TEMPE -- In today's episode of the Arizona State Sun Devils Insider Podcast, we take a look at what Arizona State both has to do and can do to keep their season alive - all things considered after Saturday night's loss to the Utah Utes.
Below is a partial transcript from head coach Kenny Dillingham's talk with media on Wednesday heading into the Utah game.
“Yeah, I mean, to be honest, we'll find out. You know, we have a lot of confidence in Derek out there right now that spot. So definitely add some depth for us. So that's been a good part is the depth.”
“Yeah, I really don't care about the weather. Like obviously we got to prepare for it. We got to spray, you know, footballs down as much as we can. We got to do stuff like that. But at the end of the day, you know, football is won by one person moving the other person the other direction, and then not giving the other team the ball at the end of the day.
Like weather can affect how you get that accomplished. But you still have to take care of the football and you still have to move the person in front of you the other direction, right? So I think you know whether there's rain, whether there's not rain, yeah, right. No, we can't prepare for it. We live in a desert. We don't get much of it naturally. We have to play some wet ball drills. But we're not focused on that. We're focused on, you know, the task at hand, which is Utah.”
“No, I think it's just part of where we're at. You know, I think you got to adapt every year. You think you have a plan, but really you have no plan. You're in a constant state of preparation. You know, pastor Warren Stewart said that to me six months ago at something."
"He said, they said, Well, how do you prepare for moments? He goes, I'm in a conflict. How do you plan for things? He goes, Well, I'm constantly in a state of preparation. And I think that's football. That's the season here. You have a plan, but your plans get thrown out the window every day. You're in a constant state of preparation.”
“Yeah, it's good. I mean, they rotate guys. They're always been a good defensive line. They've been deep. Their linebackers are really good players as well. So the linebackers play the way they play, because they play a lot of man, so they trigger."
"It gets the double teams off the down lineman faster because the faster backers trigger, the faster single blocks are, which then take really good the alignment to make them better. So I think they just have a really good defensive scheme. They know who they are. They don't bust they don't leave you plays. They make you work for it.”
Read more about Arizona State basketball coach Bobby Hurley speaking directly to fans ahead of the start of the 2025 season here, and on three major takeaways from the 42-10 loss to Utah here.
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!