(Photo via Sam Volante/WCSN)
In the two games leading up to Saturday’s Arizona State football game against Colorado, the Sun Devils stood just plays away from their first Power 5 win of the season. Whether it was costly turnovers or poor situational moments, ASU self-destructed when it mattered most against USC and Cal.
On paper, Dillingham appeared to cook up the perfect game plan to correct those mistakes and pick up a win against Colorado.
He called for more explosive plays on offense, and the Sun Devils outnumbered the high-powered Buffaloes in that category, even outgaining Colorado by nearly 100 yards. He sought improvement in converting on third and fourth down and in the red zone, and he was rewarded in those departments, too. He also demanded a cleaner operation, and ASU committed zero turnovers for the first time since its home opener against Southern Utah. On top of it all, Mountain America Stadium once more granted Dillingham’s request for “butts in seats” with the first consecutive home sellout crowd since 2007.
Through four games in a season that seemingly has been tilted in the Sun Devils’ opposite direction, things finally looked to be leaning in their favor.
But as ASU (1-5, 0-3 Pac-12) took one step forward Saturday, it ultimately took two steps back after costly penalties and a sputtering second-half offense led to a 27-24 loss against the Buffaloes (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12). The program’s 1-5 start is the first since 1942.
Despite the Sun Devils coming up short once again, patience continues to be a virtue for Dillingham.
“I’ve been in this exact scenario,” Dillingham said postgame, falling back on his time as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach with a rebuilding Florida State program from 2020-21. “Year one, taking over a program – you just can’t find out how to win. Don’t know how to do it yet. You’re trying to find a way. Every single time there’s an opportunity, you find a different way to lose. When it clicks, we’re playing winning football. But we’re not winning, which means we’re very, very close. And you don’t know when it’s going to click. You don’t know. But when it clicks, we’re ready for it.”
The Sun Devils’ new way to lose Saturday was the laundry game, amassing nine penalties totaling 88 yards. Entering the contest, ASU averaged only 4.8 penalties per game, the 27th-best mark in the FBS. While penalties reared their head in pivotal moments against Cal last week, Saturday’s sloppiness spanned across the entire game for the first time since the Sun Devils’ first game, when they also tallied nine penalties.
Dillingham specifically highlighted a targeting penalty called on redshirt junior cornerback Ed Woods on a punt return in the second half. The careless play disqualified him for the rest of the night and will now carry over into ASU’s next game at No. 7 Washington on Oct. 21.
“That’s a great example of not winning football,” Dillingham said. “You’re not going to win games doing things like that. It’s a good learning experience for [Woods], but those are critical points in the game.
“We had more personal fouls in this game than all of our games combined. We talked about it going into the week that Colorado leads the country in getting teams to create personal fouls against them. We talked about it Monday, we talked about it on Friday, and we fell right into it.”
Despite the four personal fouls looming large, the Sun Devils still held a sporting chance to win in the second half. After both squads went scoreless in the third quarter, ASU clung to a 17-14 lead heading into the final 15 minutes.
The Buffaloes flipped the scoreboard soon enough on their drive extending into the fourth, with junior quarterback Shedeur Sanders finding graduate wide receiver Javon Antonio on a slant for a 9-yard touchdown. Even after a 51-yard punt return from graduate wideout Xavier Weaver to start Colorado’s next drive, it could only muster a field goal to keep the score within one possession.
Despite the Sun Devils’ defense holding strong, their offensive counterpart couldn’t find success until a game-tying score from redshirt junior quarterback Trenton Bourguet to redshirt junior pass catcher Troy Omeire with 50 seconds left. Before the heroics, ASU came up empty on four straight second-half possessions. The Buffaloes pounced on Bourguet behind ASU’s injury-riddled and inexperienced offensive line, recording all five of their sacks in the second half.
“We’re getting better each and every week,” Bourguet said. “But it just stinks to know we left it out there on the field. I take great responsibility, and offensively we got to do a better job just putting up points.”
Bourguet’s steadfast desire for continued growth stems from the top, as Dillingham hardly batted an eye when asked how another loss could affect the Sun Devils’ motivation to play.
“Are you going to go compete and go get better, or are you going to quit?” Dillingham said. “It’s very, very simple. So in terms of getting guys motivated to play, if we have to get guys motivated to go practice and motivated to go play, this is not the place for you.”
With ASU missing key injured players across both offense and defense entering Saturday – including five offensive linemen – it’s easy for one to sympathize with the Sun Devils’ frustrating dilemma. On top of the absences, junior running back Cameron Skattebo, redshirt junior tight end Jalin Conyers and redshirt junior center Leif Fautanu all played through illnesses suffered during the week, with Conyers and Skattebo’s snap count being heavily limited as a result.
As natural as it seems to make drastic changes to get in the win column, the Sun Devils are using a grounded approach to trudge through their obstacles. Junior defensive end BJ Green said the team’s focus going into its bye week is to “harp on the little things.”
“I want to get some guys back. I want to get healthy,” Dillingham said on his hopes for the upcoming bye week. “I want our guys to show up to academics on time. I want them to show up early, I want them to show up to meetings 10 minutes early. I want to do all the little things that are necessary to win.”
After two straight losses by three points, Bourguet was confident postgame that “we can beat anybody,” and noted how ASU was the last team to hand Washington a loss, which dates back to last season.
While the redshirt junior signal caller examined the immediate future, Dillingham looked at the bigger picture. In a message to the electric fans and their dedicated showing Saturday, he couldn’t pinpoint exactly when the results would change. But similar to the “we’re coming” mantra of opposing Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, he yet again breathed optimism into an atmosphere ostensibly choked with dejection.
“I would hope the fans could not only see the growth of the program and the direction we’re heading, but they can see the fight of our guys,” Dillingham said. “And they can see it’s an advantage to have them here.
“We will win football games, we will win a lot of football games. There is zero doubt in my mind that we’re going in the right direction. There is zero doubt in my mind that we’re going to win at a really, really high level here and I’m really excited for it. But the times of when that’s going to happen, that’s just going to happen when it happens.”
