU, but has steadily improved in those categories and overall over his last three games. Over that stretch, he has also thrown five touchdowns to zero interceptions.
The redshirt sophomore will need to continue to be at the top of his game against a treacherous and disciplined Utah defense.
“They bring really good twist games,” Dillingham said. “They have really good scheme on top of the players, so it’s not just all one-on-ones. They know where to bring games, they know how to bring games. Their players recognize when guards are pulling, they recognize passing stances, they do all the little things right that make you good that nobody’s going to see.”
ASU has its hands full with Utah this weekend, but even after that hurdle is cleared, the upcoming schedule is just as tricky.
The Sun Devils will host Texas Tech and a Houston team that’s only lost to TTU on back-to-back Saturdays before traveling to Ames, Iowa, to take on Iowa State. With a slate like that, it can be easy to get lost looking down the road, but Dillingham knows that with a team like Utah staring him down, that can’t happen.
“There’s so many crazy things that can happen in college football now,” Dillingham said. “You better just focus on one game at a time, and try to find a way to beat a team that’s a really, really good football team this week.”
