State of the Sun Devils Podcast: ASU DB Shamari Simmons talks BYU matchup, Big 12 title chase

Defensive back Shamari Simmons called ASU football’s matchup with BYU on Saturday the type of game he grew up hoping to play in.

“As a little kid, this is what you dreamed of, just playing in these big time games,” Simmons told Arizona Sports’ State of the Sun Devils Podcast on Tuesday. “I feel like everybody’s just locked in and focused. … It’s just all about us coming in to work and then just after practice extra film study and stuff like that.

“We just want to stay as level-headed as possible.”

It’s an approach head coach Kenny Dillingham has instilled in the Sun Devils, focusing on the day-to-day process rather than getting caught up in things out of their control, such as Big 12 tiebreakers.

Simmons and the other Sun Devils are also bought in on blocking out the outside noise, even booing Dillingham when he announced the No. 21 ranking in the AP poll to the group.

“Rankings don’t even mean nothing if we come out here and lose, so we’re just trying to focus on the BYU game for right now,” Simmons said.

The defensive back said he had a feeling coming into the year the Sun Devils would catch some teams by surprise, and ASU is now 8-2 playing meaningful football down the stretch.

“I ain’t gonna say everybody expected this, but we wasn’t shocked at all,” Simmons said. “We really felt like we could’ve went undefeated, and the two losses we did (have), it was off us just making penalties and stupid mistakes.”

ASU (8-2, 5-2) and BYU (9-1, 6-1) face off at 1:30 p.m. MST on Saturday. Listen to play-by-play coverage on 98.7 FM, the Arizona Sports app or on arizonasports.com with the State of the Sun Devils pregame show beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Related

‘Punt it and then restart’: How ASU is coaching turnovers out of Cutter Boley’s gameNorth Carolina opens Bill Belichick’s 2nd season with win over TCU in IrelandCutter Boley wins quarterback competition, named Arizona State’s starterBickley: Arizona sports need to find their way out of the yuckBig 12 becomes latest conference to ban former NFL players while NFL reiterates its rulesWhich Arizona State players have made preseason watchlists?