Kenny Dillingham’s positivity is about keeping ASU’s focus on the context

Considering the context of expectations for Arizona State’s season, head coach Kenny Dillingham’s postgame press conference after a loss to Mississippi State, perhaps oddly, carried a positive tone.

A 20-point run to flip a 17-0 game on its head just ended with a late touchdown given up for a 24-20 ASU loss.

The Sun Devils’ season-long goals received a shellshock from the loss because of the results — but also in how poorly the Sun Devils played in the first half, especially.

“You have the game and what’s needed to win, and then you have the theatrics that this is a living reality show,” Dillingham told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta. “And in any good show, people want to make light of really emotional moments. And they want to focus on them because it sells more. The key is to not get lost in that. Stay focused on the minor things that if (they) were flipped, instead of the episode being called ‘The Sun Devils lose,’ the episode is called ‘Amazing Comeback.’

“That’s what I want the guys to focus on, is not the name of the episode but the context. Why did we fall short, where could we have gotten better, where did we perform really well? Not the end result.”

Dillingham’s optimism continued into the work week with a hosting of Texas State next up on Saturday night.

He’s quick to remind everyone that ASU’s 11 wins and College Football Playoff appearance a season ago didn’t begin all that cleanly, either.

In their second game of the year, the Sun Devils jumped on Mississippi State with a 30-3 lead before sweating out a 30-23 win. The next week, a visit to Texas State went down to the final seconds.

ASU lost its next game, a Big 12 opener against Texas Tech, before needing a game-winning drive and 21 points scored in the fourth quarter against Kansas.

“Look at our start last year. Holy cow,” Dillingham said Friday. “After Week 1, that was scary. We almost blew a 31-point lead … We’re down 14 points on the road twice in a row, one we come back, one we fall short. We’re down at home versus Kansas.

“It was ugly at the start of last year, but we got better and better and better and better.”

Arizona State injury updates for Texas State

Dillingham said that starting running back Kyson Brown, who left last week’s loss early on with an ankle injury, has a “slim” chance of playing this week.

The same goes for projected starting receiver Jalen Moss, who hasn’t played due to a foot issue since Week 1 and additionally caught a bug this week, according to the head coach.

Defensive lineman Justin Wodtly, on the other hand, is expected to return after he missed the visit to Starkville, Mississippi.

Getting Sam Leavitt on track

Starting quarterback Sam Leavitt is off to a rocky start, with a passer rating of 110.4, three touchdowns to three interceptions.

That passer rating ranks 15th among the 16 starting quarterbacks in the Big 12.

Leavitt is completing 57% of his passes. Against Mississippi State, he threw for just 82 yards.

“I’m not simplifying things to the point where he can go out and play fast,” Dillingham said Friday, taking blame himself.

“I’d equate it in your (radio show) world to, ‘Hey, we got a show tomorrow. I want you to cover seven soccer games, four NFL games, 19 basketball games and I want you to be great at every single question that’s ever asked you about any of those games. When you put too much on somebody’s plate, you can be the master of nothing.”

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