LONDON - Arizona State has seen plenty of the city’s old-world charm this week. Kenny Dillingham, not so much.
While the rest of the Sun Devils have been getting a taste of London ahead of Saturday’s Union Jack Classic against Kansas at Wembley Stadium, Dillingham said he has basically turned his hotel room into headquarters. After a long trip overseas, the ASU coach said he spent about 48 hours indoors and didn’t sleep the first 36 hours after arriving.
“I didn’t sleep the first 36 hours I was here,” Dillingham said. “I’ve been locked in a cave.
“My job is to get the best plan in place, and I (have) got to do the same process I do throughout a week. … We’ll go to the Thursday event that we (have) got down there in London, but I don’t plan on doing anything other than being in this hotel.”
That focus has come with a little bit of perspective, too. Dillingham said he’s encouraging his players to enjoy the experience, even as he keeps his own circle tight.
Kickoff is set for 9 a.m. MST, and the game will be the first-ever college football matchup in London between two FBS teams.
“I told them today, they’re not hostages here,” Dillingham said. “If you want to go do something, go do something. Just make sure we get what we need to get accomplished.”
The trip hasn’t been a casual one. Arizona State came to London after a 48-20 loss at No.
9 Texas A&M on Sept. 12, and the Sun Devils are now dealing with the second half of a roughly week-and-a-half stretch away from home. The logistics alone are a headache, with equipment and travel spread thousands of miles from Tempe.
But Dillingham also sees the upside.
“No way would I want our team to fly across the country Week 3 to play this game,” Dillingham said. “But this is an experience. They’re still college athletes and I wasn’t going to rob them of an experience to fly them across the country, go see London, be able to experience things and play in a stadium that’s like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
A few veterans have made the most of the chance to see the city. Offensive tackle Jalen Klemm and defensive tackle C.J.
Fite have spent time visiting landmarks and trying fish and chips for the first time. Klemm said the team has been easing into the surroundings and has more planned before game day.
“We have been taking the last couple of days to kind of acclimate to everything,” Klemm said. “All of us have walked the grounds here and looked at everything.
I know that on Thursday we have a boat ride that we’re going to be able to go on and see a lot of the sights. So I know the guys are pretty excited for that.”
Dillingham has given the players room to move around on their own, but with guardrails. Fite said the team has a buddy-system approach, with players expected to travel in groups.
“Coach told us if you want to go out, you have to have three people with you,” Fite said. “So if somebody wants to make a bad decision, three other people can stop them.
There’s certain things that you do, and that you already know, that kind of stop you from making those decisions. But all the guys kind of know already.”
Not everything has gone perfectly. Klemm said sophomore offensive lineman Manamo’ui Muti got stuck in the hotel bathroom early in the week.
“It was pretty funny,” Klemm said. “We went in there and we were knocking on the door and he was like, ‘Hey guys,’ and he was sending us videos from inside.
“Thankfully, he had his phone. I asked him what he would have done if he didn’t have his phone. He was like, ‘I might have had to break the door down.’”
For all the sightseeing and the novelty of the trip, the message inside the ASU camp hasn’t changed. The Sun Devils may be thousands of miles from home, but they still know why they’re there.
“At the end of the day, we came here to play a football game,” Klemm said. “We got to keep the main thing the main thing.”
In Other News...
ASU Offensive Line Suddenly Faces Another Big Test
Arizona States offensive line took another hit coming out of the Texas A&M game, with junior Wade Helton set to miss a few weeks after sustaining a lower-leg injury. Helton was helped off the field and later returned on crutches with a boot on his right foot, a tough development for a group that has already had to manage its share of moving parts early in the season.
Sophomore Rob Lapuaho is expected to slide in as the full-time starter at right guard while Helton recovers, giving the Sun Devils another lineup adjustment to sort through. For an offense trying to settle in up front, the timing makes this a particularly tricky stretch, because the line now has to hold together without one of its more experienced pieces and prove the depth is ready for a bigger role. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona State Can Put Kansas In A Much Tougher Spot Fast
Kansas already has no margin for error after the loss to Missouri, and the timing of the next test could hardly be more awkward. The Jayhawks now head to the Union Jack Classic at Wembley Stadium in London to face Arizona State, with their bowl hopes hanging on a game they really need to have as they try to keep their record in the right range for postseason consideration.
The challenge is bigger than one trip overseas. Kansas still has a schedule dotted with difficult road games and not many home chances left to steady things, which means every missed opportunity can snowball fast. Arizona State has a chance to make that road even steeper, and for a Kansas team already under pressure, this one could change the tone of the entire stretch run. [Read more 🡒]
ASU Fans Have Plenty To Debate After One Brutal Loss And One Rout
After a tough fourth quarter turned a competitive game into a 48-20 loss to Texas A&M, Arizona State fans had plenty to sort through on the football side. Two pick-sixes by quarterback Cutter Boley helped swing the afternoon, even as senior wide receiver Reed Harris gave the Sun Devils a bright spot with two touchdowns and 189 receiving yards.
Elsewhere on campus, the mood was much lighter. The volleyball team bounced back from its home loss to UC Davis with wins over Oregon and San Diego, powered by strong play from Noemie Glover and Una Vajagi, while the soccer team put together a record-setting 8-0 rout of Grambling State on Senior Night, with multiple seniors getting on the scoresheet. It left ASU followers with a familiar late-summer mix of frustration and momentum, depending on which program they were watching. [Read more 🡒]