Key Takeaways From Kenny Dillingham's Monday Press Conference

The consistent focus, mindset of outworking others every single day, and commitment to staying connected as a roster give the Sun Devils an upper hand against virtually anyone in the nation in those areas.

On Staying Focused, Self-Motivation

• "Yeah, it's the same. Like they all say this from now until forever, like, great. The emotions of Saturday are exciting. They're fun. You come in Sunday. What can I get better at? What can we get better at? You know, we watch a cut up with the offensive staff. These are things we want to improve on. Defensive staff want to improve on. Wants to come up with the special teams coaches.

• What do we improve on? We then come in today. We meet with the players. This one we need to improve on, right and from now until forever, that's the formula. That's the message. It doesn't matter if you win or lose. You know when we meet on Monday morning, it is time to move on."

This statement piggybacks off the previous one in which Dillingham praised the passion his roster consistently shows. It appears as if the vast majority of the team is focused on becoming the best versions of themselves on a week-to-week basis.

The star players don't take days off either - Sam Leavitt, Jordyn Tyson, and others are consistently locked in - that ultimately reflects well on everyone else as the stretch run of the season swiftly approaches.

Defensive Stars Continue to Shine

Dillingham was asked about players that created game-changing plays - including CB Keith Abney II and Myles "Ghost" Rowser - who recovered the fumble caused by the former.

• "Yeah, they've done an awesome job. You know, savvy football players? We got a lot of savvy guys out there. You know they were, you know, they are in a video game, I guess, but the play recognition would be high, right? If they were, which, I don't even know what they are, but they should be.

• We've got a guy, a lot of guys, with high play recognition, high IQ, and I think that just translates to usually getting better throughout the season. So I think all those guys how much football they play, they've learned from those snaps, and they get better every single game. And that's always the
  mission."

Sawyer Robertson Will Challenge ASU

The Baylor QB has enjoyed an extremely fruitful start to the 2025 season in response to establishing himself as one of the best in the Big 12 in 2024.

Dillingham knows who Robertson is and what he brings to the table all too well.

• "Yeah, I actually recruited him out of high school. Didn't get him, went to Mississippi State. And you know, he's a heck of a player. He's accurate. He's tall, big, so we can see over the line, make Throws over the middle of the field really well.

• It's obviously a strength of a taller quarterback, super intelligent, better athlete than people give him credit for. Like, he's a big dude I wouldn't like saw him throw live out of practice back back in high school. So really good player. He's had a lot of success the last two years there, so it's going to be a good challenge for us."

On Dave Aranda's Defensive Attack

Aranda has been the head coach at Baylor since 2020, following successful runs as the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin and LSU Dillingham is very familiar with what he looks for in his rosters in game situations.

• "You know, he wants big dudes up front. He wants to be able to bring pressure from all over. They're called simulated pressures. You know, he wants to be able to act like he's rushing five, act like he's rushing six, and only rush four as he drops out an end or drops out a defensive tackle, right? So everything is to simulate pressure without bringing it to confuse the quarterback..."

Aranda entered the season with a 31-30 record at the school, and a Big 12 championship in 2021 has been sandwiched in between subpar to poor season outputs, but his team is absolutely ready to compete in 2025.

Arizona State-Baylor is set to kickoff from Waco, Texas on Saturday at 4:30 P.M. MST/Arizona time.

Read more on major takeaways from players discussing the victory over Texas State in the post-game press conference here, and on how Arizona State fans should be feeling about the team heading into Big 12 play here.