Observations from Arizona State football’s 2023 Spring Game

(Photo: Xavier Litman/WSCN)

TEMPE — Since being introduced as the next head coach of Arizona State Football, Kenny Dillingham’s goal was simple, to “activate the Valley,” which he hopes will support the program and lead to a high-intensity atmosphere during its campaign.

Although four months separate the Sun Devils from the season opener, Dillingham hoped to use spring ball to rejuvenate a program that finished 3-9 in its previous season, effectively laying the foundation for the fall. Five weeks of practices built anticipation for Saturday’s Spring Game, and to see if fans would accomplish Dillingham’s bold goal of 40,000 fans in attendance for the event.

Dillingham has been busy before and during the practices began, attending multiple on-campus events, including an ASU-Arizona baseball game on March 24 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, where he asked fans to “bring a friend” and challenged the record-high crowd to be at Sun Devil Stadium on April 15.

Efforts to achieve the lucrative goal were made across the community, including scheduling the Spring Game on the same day as Pat’s Run. The idea of having both events on the same day isn’t new — Todd Graham followed this format during his reign — but one that hasn’t happened since.

Pat’s Run brought 28,000 runners to Tempe Saturday morning, but with the event concluding at about 10:30 a.m., and the football festivities not beginning until noon, many departed the area before the game’s start time neared.

“I thought Pat’s Run was incredible,” Dillingham said. “I was expecting more (fans at the Spring Game), to be honest. Kind of disappointed. We say we want to be a football town, and it was a good crowd, but it’s not what a football town should be.”

Bringing the national spotlight to the festivities was Bartsool’s Bussin’ With The Boys, which is a show that travels to different collegiate football programs across the country. During the spring season, the group attended six colleges, showcasing each school’s spring celebrations. Cohost Taylor Lewan is an Arizona native, playing high school football at Chaparral under Charlie Ragle, who serves as ASU’s assistant head coach/special teams coordinator.

Dillingham and Ragle invited Lewan and his partner Will Compton to Tempe to take part in the event, granting each head coaching positions for the Gold and Maroon teams, respectively. For Lewan, the opportunity to call plays for ASU was “really an offer we couldn’t refuse.”

“It was amazing,” Lewan said. “I think the fans started to turn up as the game started coming on. Hopefully, in the fall, they start winning some games, start packing out this stadium because Tempe is a helluva place and a good place for a lot of players to come.”

— Jake Seymour

Skattebo’s big day

Losing its top running backs from 2022, Dillingham was left with a positional group without a lot of bodies but was able to fill out the room via the transfer portal. Highlighting the newcomers is junior running back Cameron Skattebo, who consistently found holes and long rushes throughout the afternoon. Skattebo arrives in Tempe from his hometown school Sacramento State, but when he entered the portal, Dillingham prioritized signing Skattebo, who revealed the first-year head coach texted him one day after announcing his departure and flew out to meet the Skattebo family.

“I’m from a little town in Sacramento, California,” Skattebo said. “I mean not many people believed you could make it out of there, and I’m trying my best to do it.”

During the Maroon team’s second drive, Skattebo began the drive with a long run, pushing the offense across midfield. On the following play, the ball was again handed off to Skattebo, who rushed for another long gain, placing the offense inside the red zone. The drive eventually resulted in a touchdown by redshirt junior wide receiver redshirt junior Elijhah Badger.

Skattebo’s power run ability could be useful for ASU, as it looks for a workhorse style carrier in the backfield. The 5-foot-10, 222-pound running back explained he envisions himself fulfilling that role, but he is held back when he becomes tired, explaining it can become increasing difficult when fatigue sets in. Even with the adversity, he understands it’s a part of his game he must work through, citing how high-level backs push through the tough times to give their team success.

“I want to be able to be an every down back, be able to be on the field the whole time,” Skattebo said. “I take a punishment every time I touch the football. I give it to myself, and they give it to me. I mean it’s what I do. It’s how I run the football, I just have to embrace it and accept it.”

— Jake Seymour

Defense uses spring to build a foundation for fall camp

On the defensive side of the ball, defensive coordinator Brian Ward spent the six weeks installing a whole new game plan that emphasizes aggression.

“Our goal was to lay the foundation for things like effort and fundamentals that we want to be able to master,” Ward said. “We were able to get the majority of our defense in this spring, so at least we have something to start from, able to lay that foundation.”

As the spring progressed, it became clear that Ward’s foundation on defense includes a hyper-aggressive pass rush, attacking the ball as hard and as fast as possible. A productive pass rush would be a welcome change from last year’s team that finished 10th in the Pac-12 in sacks with only 17 in 12 games.

If the spring is any indication, the pass rush could become one of the strengths of the 2023 team. Junior defensive lineman BJ Green was a star in spring camp and he continued his hot streak with two more sacks during the Spring Game.

“(Green) is just a competitor man,” Dillingham said. “He brings it every day. There are no days off for BJ. It’s a daily grind for him to be competitive and to be great, and that is what he is trying to be.”

Last season, Green tallied 2.5 sacks which were tied for the team lead. Green holds himself to a high standard and expects himself to be one of the team’s sack leaders this year, and ideally at a lot higher number than 2.5.

“Confidence and doing what I know how to do and performing,” Green said when asked what was the key to his successful spring. “Just setting the standard for BJ Green, getting a sack every day is a BJ Green standard.”

While Green stole the show, the defensive line as a whole performed well all spring. The new aggressiveness installed by Ward allowed the line to attack the quarterback with abandon.

On Saturday, alongside Green on the line, redshirt freshman Robby Harrison also had a good day as the Maroon team came out on to 23-15. A lot of the credit goes to the defensive line and their ability to continually get in the face of the Gold quarterback.

“It was great, great coaching and great defense we just put in,” Harrison said. “You saw Maroon today. We put in the work. Just great across the board from the trenches all the way to the back end. From offense to defense, special teams everybody down here, it’s been great.”

With the defensive line’s ability to get to the quarterback consistently, the secondary was able to benefit. Quarterbacks were forced into bad throws which led to four interceptions on the day between the two teams.

Every great defense plays complimentary defense with each unit helping each other perform at its highest capacity. On Saturday, ASU showed fans what a Kenny Dillingham and Brian Ward led defense can do. All three levels of the defense performed at a high level, flying around the field and displaying the aggressive foundation that this exciting new coaching staff constantly preaches.

“When teams are gonna have to throw the football against us, I think our front four is going to be a problem,” Ward said. “It is like ringing a dinner bell. Those guys will get off the ball, and they really enjoy working together, those four guys up front. We have several different packages that we are going to be able to use and continue to develop. I’m excited to see those guys and how much better they are gonna improve even by the first game this fall.”

— Sammy Nute

Transfer portal reopens

Although Dillingham and his staff already recruited players from the transfer portal before the spring, the portal reopened on Saturday, granting players another chance to find a new program post-spring.

The spring practices allow coaches to see how their winter acquisitions played out but also understand where the team needs improvement. Many athletes across FBS will enter the portal, hoping to discover a new home and could find their way to Tempe. But it’s also plausible to imagine some of ASU’s players act in the same manner. In 2022, the Sun Devils lost multiple players in the second window, including wide receiver Ricky Pearsall and linebacker Eric Gentry.

The second window has already opened and will close on April 30, during that time, Dillingham and his coaches will venture into the portal, searching for players to develop their repertoire.

Dillingham believes finding new players is important to find first-year success but to also grant seniors a season they can look fondly at in the future.

“We’re going to try and improve our roster to win football games,” Dillingham said. “Everybody says ‘Ok, it’s year one, we need to build for the future,’ I agree … we’re building the foundation the right way. We’re not going to cut corners. But on the same token, you owe it to your seniors to put something on the field that they can be proud about in 20 years from now. You owe it to them. I told them I’m going to do everything I can to help them end this thing right and right the ship for them.”

— Jake Seymour