- Slug: Sports–ASU Big 12 Home Opener, 500 words.
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By Patrick Holleron
Cronkite News
TEMPE – Minutes after Arizona State secured its first Big 12 Conference victory Saturday, quarterback Sam Leavitt was on the field praising coach Kenny Dillingham on national television for his work ethic and commitment to players.
In the postgame game interview room after the 35-31 victory over Kansas, running back Cam Skattebo snuck up on the coach with a bear hug and said, “This is the man right here! Love you coach.”
Since arriving in November 2022, Dillingham’s goal has been to shift the narrative surrounding Arizona State football.
It’s working.
Saturday’s win goes beyond being another big game played in 100-degree-plus weather; it’s a testament to the culture that has grown since the Sun Devils’ first workouts in January.
“Everything is tied back to the culture we instilled in each other,” defensive back Xavion Alford said. “Always holding each other accountable on the little things like running sprints and touching the line (of scrimmage). Everybody’s held to the same standard here.”
Since arriving in November 2022, coach Kenny Dillingham’s goal has been to shift the narrative surrounding Arizona State football. Running back Cam Skattebo’s postgame reaction was a perfect example of his players’ admiration for him stating, “This is the man right here! Love you coach.”
Dillingham’s impact has extended to success on the field, as the Sun Devils, who went 3-9 last year, are now 4-1 on the year for the first time since 2015.
“Coach Dillingham didn’t take it light on us at all through our camp,” Alford said. “He keeps pushing to be better every day. From the top of the team to the bottom, we practice with the same intensity.”
The Sun Devils faced adversity at multiple points during the Kansas game, ranging from linebacker Keyshaun Elliott and defensive lineman Clayton Smith’s ejections for targeting penalties to wide receiver Jordyn Tyson’s early miscues. Despite these obstacles, Dillingham’s team never wavered.
“We talked at halftime about not trying to make the big stop on the first try in the second half,” Dillingham said. “It’s about winning every single play, and it doesn’t matter how many plays it takes. We played an ugly game, but we played hard and with passion.”
To help matters, Arizona State had a sellout crowd with 54,639 fans in attendance.
“The first (Big 12) game atmosphere was amazing,” Tyson said. “We anticipated walking into a packed stadium, and it was rockin’ tonight. Having a crowd screaming behind you on third down can make the difference between winning and losing a game. The environment was a great college football environment, especially for Big 12 games.”
The Devils won’t have much time to celebrate their big win. They will face arguably their biggest test Friday night with No. 16 Utah coming to town.
“We have a short week unfortunately, and Utah’s coming off a bye,” Dillingham said. “I don’t know how the schedule panned out where we have six days to prepare and they have two weeks. It’s possibly the worst scenario you could imagine.
“I don’t know how that happened, but we’re going to have to be as fresh as physically possible. It’s all about being fresh for this football game because they’re going to be fresh.”
After playing the Utes, the next couple of games can be viewed as somewhat of a gauntlet as Arizona State will have back-to-back road games at Cincinnati and Oklahoma State.
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