Earlier this week, Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham showed his players a montage he made of the “great things” people have said about the team. But in the end, the video was “just comical” to the coach who has turned his program from back-to-back 3-9 seasons to 8-2 this year.
“I could care less,” he said at his Monday press conference.
Dillingham’s quarterback, redshirt freshman Sam Leavitt echoed the message after Tuesday’s practice. While he and his teammates saw that more people were starting to respect the Sun Devils, they were mad that “nobody counted (them) in from the jump.”
There is still work to be done for the 21st-ranked Sun Devils, who host No. 14 BYU this Saturday afternoon in one of the most anticipated home games in the past decade.
“They’re gonna come into this game like it’s the Super Bowl, which it is,” Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham said about BYU. “It’s the same value for both sides, but they’re going to come into this thing with a really good head football coach and a really good team expecting to win and playing with a little bit of something extra.”
Both teams come in with different results from last Saturday. The Maroon and Gold pulled off the road upset against No. 20 Kansas State, beating the Wildcats 24-14. Meanwhile, the Cougars lost 17-13 at home to 4-6 Kansas fighting to become bowl eligible.
The results have led to an interesting shift in the Big 12 standings. ASU is now one game behind BYU and Colorado, who hold the top two spots in the Big 12. The top two teams will play in the conference championship on Dec. 7 at AT&T Stadium, most likely for a berth in the College Football Playoff.
Nine teams are still in the hunt to make the Big 12 Championship Game. There are a myriad of tiebreakers that are even confusing for Dillingham.
“Somebody was telling me that if we win and somebody else loses and then ranch dressing falls on a wing? I don’t know," he said. “Just play the very best you can play.”
ASU’s offense will have to combat BYU’s strong defense, which is one of the best in the Big 12. The Cougars have the second-best scoring defense in the conference, allowing 19.5 points per game. Additionally, they only allow 315.5 yards per game, and 176.1 passing yards per game.
“They’re masters of confusions,” said Leavitt, who had 275 passing yards and three touchdowns against Kansas State last Saturday. “They do a lot of stuff up front and within the box and give you different looks and stuff like that.”
“They’re a veteran group, they’ve been together for quite a few years now,” Arizona State offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo said. “They know how to communicate. They know how to make their adjustments. They play fast, they play physical, they get the ball. We’ve got a great task at hand.”
Both teams have defied expectations this year. ASU was projected to finish last in the Big 12 preseason media poll, while BYU was projected to finish 13th.
Sun Devil Athletics are expecting a sold-out crowd on Saturday afternoon, with student tickets being sold out hours after they were released. Tickets that are still available are going for at least $225 on Ticketmaster.
It will be the first Top 25 matchup at Mountain America Stadium since Nov. 8, 2014, when a ninth-ranked Sun Devils side downed No. 10 Notre Dame 55-31, bolstering their chances to make the then four-team College Football Playoff. The game will also be homecoming and senior day for the team.
“The process for the Valley to be able to experience what they get to experience, which is an unbelievable college football environment on Saturday, is what we need to get people bought back into here,” Dillingham said. “There’s nothing that can replicate it.”
Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. MST. Tune in on blazeradioonline.com.