Here’s what the Sun Devils had to say in their short week against TCU, as they come off a win against Baylor.
Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham on how the offense has executed in the first three games: “We haven't had the explosive pass plays over top. That's been just a combination of things; it's not quarterback-driven. We're so close to hitting those.
"That'd be probably the biggest thing, and then the second thing would be just red zone scoring. We just got to finish drives in the red zone. We got to start as a staff, finding ways to finish drives in the red zone.”
Offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo on the passing game emerging in the second half against Baylor: “It was a good transition from being able to get ourselves back our cleats back in the ground, running the ball, and maybe able to transition to some passing game stuff, whether it was going to be the play action game, whether it was going to be some screen game or just some drop back in control passing. That piece comes the slowest of all offenses and all young players and all systems is the drop-back pass game.”
Dillingham on redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt playing one of his best games at Baylor: “Sam (Leavitt) played one of his best games since he's been here. He played phenomenally, extended drives. He ran more than we like to usually run quarterbacks, but he did because it was needed in the game. He was accurate and in the quick passing game.”
Leavitt on his performance against Baylor: “Yeah, I felt like I finally got my feet under me, kind of calmed down in the game. Continually getting better within the game plan and trusting my guys and trusting the timing. So felt like we did a better job of quick game passing, had some good third-down and fourth-down conversions. I was really proud of myself for that.”
Dillingham on the running game not being effective in the second half vs. Baylor: “We were bouncing runs too wide, we weren't getting vertical enough with some of the runs. We could have done some better stuff as a staff, creating better leverages for the offensive line for them.”
Leavitt on Kyson Brown being fully healthy: “Yeah, just a kid, comes to work every single day. Great player, super smart, really reliable for me. Big juice guy. He's out here telling me to get my guys more juiced up during practice. I need to hear that. We came out a little flat at some points.”
Dillingham on redshirt sophomore wide receiver Derek Eusebio’s multi-dimensional availability: “It’s huge, you can trust him. At the end of the day, the message to the offense today was that I want people who will play as hard as they possibly can, that we can trust them, and that they will be where they're supposed to be and do what they're supposed to do.
"That's somebody who will do all those things. He catches the ball, he runs the ball, he crosses before contact. He does all the little things right, that’s what he does. He does everything right, and you can win with people who do that.”
Eusabio on living with fellow wide receiver Jordyn Tyson: He doesn't know this, but I watch all his steps. It's just seeing what he does, seeing what his brother does. They're both two great athletes, two amazing hard workers. Seeing what they do, and trying to take bits and pieces from what they do and how they work. So, it's just I'm extremely grateful for him, that's for sure.”
Leavitt on TCU's defense: “They play hard. They show a lot of things. They run about everything coverage-wise, and show a bunch of different fronts. It's kind of just keying in on certain players and not getting lost within pre-snap decisions, seeing you know my key defender post snap, and just pure progression going through the whole read.”
Dillingham on gameplanning for TCU quarterback Josh Hoover: “We can’t let this guy extend plays. He makes all the throws, he extends plays, and makes explosive ones. So we've got to be able to contain him and not contain him for rushing for 150 yards, but contain him from extending plays, not getting sacked, and then extended plays create explosive plays. That's what we got to prepare for.”
Defensive coordinator Brian Ward on Hoover: “I don't know if we've seen a quarterback like him since ‘23 with that, murderous row of quarterbacks that we saw that year with (Michael) Penix (Jr.) and (Bo) Nix and Cam Ward and, there was like six or seven quarterbacks that were NFL guys. So, he's definitely an NFL guy. He's the best guy we've seen in the Big 12 since we've been in the Big 12. He just deals it. He has a lot of moxy.”
Junior defensive back Keith Abney II on studying plays: “We do a lot of things in the classroom like looking at concepts, studying releases, studying receivers, quarterbacks, tendencies and stuff like that. We have a Kahoot every day on little things. If you don't get a good grade on, you got to take it ubtill you get a good grade on it.”
Dillingham on how important redshirt junior offensive lineman Jalen Klemm’s tackle in special teams was: “It was huge. Jalen just worked all offseason. He's a tough guy, and he's going to start playing more on offense. I said I want guys who have an edge about them. I want to start inserting a little more of an edge, and Jalen's got an edge. That tackle was an example of that. That competitive nature is something I support on the football field, and I want guys who make plays like that on the field.”
Dillingham on playing at home: “It’s been unbelievable playing at home, and we need that this week. We need the fans there. We just don't need you there; we need you loud. We need (you) to make an impact on Friday night for our players because we've been showing up and we've been great. I mean, the atmosphere has been awesome. Let's continue to build on that, and Friday night, let's make this the place to be.”