Previewing What’s at Stake in Arizona State vs. TCU Showdown

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham spoke to media about the upcoming matchup in his weekly press conference on Monday - a partial transcript is below.

Dillingham on TCU Offense, Josh Hoover

"Yeah, the quarterback, he's a really, really good football player. Can extend plays to make throws in the pocket, anticipates throws, knows where to go with the ball. He's really good that they haven't have weapons outside. And then coach Briles, you know, it's amazing what he does on offense. It's so much different than what he used to be. And it's so creative.

And it's very, very explosive, not just in the passing game, in the running game, they're very creative. I mean, different formations every week trying to create leverages. So what they do on offense schematically and then combined with having a quarterback and the skill players, then their offensive line play well, but just that court. Anytime that quarterback is a dynamic player, which he is, we got to find a way to contain him."

On Preparations for Friday's Game

"Yeah, so the first two days in the same, Sunday, Monday, copy, paste, you know, Tuesday will be the same. We just don't do as much good on good versus each other. So we don't do as much good on good. We don't do quite as much crossover, which is good on good with their place. We just do way more scouts. And then we turn Wednesday into a half walk through. So we limit that day, and about 30 minutes less than normal Wednesday. And then Thursday becomes mainly a main walkthrough. So we lose Friday, and then we try to get a little bit more rest on Wednesday."

On Bud Clark/TCU Defense

"Yeah, I mean their entire defense. They're playing really good defense right now, in the first three weeks, even dating back to last year, towards the end of the year, with all the returners, they're playing really, really good defense. Him being in the middle field. You know what's what's tricky with with him is they do so many things on defense, coverage wise, pressure wise, that he could kind of be all over and which makes it harder to find him, harder to play away from him, because of, you know, schematically, how, you know, exotic they are with some of their shows, some of the pressures, you know, coach does a really good job... and they do a good job moving him around. So I think it's great challenge."

Read more on major takeaways from Arizona State's clutch-time victory over Baylor here, and more on why Arizona State fans should be feeling confident about the outlook of the season following the win here.