Kenny Dillingham doesn’t usually sound this eager heading into a season opener. He has made a point in the past of saying he “hate early-season matchups,” the kind of games he believes come packed with too many unknowns. But Monday afternoon, with ASU set to open against Morgan State on Saturday, the fourth-year coach was practically leaning into the uncertainty.
The word he opened with was simple: “Phenomenal”.
It could have described the Sun Devils’ new-look defense, the progress of quarterback Cutter Boley into his recently announced starting role, or even the atmosphere expected at Mountain America Stadium. Instead, Dillingham was talking about his own mood - and, more importantly, what he still needs to learn about a roster full of newcomers.
His central question is a blunt one: who shows up when the lights come on?
“Who shows up?” Dillingham said.
“I don't believe in the practice player or the game player and all that, but there are players that rise that make the biggest plays in the biggest moments. There are guys that struggle in that, and I want to see our guys go out there and make the biggest play in the biggest moments.”
That search has shaped ASU’s spring and preseason camp. Dillingham pushed physicality hard after the Sun Devils dealt with several multi-week injuries following a less intense preseason schedule last year.
He was willing to call out the team early in spring practices when the physicality wasn’t there, and he hasn’t had much reason to harp on it since. Still, he knows none of that really gets tested until a game starts to turn messy.
And that, for him, is the point of Saturday.
ASU is a massive favorite against FCS Morgan State, with the line sitting anywhere from 41.5 to 43.5 points. On paper, the Sun Devils should be fine.
But the opener still carries the possibility of a flat start, especially with No. 8 Texas A&M looming after that.
Dillingham isn’t expecting the game to reveal much about his scheme. He is expecting it to reveal something about his team.
“I want to see our guys respond to adversity,” Dillingham said. “So I'd say the two things I'm looking for are when bad things happen, how do we respond?
Whether that's mid-game and we miss a block and there's a free guy in our face, what do we do at quarterback? Or if we trip at corner, and somebody mosses me at corner, throw it at me again, right?”
That’s the real test for this ASU group, and it’s a very different one from a year ago. Last season, the Sun Devils entered their opener against Northern Arizona with preseason buzz and a roster that returned double-digit starters from their best season in decades.
But the performance didn’t match the expectations. ASU was tied to a high mark in penalties under Dillingham, looked sluggish, and led just 17-6 at halftime before finishing off a 38-17 win that left plenty of fans frustrated.
The next week didn’t clean things up. Against Mississippi State, ASU fell behind 17-3 at halftime, fought back to briefly take the lead, then gave up a 58-yard touchdown in the final minute to lose. After winning six one-score games during its Big 12 Championship-winning season, the Sun Devils let that first close chance of the year slip away.
Dillingham said that lesson stuck.
“What's that response?” Dillingham said.
“That's what I'm on the hunt for: in those live moments of response, who makes the play? Who is calm?
Who is collected? And hopefully, it's our entire football team.”
This version of ASU looks almost nothing like the one that opened last season. Just two starters remain from the Sun Devils’ Big 12 Championship squad, and after an 8-5 finish, the roster turned over with 40-plus newcomers stepping in. Some departed by choice, some didn’t, but the end result is the same: a nearly new team trying to build an identity fast.
Dillingham spent spring and camp hammering the same message - be physical, be intense, be hard to break. He wants that work to show up when the game starts to bite back.
“I feel like this team is a very focused team,” Dillingham said. “This team poured in a lot, and I feel like that's our strength.
We poured in so much; how can you just quit? How can you just give up?
We're gonna be a team that can take a hit to the chin, hopefully, and get back up because we poured in so much.”
For a coach who usually dreads this part of the calendar, the wait is over. ASU opens its fourth season of the Dillingham era on Saturday, and he’s ready to see whether all that work has hardened into something real.
“Anybody who's ever chased any dream or done anything and taken a lot of time to try to achieve it knows that when you put more time in, it's harder to quit,” Dillingham said. “When you're just part-time, something doesn't go your way, 'Pssh, I'm out of here.'
But when you're all in, I feel like this team has just put in so much in the tough times; I think they're going to come together because they just put too much in just to walk away or to concede. They're gonna keep fighting.”
In Other News...
Kenny Dillingham Just Got A Boost ASU Fans Will Feel Daily
Arizona State has landed a major piece of infrastructure support as the school announced a $55 million donation from Align Technology for a new practice facility that will serve both football and volleyball. The project, set to be known as the Invisalign Performance Center, is slated to open in 2028 and adds another sign that the Sun Devils are investing in the day-to-day details that shape a program as much as the big-game moments.
For football, the biggest benefit is practical: a closer and safer place to work, with less travel time eating into the day and more efficiency built into the routine. It also extends a partnership between Align Technology and ASU that has already been part of the universitys athletic operations, giving Kenny Dillinghams program a clearer path toward a modern setup fans will notice long before the first snap is ever taken there. [Read more 🡒]
Big 12 Rivals Could Put Arizona State On Notice In Week 1
Week 1 in the Big 12 is packed with enough early-season intrigue to give Arizona State a clear sense of where the leagues temperature stands before the calendar even turns to mid-September. The Arizona Republics score predictions cover the full slate from Sept. 3-5, including Baylor against Auburn, Colorado against Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State against Tulsa and several other matchups that will help shape the conference conversation right away.
For Sun Devils fans, the larger takeaway is how quickly a few league rivals could build momentum. The predictions lean toward decisive openers for Houston, West Virginia, BYU and Oklahoma State, while Baylors trip against Auburn stands out as one of the most important measuring-stick games on the board. If those results play out anywhere close to the projections, Arizona State will not have to wait long to see which Big 12 neighbors are ready to set an early standard. [Read more 🡒]
ASU Has A Defensive Anchor Fans Will Love This Fall
C.J. Fites decision to come back for one more season gives Arizona State a familiar centerpiece up front as fall approaches. The senior defensive lineman has already established himself as one of the more important players on the Sun Devils defense, combining on-field value with a leadership role that has earned him preseason recognition and a place on the Pat Tillman Leadership Council.
For ASU, the biggest part of Fites return is the stability it brings to a defensive line that can lean on a proven veteran who has worked his way back from a knee injury. With his final college season now ahead of him, he is expected to be a central figure for a unit that will need both his production and his presence if the Sun Devils want to take a step forward. [Read more 🡒]