The 2025 ASU football season has been characterized by a radical change in their football style - old-school football grit, which creates its momentum through unremitting ground attack. Sun Devils have an average of approximately 188 yards of rushing per game, which is one of the most efficient running offenses in the Big 12.
This revival is making ASU a different team; one that dictates speed, defends defensively, and triumphs with discipline at the trenches.
In the vanguard is Raleek Brown, who already has 770 rushing yards and has made 137 attempts, as he has an average of 5.6 yards on each attempt. His explosive cuts and consistency have changed the offensive rhythm of ASU.
Particularly after quarterback Sam Leavitt was sidelined with his season-ending injury, which made the run game the emphasis. Similar credit is given to the offensive line, who have cleared paths through which ASU has made 90 first downs on land, almost as many as on the air (cfbstats.com).
The 24-19 victory against Iowa State on November 1 marked the strength of this strategy. ASU accumulated 290 rushing yards on one of the tightest defenses in the conference, and Jeff Sims, the ASU quarterback, added a record-breaking 228 rushing yards of his own. It was not merely a victory, but a statement.
The team of Coach Kenny Dillingham is now relying on a balanced but hard-nosed approach to football in which the ground game is not only a strategy but also it is a trademark. This identity enables ASU to control speed, superiority in ownership, and confidence going into key end-of-season games.
Provided that the Sun Devils can sustain the equilibrium between the physicality and the creativity, they could simply steamroll to another Big 12 competition. In the meantime, there is one unambiguous thing: ASU is winning where all plays begin, that is, on the ground.