ASU football breathes sigh of relief with Texas State blowout to end non-conference play

Beating a team you should beat, cover the spread, at home . . . Nicely done. Here comes conference play, and although I think the Devils are going to compete for the Title Game, TCU and Utah look pretty dang good. One week at a time, starting in Waco.

Holy, BLOG . . . Sparky.

Good win from ASU.

However, it's time for the same major change that took place last year, to happen this year: Dilly needs to take back the play calling from Marcus Arroyo just like he took them over from Beau Baldwin after the 3rd game last year.

Last year once Dilly started calling plays, ASU simply terrorized opposing defenses, who had no idea what ASU was going to do, or how ASU was going to attack them, or who they would attack them with and when. That deception directly reduces the number of shots players take, which reduces the likelihood of them being injured. As was really obvious from the Stands, on every play evidence of Dilly's genius popped up. Dilly would catch several defensive players out of position and exploit them, which resulted in ASU having players running free in wide open spaces. Tonight was the 3rd game in a row where that kind of domination/ exploitation didn't happen. Dilly has a history of being a lights-out play caller every place he's coached, e.g. Oregon, Auburn, Oregon and Florida State. The most enjoyable part of last year, was watching Dilly complete baffle and outguess opponents. Marcus is just fine as the OC and QB coach, but the simple fact is that ASU just doesn't have the horses to compete in the Big 12 unless Dilly is the one calling the shots.

What would change if Dilly takes over? For me, the most obvious example can be found on last year film whenever Sam Leavitt was going deep, "trying to take the top off", like Sam tried to do tonight with Jaren Hamilton. For me, what made ASU's passing game so lethal and so much fun to watch last year, was how Dilly was always working to give Sam easier throws and the Receivers an easier ball to catch. On that deep ball to Hamilton, if Sam can lead him to the middle of the field, Hamilton will be able to track the ball and has a simple catch.

Last year ASU won so many games because they were able to consistently hurt opponents with the deep ball,. Last year, the passing game opened up the rest of the offense. What made Sam's throwing the Deep Ball so successful last year, was Dilly's play design which always included manuevering the safety or safeties out of the middle of the field. Tonight that manipulation was either missing, or seriously lacking the deception Dilly is so good at orchestrating. On the throw, tonight when Sam surveyed the field, he saw that his throw to Hamilton had to be restricted to same 1/3rd of the field Hamilton occupied, instead of the 1/2 the field or more Dilly's play calling was giving him. On that play tonight, Hamilton was forced to try to catch a ball coming from overtop, which is the most difficult catch for any receiver to make.

I would predict that if Dilly takes over play calling, ASU's offense blossoms. They''re scoring 20+ more points per game, Sam is close to unstoppable, and instead of every throw going to Jordyn Tyson, targets are much more diverse, so wear-and-tear on Jordyn is reduced and he has a better chance of avoiding injury. Defense feels less pressure because the offense is giving them a bigger cushion. I really hope the change happens.