ASU football will get status report on program rebuild in matchup with Utah

TEMPE — The Arizona State Sun Devils have already surpassed their win total from the previous two seasons but still have a long way before they become a program like No. 16 Utah.

Head coach Kenny Dillingham has great admiration for Utes coach Kyle Whittingham, but his ASU football team fell 55-3 in his first crack at defeating the “gold standard” last year. Oregon beat Utah 20-7 in Dillingham’s lone try while offensive coordinator at Oregon a year prior.

Friday, however, will be the first time Dillingham is leading a team against Utah that feels like it’s his, rather than Herm Edwards’ Sun Devils or Dan Lanning’s Ducks.

That became clear to see in ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt’s comments on the TV broadcast after the win over Kansas and Cam Skattebo’s rushing of Dillingham in the postgame press conference.

Whittingham has caught wind of the buy-in Dillingham has earned as early as his second season.

“They’re apparently believing in what he’s coaching,” Whittingham said on his weekly show on ESPN 700. “They’re just better in all areas. I don’t know how to say it other than they’ve improved in talent, but they’re also executing better and just playing better defense. Just upgraded everything they’re doing.”

Dillingham said Monday he has studied the Utah blueprint as one he’s tried to implement at ASU.

“Up until these last few years, they never won recruiting, they were never in the limelight. They signed the guys that they thought were the best players that fit their team. And then they repeated it,” Dillingham said. “They just trusted what they believed they wanted, they didn’t care what other people thought and they signed those guys, and they built a culture of toughness.”

Dillingham also joked that he hopes Whittingham retires today so the two can sit down for a long conversation about how Whittingham has retained his staff as well as he has.

But as much as Dillingham looks to Utah as a model, he made clear this week is about the Sun Devils playing their own game. He’s not as worried about the Utes’ unclear quarterback situation or scheming to beat Utah’s stingy defense. Rather, he wants his players to execute the way they have prepared to.

On Wednesday, Dillingham said he views the game less as an indicator of how good this year’s Sun Devils are and more as a reminder of the steps they still need to take. That will tell them how far they have to go to reach Utah’s level of consistency that Whittingham has attained after nearly two decades as head coach.

What should ASU football expect from Utah’s offense, defense?

Regardless of whether Utah rolls out long-time quarterback Cam Rising or backup Isaac Wilson on Friday, the Utes have a solid supporting cast on offense to make their lives easier.

Running backs are crucial for taking the load off a quarterback, and Utah has a good one in Micah Bernard. He’s averaging a career-best 109.4 yards per game and has multiple runs of 60-plus yards.

Utah has dominated time of possession even without having Rising for all but two halves. It’s their identity no matter who’s under center, and Bernard is a big reason why.

Former Arizona Wildcat Dorian Singer is one of Utah’s best receivers, and there are two veteran tight ends to account for as well. This may be especially tricky for ASU to manage without linebacker Keyshaun Elliott for the first half after he was called for targeting during the win over Kansas.

Brant Kuithe is the next in a long lineage of Utah tight ends and earned All-Pac-12 honors three times. Caleb Lohner is in his first year of football after four years of basketball at BYU and Baylor. Lohner has three catches for three scores so far, all coming in the red zone.

On defense, Utah likes to pack the box and play man coverage on the back end. That could open up some one-on-one success for ASU’s passing game, similar to how the Sun Devils capitalized with Jordyn Tyson in one-on-ones late in the Kansas win.

However, Arizona State’s run game will be key to loosen up a strong pass rush that includes Utah pass rusher Van Fillinger, who has four sacks, two QB hits and four hurries through five games.

Whittingham early in the week praised both Leavitt and Skattebo for how they have led ASU’s rushing attack. That’s why the offensive line is the group Arizona State most needs to have a good game to key a win. The line is coming off its best game of the season so far, allowing only two pressures to the Kansas defense.

How to watch, listen to Arizona State-Utah

The matchup is set to kick off on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. MST from Mountain America Stadium.

Listen to play-by-play coverage on the Arizona Sports app, ESPN 620, 98.7 FM-HD 2 or online. Pregame coverage will begin at 5 p.m. MST.

ESPN will have the TV broadcast.