Arizona State football is off to a 3-0 start, already matching its win total from last season, but coach Kenny Dillingham is keeping the team level-headed.
Dillingham walked in with a clear message from the first day on the job in November 2022 and has been working to achieve his dream of rebuilding the program he grew up watching. After a rough start to his tenure, the trajectory for ASU feels like it’s trending upward for the first time in a while.
Even three voters in this week’s Associated Press’s Top 25 poll thought highly enough to put the Sun Devils in. Still, Dillingham is doing his best to have the team stay grounded as ASU is set to play in its first Big 12 conference game this weekend on the road at Texas Tech.
“You get buy-in with success,” Dillingham said on Monday. “It’s a lot easier than it is to continue to try to preach on the dream or what should happen if you work hard. The negative is the expectations. People get unrealistic expectations with success as part of being in the entertainment industry. You entertain, people get excited, excitement creates expectations, expectations create pressure. Then you lose your edge.”
Dillingham continued: “The key is, we’re the same team that we were before we played a game. We’re the same team we were in spring, in the fall. We’ve played a few games. That’s really about it. We’re the same team that needs to keep on getting better and better. The best opponents we’ve faced this year are in our future, not in our past. We have to get better every single week if we want to continue to have fun Saturdays.”
ASU is coming off a 31-28 win over Texas State last week in a game that tested the Sun Devils.
With 5:16 left in the first half, ASU was trailing 21-7 before managing to tie the game heading into halftime.
Dillingham called the game “humbling.”
Now, Big 12 conference play is here. Dillingham is leaning into the historic nature of the matchup.
“This is the first Big 12 game, this will go down literally in history,” Dillingham said. “There’s only one game that’s a first. Very few times do you get to accomplish a first. Like a real first. It’ll be remembered forever as Arizona State’s first Big 12 game.”
It’s also Dillingham’s first trip to Lubbock, and he’s looking forward to one of the rituals at Texas Tech: the tossing of tortillas. The origins of the tradition are still debated.
“I’m excited for the tortillas — I’ve heard there’s tortillas that get thrown around,” Dillingham said. “This is a challenge, but it’s what college football is supposed to be. We walk out underneath the band is where I’m told our entrance is. A college band on the road, it’s going to be loud. Their fans are die-hard fans. It’s going to be an unbelievable environment for our guys to play in, and that’s the exciting part about joining the Big 12, is the environments we play in.”
Off to a hot start:ASU football continues to rise in college football rankings after 3-0 start
Injury update
- Expected to return against Texas Tech are defensive end Prince Dorbah, linebacker Jordan Crook and offensive lineman Sean Na’a.
- Defensive lineman Jacob Kongaika and running back DeCarlos Brooks are questionable. Running back Raleek Brown, who did play against Texas State, is questionable as well with his hamstring. Dillingham said Brown is not quite at 100% and his status remains fluid.
- Linebacker Tate Romney is still out with a broken arm.
Logan Stanley is a sports reporter with The Arizona Republic who primarily focuses on high school, ASU and Olympic sports. To suggest ideas for human-interest stories and other news, reach out to Stanley at logan.stanley@gannett.com or 707-293-7650. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@LSscribe.
