Exploring Key Players, Matchup Advantages, More for Arizona State-Houston

In today's edition of the Sun Devils Insider Podcast, we take a look at the matchup that is to be against Houston.

Arizona State head football coach Kenny Dillingham speaks to the media during a news conference at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe on Oct. 20, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

TEMPE -- In today's episode of the Arizona State Sun Devils Insider Podcast, we take a look at the upcoming matchup between the Sun Devils and the 6-1 Houston Cougars. Topics covered include how the Arizona State offense will compensate for the loss of WR Jordyn Tyson, how the defense will perform against the Houston offense, and ultimate predictions at the conclusion of the episode.

To listen to today's podcast, view below.

Below is a partial transcript of Dillingham's talk with media on Wednesday.

On Wednesday Being Crucial Day of Practice

"Wednesday's a big walk day for us. Try to be physical at the beginning, and then, you know, walk for it at the end. So hopefully we'll be better there. From my perspective."

On Week of Practice

"I've been happy with practice. I've been happy with the physicality of practice. I've happy with the guys that are questionable, maybe not getting reps, you know, watching reps and being dialed in. So yeah, I'm excited. We got a good football team coming in here. We better. Doesn't matter who takes the field, you better be ready to strap it up and play sixty minutes of football."

"He had a good week, I think a bunch of people have to step up. And it can't just be him, you know, you can't just replace Jordyn Tyson with one person, right? So you got to have a group and a team effort to replace, you know, 10-15 yards at a time."

"Yeah, I think our special teams experience have been juice. They've been amped. You know, you wish that you could just, like, flip a switch and be good at something. So does that mean hard work does not translate to success?

Hard work gives you the best opportunity to be successful. So I think this week, the way that we worked on special teams is going to give us the best opportunity to be successful. Is these two days enough to be successful. I don't know, right, but I know that we couldn't have worked harder. We couldn't have done more. So from that perspective, I'm excited to see that unit play."

Arizona State-Houston is set for a start time of 5 P.M. AZT on Saturday evening - the game will go a massive way towards providing more clarity in the Big 12 standings moving forward.

Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on three major takeaways from the win over Texas Tech here.

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