ASU’s potential to be explosive is what excites Dillingham most about new-look offense

TEMPE — High-profile transfer wide receivers Omarion Miller and Reed Harris brought a real explosiveness to Arizona State in closing out fall camp, an element that head coach Kenny Dillingham believes could be an identity of the offense.

With Cutter Boley locked in as ASU’s starting quarterback, those receivers will likely have a huge impact on how much easier the junior signal-caller’s job is.

It gets exceptionally hard to double-team a single receiver the way defenses could with Jordyn Tyson last season when ASU’s new receiving group includes two top-four transfers at the position (Harris and Miller at Nos. 2 and 4, respectively) and another transfer, Raiden Vines-Bright, who caught 24 passes as a freshman at Washington.

When they can all play in one-on-one situations, that’s when the talent can win out, if Boley can capitalize.

the level the cutter boley-omarion miller connection reaches could be the biggest ceiling determiner for asu this season.

kenny dillingham’s expectations: “for them to throw it and catch it a lot to each other and for (miller) to block like hines ward used to do.” pic.twitter.com/yADkCt7ufY

— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) August 31, 2026

There’s also a bevy of returning production behind them between Jalen Moss, Derek Eusebio and Jaren Hamilton. Sophomore Cory Butler Jr. had an outstanding camp as well.

“What excites me is the explosiveness that (the offense) can have,” Dillingham said Monday. “What I want to see is the consistency. If you’re one of the most explosive teams in the country, that’s great.

“But if teams know that you’re explosive and can back up and they know you can’t be efficient, they’re going to make you go on nine-, 10-play drives and know you’re going to shoot yourself in the foot.”

One way ASU will balance that is with a versatile, deep running back room that Dillingham said may feature multiple runners as opposed to a single bell cow, which has become the norm at the program.

That will be done, at times, with personnel groupings that include multiple backs, according to Dillingham. He wants ASU to play effectively in every personnel grouping you can think of to keep defenses off balance.

“If teams don’t match personnel, well then now that’s the challenge for us. You play a little dude and we’re in 13 [one running back and three tight ends], can we block you? It’s as simple as that,” Dillingham said. “And if we can block you, then you’re going to have to go big.

“No different than basketball. If we go big and they stay small and we’re not punishing them in the paint, well that’s a problem.”

Teams aren’t going to find success going light in the box against ASU, especially when factoring in Boley’s ability to scramble for first downs that he’s shown throughout the preseason.

Who will be ASU’s backup quarterback?

It was fair to assume Mikey Keene would be QB2 after Boley was named the starter given his vast playing experience, but Dillingham explicitly stated it was the case on Monday.

“Mikey’s been unbelievable for us,” Dillingham said. “Mikey’s a leader for us. Mikey’s (got) an unbelievable intelligence. We felt good about his camp, so yeah, 100%.”

Keene and Boley, along with linebacker Owen Long, were voted by their teammates at Camp T to be late additions to the Tillman Leadership Council. Safety Lyrik Rawls was previously the only newcomer on the council.

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