What the Sun Devils are saying ahead of their season opener

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham on the environment at Mountain America Stadium, “Yeah, I hope it's like last year. I hope there's a true advantage. I hope our guys run out of the tunnel and they're like, ‘Holy cow, there's 14,000 students like that you're staring at as you run out on the field after the fireworks.’

"Then you look to the left and your right, and the crowd's packed. I think that's the environment that's going to happen, , based off ticket sales and the renewals and all that stuff. I really believe the environment on Saturdays are going to be unbelievable.”

Dillingham on the team's depth, “If you look at our depth chart, you could argue, holy cow, this dude would start at most places. You can do that for a lot of different positions, on a lot of the parts of our team.

"This guy could start if he were somewhere else. It's a testament to the players wanting to be here. It's a positive, and it pushes each other because there's a guy behind you that can play and will play. That's going to be the difference this year, is we're going to rotate some guys to make sure we get all those guys on the field, keep guys fresh more, because our competitive depth is very high.”

Dillingham on being aggressive on fourth downs, “We're still going to be aggressive on fourth down. I wholeheartedly believe in that. Being aggressive, I think, I think it's a mindset for your football team that you're not going to play scared.

"But are we going to be able to kick a 52-yard field goal on a fourth and six and feel good about it. If we get to a fourth and one, buckle up. The odds are we're going for that thing. We have a philosophy in terms of how we want to be aggressive, and that's going to stay consistent.” 

Dillingham on the explosiveness of the offense, “If there's one thing you could say about our offense last year, is we weren't overly explosive. We didn't have huge plays. We didn't have one play touchdowns very often unless we checked a screen or we threw a home run post, which posts don't get completed much in college football. That's a rarity. If you're leaning on home run posts to be your explosive plays, it’s not going to be fun. So, you got to have other ways to create explosives.”

Dillingham on Sam Leavitt being a good leader, “Sam understands that you need a team around you to be a good quarterback. You have to have the pieces around you, and the pieces around you are what make you look better…

"He also understands it's a privilege to be in the situation he's in, and he's earned all of that. He's worked his butt off to go from where he was 12 months ago to where he is today, and he wants to give back because that's the nature of who he is.”

Dillingham on Sam Leavitt’s potential to make gains, “Early down passing, obviously, , being able to control the game on earlier downs, that's not just  big play action shots, nakeds, boots, screens just early down passing, I think that's an area that if he improves at  the sky's the limit.” 

Quarterback Sam Leavitt on being the hunted versus the hunter, “You could say that, but you know, we have the same viewpoint. We're the hunted because other teams are going to view it differently, but it doesn't change how we view it, so I'm not too worried about it.”

Dillingham on who will be the first running back to see the field against Northern Arizona, “It just depends on the game plan. We haven't solidified that yet. I know those guys are really close. So, I think it just depends on what the early calls are. They're both really good in pass protection now. I mean, they're both really good players. Like I'm excited to see them both play in a live setting. 

Dillingham on Raleek Brown, “Raleek's had an unbelievable camp. Raleek's another guy who's gained 20 pounds this year, and you can see it. He looks good. He plays good. Raleek’s gotten so much better at ball security. He's really worked on that. We've really challenged him, and he's improved.

"So, I'm excited to see him have to do that in a live game, see his ball security when the bullets fly because that's what matters at that position is not just how many yards you run for, how explosive you are, but can we trust you to take care of the football.” 

Leavitt on the offensive line, “They're probably the tightest group in our entire facility. They're starting to hold the group really accountable. Losing some pieces, some vocal leaders last year like [running back Cam] Skatt[ebo] and [center] Leif [Fautanu], who are just really dominant people. They've kind of stepped into that role and overall, as an entire uni,t have taken that on, and you know, now we're starting to see a little bit more camaraderie within the last week and a half or so, which was my challenge. I had a little speech with the team. I'm really proud of them.”

Dillingham on how the offensive line has improved, “They've grown together. They communicate well. They're all friends. We have a big O-line, massive people. You stand behind them, and you can see the size, which is positive. They're creating movement. The key for me is you can see the times that it clicks and the combos are together and you're like, ‘Whoa, that is a powerful double team, right?’ Those are things that excite me when you get into a game week, is how many times can we create that woah moments of, man, that was a powerful double team.”

Graduate center Ben Coleman on moving from left guard, “Snapping is harder than you initially think, and it's something you have to get a rhythm. As soon as you get your rhythm, you’re good to go. I’ve seen the back half of camp, I’ve gotten that rhythm, I’ve switched it up, I’m confident in it, and that's the biggest thing: be confident in your snaps so that you can block.”

Dillingham on how he wants the defense to be better, “I'd want to say we should be able to disguise things more. We should be able to rush the passer more, and we should be around the ball more, which should equate to a few more takeaways, even though we were good in that area. All those things are going to create the takeaways.”

Dillingham on redshirt senior kicker Jesús Gómez, “This kid is dialed since the moment he got here. He has been dialed in to be the very best. Nothing really rattles him. He's the hardest critic on himself, and he's very, very consistent…He's going to have the exact same process over and over again. I've got the utmost confidence in him.”

Dillingham on how he feels going into week one this year versus last year, “The exact same. Literally the exact same. Like coaches, you live in a constant state of paranoia. You live in a constant state of Am I doing enough? There's not a peak to this thing. You just be your very best every day. I feel the exact same that I felt when we were three and nine. Unfortunately, I wish there was a reprieve. I wish I could be like, ‘Oh, I feel great. This is awesome.’ No, not at all.”

Dillingham on the test NAU might be, “Coach Wright being an offensive guy, he knows what gives offenses problems, and they do a lot of things that give offenses problems. That's just a testament to him having a say on multiple sides of the ball and him being able to allow his defensive coordinator to play blitz cover zero on second and 10.

"You look at, they had one of the most successful seasons in the last 10 15 years there. They're a top 25 team. Their goal is to slow opponents down by forcing them to communicate constantly. double backs on offense, reverses, FIB formations back to regular, unbalanced defensively, they're in bare, they're an odd stack, odd broken stack, four down. They've done an unbelievable job there.”

Arizona State offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo on NAU possibly being a trap game, “The trap game thing that's for everybody else. A trap game is just losing focus. You got to go into every game with a certain mindset and process that teaches guys how to do things and how to prepare. We're playing a top 20 defense in FCS. I mean, they're a playoff team in the FCS. Our team doesn't take anybody lightly.”

Arizona State offensive coordinator Brian Ward on starting the season, “I think the hardest game of the season, me personally, to prepare for is the first game of the year because you got to look at the entire season from the previous season on your opponent because you don't know who they're going to be, what they're going to be, what their identity is going to be, if they change their identity because of, you know, a new guy here, a new guy there, or someone that they lost to graduation. It's kind of a wait-and-see mentality.”

Coleman on playing his final first game as a college student, “Just playing your last first time in Mountain America Stadium, it’s beautiful, there's a lot of fans. I think being an older guy, I want to put an emphasis on the young guys ‘cherish this moment now, whether you’re playing or not, you’ll miss these moments. I know I’m gonna cherish every moment that I have, so I’m super excited.”