Here’s what the Sun Devils are saying ahead of their game against Colorado:
Head coach Kenny Dillingham on the offensive performance against West Virginia: “Early in the game too many mistakes. Us as a staff got to be better at that, so that doesn’t happen. Then we move the ball down the field two other times, two of our other three drives kick field goals, and stalled out. It wasn’t like we were going three and out, one big TFL on a zone read that was pulled, and he got behind the sticks. Our productivity on early downs is not our problem; it's just that we can’t finish drives. If you look at all of our stats, because that’s why stats are useless, we're productive moving the football. We don’t score, and that’s a problem.”
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Redshirt senior quarterback Jeff Sims on his performance: “I feel like it was pretty it was solid. I felt like our playmakers did a good job after catch. All three of my touchdowns were yards after catch, kudos to those guys. My job is to just get them the ball, get the playmakers the ball. So, anytime that you can get them the ball and they do what they do, it's good.”
Dillingham on what he’s done to better prepare his team for close game situations: “I try to watch all the situations every single week. I try to go through the analytics of the end game for two to three moves, like chess, kicking the extra point, or deciding when to go for two. You talk about the endgame, but it started when we went up by 12, not 11. If we’re only up at 11 and they score at the end, they’re up two, they kick an extra point, and they’re up three. So on our last drive, we’re down three, not one. That all started when we went for two and converted, which caused them to go for two. All the endgame starts at the beginning of the game in some ways.”
Offensive coordinator Marucs Arroyo on redshirt junior wide receiver Jordyn Tyson’s progression: “Yeah, it's good to see him running around today. Jordyn’s been around each practice, each game, been here involved every meeting. It's been day-to-day to see him out there running around again in those donut cleats is always exciting. So, again, day-to-day, and if he's ready to roll, we'll be ready. But again, that's on coach (Dillingham) and on him, and obviously, his health is at forepoint of everything.”
Dillingham on what makes Colorado a challenge and facing another freshman quarterback: “They play hard, their defensive line is good, they get off the ball. Their quarterback (Julian Lewis), he’s a guy that I recruited for a little bit. I offered him at Oregon, he’s a really good player. You can tell, he can locate the ball well, especially vertically down the field, which showed up in his game against West Virginia. I think this is a team that plays hard, and it shows up. They’ve had games that didn’t go great, games where they’ve beaten good teams. It’s definitely a team that is dangerous.”
Arroyo on Colorado’s scheme: Yeah, not unique overall to football. They're just going to they're going to play man coverage, and they're going to be able to rush the passer. They're not going to be shy about showing what they do. They're going to try to lock you up and press and play that stuff. I don't know. There's some change-ups in there. They'll play some zero and you got to be ready for that. What you're going to see is what you're going to get. They're going to play man coverage.”
Sims on the adversity he’s seen: “One key thing my dad told me, he said, 'You don't go through things, you grow through it.’ I feel like I've grown through any trial that I've went through. It just made me who I am today.”
Junior defensive lineman C.J. Fite on playing in the cold weather: “I’ve played very few cold games, but at the same time we can’t let it affect us, we have to focus on what we can control. If we can’t play in cold weather, we’re probably not tough enough to play. That’s what adversity is, you gotta be able to fight through it.”
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Dillingham on what he’s learned from playing against all the Big 12 teams: “It’s tough because everybody is so different, there are so many different play styles in this league. In other leagues, play styles are similar, and the challenge is how you change how you attack that team. In this league, everybody is so different. We haven’t played a team that’s had the same defense or philosophy in back-to-back weeks. It’s going from how do you attack this team to how you attack a different defense. My takeaway from this league is that there are stretches across the country that are wide enough that there are many different philosophies and each region.”
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Dillingham on the university supporting the football program: “I had a meeting on Friday with some people with the school and some people associated with ASU Athletics. I left that meeting knowing that the university is going to be very, very supportive of the football program. That we are going to have the backing of the university to be a competitive and successful program.”
Dillingham, when asked about the reports of redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt potentially hitting the transfer portal: “Yeah, I'm focused on Colorado. I mean, these guys just had, I think, the best
Tuesday, the best Wednesday that they've had in practice, potentially all year. We came out with a fire about us this week. I'm excited about this week and trying to go play a sixty-minute football game. We've yet to play our best game. So, I want to go see that get done.”
Dillinhgam on the noise: “Yeah, I really don't listen to the outside noise. I just focus on us and our program and what we're doing here. That's kind of my focus with everything. So, I'm just focused on, like I said, I thought we had our best Tuesday and Wednesday this week. I'm fired up about it. I'm excited to see if we can go play a 60-minute football game.”
Dillingham on whether he had anything to say on Leavitt: “I am focused on Colorado and trying to play our best football game we can possibly play this Saturday. This team still has so much to play for. We're
in the hunt. It's November, and we're playing meaningful football with two games left. Through all the adversity this team has faced, like our games matter with two games left. There's not many teams who take the field, and their games matter with two games left. We're one of those teams. I'm focused on that.”
Dillingham on whether the Leavitt situation is a distraction or not: “No, we're focused on us, our team. There's so many distractions out there in the world nowadays. We're so focused on us. Like I said, I thought we had our best Tuesday and Wednesday practice all camp.”
Dillingham on speaking with Leavitt since the surgery: “He's doing great, on the road to recovery, we've had a lot of conversations. Sam's my guy. I have a great relationship with Sam. Everything I've ever said about him is absolutely true.”
Dillingham on if he expects Leavitt to be back next year: “Me personally, I'm so focused on Colorado. I don't even care (about that right now). It's like people saying, ‘Do you (referring to Dillingham) expect to be back next year?’ I'm so focused on these guys. That's my number one focus.”