Arizona State Football Has a ROUGH Road Ahead

The grind of Big 12 football is starting to show, and few teams are staring down a tougher slate than Arizona State. The Sun Devils’ next four opponents carry a combined record of 17-1, and two of those teams are ranked. For head coach Kenny Dillingham, the challenge is simple to explain but difficult to overcome. Arizona State is about to walk into one of the toughest stretches of any program in the league.

First up is Utah, a team that has built its identity on physicality and defense and has shown no signs of slowing down in its transition into the Big 12. Following that comes Houston, which has quietly stacked wins and enters this matchup stretch as one of the most efficient teams in the conference. If that was not enough, Arizona State then draws No. 11 Texas Tech, a program that has grown increasingly dangerous under Joey McGuire and continues to put up points in bunches. The run ends with No. 14 Iowa State, which has already proven it is more than capable of knocking off anyone in the conference when its defense is locked in.

The numbers tell the story. A 17-1 combined record across four teams does not just happen by accident, and it highlights how well each of these opponents has executed early in the year. For Arizona State, that means little margin for error. The Sun Devils are still in the process of carving out their 2025 identity under Dillingham, leaning on flashes of explosiveness while working to shore up consistency on both sides of the ball. Those developmental steps will now be tested against some of the toughest competition they will see all season.

This stretch also represents an opportunity. With the Big 12 in a constant state of flux, the chance to pull an upset or two would not only flip the perception of Arizona State’s season but also give Dillingham’s program a signature moment to rally around. Competing with Utah’s defense, Houston’s balance, Texas Tech’s speed, and Iowa State’s physicality is no easy task, but it is exactly the type of challenge that can accelerate growth.

Whether Arizona State can withstand this gauntlet remains to be seen, but there is no denying the spotlight is about to get brighter. If the Sun Devils want to prove they belong in the upper half of the Big 12 hierarchy, the next four weeks will provide the chance.