Arizona State needs ‘phenomenally sharp’ practice to translate to Texas State matchup
Kenny Dillingham said the Arizona State offense had a "phenomenally sharp" practice on Wednesday. What are the keys to it translating on game day?
Watch: How Kenny Dillingham is preparing Arizona State ahead of a tough 2026 schedule | 26 mins
TEMPE — The Arizona State offense on Wednesday had one of its smoothest days operationally in a while, head coach Kenny Dillingham said after practice.
“Probably our best offensive practice in a while, like that was a phenomenally sharp day,” Dillingham said. “We just operated smoothly. There weren’t many (missed assignments). We were playing catch. It was just really smooth.
“Like some days, you just go out there and it looks smooth. It looked like it should look.”
That’s not to say it was a mistake-free day for the offense, as there was still the occasional missed throw for example.
But in offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo’s mind, it signified a good response to the loss at Mississippi State on Saturday in which a strong second half mitigated a sluggish start before the Bulldogs pulled back ahead late.
“Guys have responded really well, and that’s what you want,” Arroyo said. “Early on to try and build some chemistry and it come out and come to work, that’s exactly what you want.
“They’ve got the DNA to come back and understand the process early on in the season, so I’m happy.”
Arroyo indicated quarterback Sam Leavitt, who had a career-worst completion percentage (45.5%) in the loss, has been a perfect picture of that response.
“He’s been great. I don’t have any questions about Sam,” Arroyo said. “I think that part of the growth in Year 2 of a quarterback is being able to understand that success is not linear. … There’s going to be new people and identity and characteristics and chemistry that you’re going to have to build each game. … And I have no questions that he understands that.
ASU offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo on why he doesn’t have any questions about Sam Leavitt. pic.twitter.com/OYyYIgYtBo
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) September 10, 2025
“He’s gotta be able to adapt to that, and my job is to make sure I’m right with him in lockstep saying, ‘Hey, here’s what we can do. Here’s what I can do. What do you think about this or that? What can I pull off?’ Sam’s the best, so I got no problems with how he’s going to adjust.”
How Arizona State’s smooth practice can translate to smooth game
Dillingham said he’s excited for the chance to build off the second half in Starkville on Saturday when the Sun Devils will face Texas State for their final non-conference test of the season.
The biggest key to making sure there’s carryover from the smooth practice will be working extended drives from the kick, Dillingham said.
Across its first four drives on Saturday, the Arizona State offense ran 15 plays for six net yards with more penalties (two) than first downs (one).
“I want to see early drives on offense. Whether those convert to points, that doesn’t matter,” Dillingham said. “Drives equate to plays, plays equate to rhythm, rhythm equates to good offense. Three-and-outs, they kill drives, they kill rhythm, when then they kill offense. It sounds (like) common sense, right?
“But it’s deeper than just the drive. When you only have three plays in a drive, you can’t get all of your plays called. You can’t get your tight ends involved. You don’t know when to call calls because you only have two of them then you have third down.”
Largely because of how abbreviated many drives have been through the first two games, Arizona State is now 4-for-24 (16.7%) on third downs this season. The Sun Devils ranked 16th nationally in the category (45.9%) in 2024.
“Today was our best third down day probably since last year for the offense,” Dillingham said. “The success rate on third downs, the rhythm of the third downs was really positive. Hopefully that translates to game day. We need that to translate, but I think it will.”
Catch ASU-Texas State on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. MST on the Arizona Sports app, ESPN 620 AM or 98.7 FM HD-2. It will be televised on TNT.
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Comments
2 Comments
This is part of the problem; stop talking!!! Start grinding ! Your not special
Great sign how the Sun Devils responded on the practice field today, especially with how the game ended on Sat.
Really important for ASU passing game to come out guns blazzing on Saturday what with Baylor on the road coming up next Sat, who looks like they know how to score Baylor QB Sam Robertson was Uber-Impressive leading a late game comeback on the road vs SMU. It's essential for the entire team to start building their confidence this week, then build upon it every week following, like last year. What I really enjoyed last year was how each week, ASU got better and each week, I wasn't expecting it. ASU needs to take out Texas State, who looks shaky vs the pass, starting in 1st Qtr, building a big lead by halftime. The only thing that will make this week's game enjoyable, is blowing out Texas State in a convincing fashion.
If things go well this week, I would love to see QB Jeff Sims get some reps. It would be risky having to play him during the height of the Big 12 without him having some real game reps under his belt. I have a feeling Sims will be much improved this year. I would love to see that improvement be significant enough so that is not just used in emergencies and in blow outs, but can be used on short yardage situations, which would save wear-and-tear on Sam Leavitt.
Having watching tape of the 1st halves of both games several times now, when I see all the overthrows or throws where Sam looked out of sync, I believe that was because he was too excited - I can relate. With this week being Game 3, and with this game being at home, I'm hoping he'll get past being too excited.