Dillingham believes UCF is the most talented ASU opponent so far, and he might be right

The toughest two-game stretch on the Sun Devils’ 2024 schedule remains beyond this week. But it sounds like ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham would lump UCF in the conversation before Arizona State faces two ranked teams and then the rival Arizona Wildcats to close the regular season.

The Knights are coming off a 56-12 win against those Wildcats, and Dillingham might have a point calling UCF the most talented team ASU has faced this season.

“When you just look at their talent level, their two D-tackles (Lee Hunter and Ricky Barber) are freakshows,” Dillingham said Friday on Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta. “Their defensive end, Nyjalik Kelly, was a high, high four-, five-star recruit who went to Miami, just transferred to ’em. They are loaded.

“Like, their running back (R.J. Harvey) is the best running back we face this year. Their wide receiver, Kobe Hudson, was a high four-star, five-star recruit to Auburn when I was actually at Auburn with (UCF head coach Gus Malzahn).”

UCF’s 4-5 record doesn’t explain Dillingham’s opinion. But recent events could.

Central Florida lost 38-35 to then-No. 9 Iowa State on the road three weeks ago and to then-No. 11 BYU two weeks back by a 37-24 scoreline. That’s promising stuff.

Following that stretch, Malzahn fired defensive coordinator Ted Roof and replaced him with Addison Williams.

Malzahn also fired himself from play-calling duties, handing things over to offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr.

The immediate result was a whipping of Arizona on Saturday. The Knights averaged 14.7 yards per completion and 7.0 yards per rush behind Harvey.

The UCF running back is third in the nation with 1,201 rushing yards this year, 100 more than ASU’s Cam Skattebo.

“You have really good players that play hard, that’s why you beat a team 56-12,” Dillingham said.

Arizona State’s aim is to stomp out that momentum with a fast start. As Dillingham sees it, facing a UCF squad with so many midseason changes makes this almost like preparing for a still-unknown opponent in Week 2.

“We cannot let these guys continue to ride the wave of 56-12 from last week,” Dillingham added.

Cam Skattebo is a true gametime decision for ASU vs. UCF

The Sun Devils held out their star running back from practicing this week, but Dillingham said Friday he will first need to be cleared before having a possible tough discussion about whether or not to play.

“I’m going to do whatever I can to try to tell him to not play, because we got to get him 100%, we got to get him healthy,” the head coach said. “Obviously, nothing happens without the medical team and their approval, but once they approve it, then it turns into, ‘Alright, how do you feel? How can you perform?’ And we won’t know that until we kick off.”

QB change transformed UCF’s offense

UCF freshman quarterback Dylan Rizk took over during the BYU game two weeks ago before earning his first start at Arizona. The early results were promising, with Rizk going 20 of 25 for 294 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He rushed nine times for 55 yards as well.

“Rizk opened up the passing game really in the one-on-one and RPO world,” Dillingham said.

Defenses putting bodies in the box to stop Harvey and keep tabs on Rizk on the ground could put pressure on opposing defensive backs to win one-on-one battles outside against receivers.

Arizona knows that well. The Knights’ Hudson (58 yards), Jacoby Jones (106 yards) and tight end Randy Pittman Jr. (80 yards) got theirs against Arizona last week.

But all that is set up by Harvey in Malzahn’s inside-zone run scheme, according to Dillingham. And he should know.

Dillingham was Malzahn’s offensive coordinator at Auburn in 2020 before he left for Oregon and eventually the head-coaching job at ASU.

Malzahn saw Dillingham’s potential

The Dillingham-Malzahn connection was former ASU offensive coordinator Mike Norvell, who worked in Tempe as Dillingham got his start under the Todd Graham-led staff.

Norvell invited Malzahn to Memphis when the former was head coach and Dillingham was on that staff, and that’s when the current UCF coach got to see his Saturday opponent up close.

“You could just tell he really has a dynamic personality,” Malzahn said this week. “Really made a positive impression on me. Obviously, when I got a chance to hire him as OC (at Auburn), that had a lot to do with it. Mike’s confidence in him, too.

“Got a chance to spend a year with him. He helped out a lot. Obviously, we had a good year, Bo Nix’s freshman year. He did a good job. It didn’t surprise me at all. He’s a young guy, but he doesn’t act young. He’s got a gift.”

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