Considering how south 2023 went for Arizona State football, though, the outlook isn’t sunny. Capping off its worst two-year stretch since World War II, ASU compiled a dismal 3-9 record, winning just two games against Pac-12 opponents, while a flood of injuries washed away any hope from what was a lost season from the start. After dropping the Territorial Cup to rival Arizona by nearly 40 points, Dillingham and company retreated to the drawing board, trying to find the fastest solution to such a disappointing campaign.

Months before the team would take the field for 2024, outside factors would help in renewing optimism throughout the program. With a new athletic director in tow to help promote a stable and beneficial donor base, more resources have been made available to Dillingham in his second year. Not one to sit on his hands, the fiery and passionate ASU alum reeled in some big fish on the recruiting trail, bringing in a top 50 high school class and a top 30 group out of the transfer portal per 247Sports.

Among those newcomers is former Michigan State quarterback Sam Leavitt, who has been tabbed by Dillingham and offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo as the team’s week one starting quarterback. Leavitt, sparingly playing in four games in his freshman year as a Spartan, was a consensus top-20 quarterback in the class of 2023, and hopes to realize his potential in the maroon and gold.

“He’s just a guy who is just constantly looking for growth,” Arroyo said. “You can see it. It's reflected in his patterns. He's got a personality that you want to follow.”

Supporting Leavitt offensively will be a mix of holdovers and fresh blood. Cam Skattebo returns in the backfield after leading the team in rushing last season and is joined by talented transfers Alton McCaskill and Raleek Brown as options in the run game. Them, along with a familiar receiver room of Troy Omeire and Jordyn Tyson, will look to improve upon what was one of the country’s worst offenses by points-per-drive (122nd).

This unit will be challenged in its opening contest when the Wyoming Cowboys travel south to Mountain America Stadium this weekend. Returning plenty of production from a nine-win group in 2023, that competed with some of the nation’s top teams, the Cowboys will not be intimidated by the Power Four environment they’ll step in to, even with new leadership.

“New head coach (at Wyoming). He’s a veteran, he’s worked for some of the best head coaches in the country,” Dillingham said of Jay Sawvel, WU’s new head man. “He’s only been around winning teams and winning cultures. We’ll see what their identity became over fall camp. We all know they have the identity to run the football at you, not around you, directly at you.

That’s the identity of a football team that won nine games, had Texas tied and beat Texas Tech last year, was a team that limited possessions, won the turnover battle and played great defense.”

While not nearly as shorthanded as they started the campaign last year, the Sun Devils won’t be at full strength to start off 2024. Starting edge defender Prince Dorbah will be sideline for the first 2-4 weeks of the season recovering from knee surgery, while a mainstay at linebacker in Tate Romney will miss more than a month with a broken arm. Offensively, Raleek Brown is doubtful with a hamstring issue, and lineman Sean Na’a is expected to be out for at least the first two weeks with an undisclosed injury.  

Setting aside these early handcuffs, the Big 12 preseason poll ranked the Sun Devils as the worst team in the conference for 2024, which Dillingham has used for his own version of bulletin board material.

“If nobody believes in you, you should have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder,” Dillingham said. “But great teams are not built off of the media’s perception of them. Great teams are built because of the way they are wired to get better throughout the process every single day. That’s what we’ve been focused on.”

With plenty of that expectation coming from the fact that Dillingham is entering just his second year as head coach, such amounts of skepticism can be justified. Yet, Dillingham is hopeful of his own progression on top of his team, which is creating a level of dedication he sees as vital to take the field this Saturday.

“The commitment is there and that’s the minimum standard,” he said. “But what you are willing to sacrifice is what separates teams, and I think our guys are committed. In these next 14 weeks, what are we willing to sacrifice to actually be successful?”

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 AZT on Saturday night.