(Photo: Spencer Barnes)
After a bounce-back 34-15 victory over the Texas State Bobcats Saturday night, Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham addressed the media ahead of his team’s matchup against the Baylor Bears, full of praise for the way his players rebounded from their heartbreaking 24-20 loss to Mississippi State in Week 2.
“They came back the next week and they went straight back to work,” Dillingham said. “There was no blinking. There was no flinching. It was just, ‘let’s get better.’”
Defensively, the Sun Devils looked much improved against Texas State, as the visitors’ longest play of the night was only a 24-yard gain. Compare this to the Mississippi State game, where the Bulldogs found numerous big plays, including the winning touchdown.
ASU’s defense was also able to produce big plays of its own, racking up five sacks and 10 total TFLs against the Bobcats. Each of the Sun Devils’ five sacks came from a different member of the defense, showing the dominance against Texas State.
“I’ve been really pleased with our d-line and the four-man rush game,” Dillingham said. “Our linebackers in the recontain game vs. 7-man (protections), we’ve been adding pretty well.”
Limiting the explosive plays from the opposition, while creating explosive plays of its own, was a clear point of emphasis ahead of last week’s game. ASU’s offense had four plays that racked up north of 30 yards, three of which ended in six points. Its offense also looked much more cohesive and involved against the Bobcats, as redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt was able to spread the offensive wealth around.
“I don’t think I did a good job in week two, getting him ready to play football,” Dillingham said. “I think he did a really good job this week, preparing, and that showed up on tape. He was comfortable, he was prepared and he played really well.”
Redshirt senior tight end Chamon Metayer caught six passes for 60 yards, career highs in both categories. The Sun Devils had five different pass-catchers in Week 3, compared to only three in Week 2.
“We finally got enough plays to get other guys the ball and get in a little bit of rhythm on offense,” Dillingham said. “When you get into a rhythm and other guys are touching the ball, you’re moving the ball around, it’s harder to stop the primary plays, because you get to run all your compliments.”
The Sun Devils will have to keep that rhythm going Saturday night in Waco, against a Baylor defense that Dillingham was full of praise for.
“I coached with their defensive coordinator, coach [Matt] Powledge, at Oregon,” Dillingham said. “He’s one of the best defensive minds. [Head] coach [Dace] Aranda is known to be one of the best defensive minds…they’ve got an unbelievable staff there.”
Of Baylor’s two games against power conference opponents, they surrendered 38 points in a home loss to Auburn in week one, and 45 in a shootout overtime win over rivals SMU. However, despite the heavy scorelines, Dillingham signaled that the Bears’ scheme can be so unique that it could cause trouble for an offense.
“He wants to act like he’s rushing five. He wants to act like he’s rushing six,” Dillingham said. “He does such a good job changing the small details of what they do… so your angle on blocks completely gets destroyed, but the structure of their defense is the same.”
A year ago, Baylor showed glimpses of potential after a slow start to conference play. Three straight losses were followed by six consecutive conference victories, but it was too little, too late, to make the conference championship game.
“They were the hottest team in our conference to end last season,” Dillingham said. “I don’t even know if we get into the Big 12 Championship if they don’t lose on a Hail Mary.”
Now, Baylor looks to turn that potential from last year into ability this year, spearheaded by redshirt senior quarterback Sawyer Robertson. Robertson threw for well over 3,000 yards in 2024, putting it all together after a tumultuous start to the former four-star’s collegiate career.
“I actually recruited him out of high school. Didn’t get him,” Dillingham said. “He’s a heck of a player. He’s accurate. He’s tall, big, so he can see over the line and make throws over the middle of the field really well.”
Six-foot-4-inch Robertson committed to Mississippi State ahead of the 2021 season, when Dillingham was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Florida State. He didn’t see much action in his two seasons in Starkville before transferring to Baylor, where he has made an impact.
The Sun Devils also head into Waco after dropping even further in the AP poll. Going from No. 12 in week two to unranked in week three, ASU slid down the receiving votes portion of the poll from 26th to 31st for week four.
“There are teams that are picked 103rd that are some of the top 25 in the country this year and some teams that are picked in the top 25 and in the bottom 103 as well,” Dillingham said. “You’ve got to worry about that a little bit at the end of the season…but you can’t control it. Why should you worry about something you can’t control?”
Dillingham’s lack of worry about the polls coincides with his mindset of improving every single day when ASU steps into the facility. After improving ahead of the Texas State matchup, the Sun Devils look to follow a similar formula ahead of their matchup in Baylor territory.
“I’ll say this from now to forever: ‘Great, the emotions of Saturday are exciting. They’re fun. You come in on Sunday, what can I get better at? What can we get better at?” Dillingham said. “We watch a cut-up with the offensive staff; these are the things we want to improve on. Defensive staff want to improve on. Watch the cut-up with the special teams staff, want to improve on.”
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