Everything Baylor Head Coach Dave Aranda Said About Arizona State, Week 5 Visit to Tempe

The media heard from ASU head football coach Kenny Dillingham on Monday morning, showing respect to Dave Aranda and the 3-1 Baylor Bears before their weekend showdown.

"If they reach the ball four more inches, this is a Top 25 team coming to town," Dillingham said, referring to their final-play loss to Auburn in Week 1.

On Tuesday morning, it was Aranda's turn to take the podium.

Here is everything the seven-year head coach had to say about ASU, Week 5 and the state of the Baylor Bears:

How Baylor Views Their First (True) Road Game:

"No. It's going to be us versus all of them. I think at times that can be pretty helpful in terms of using energy and turning around whatever's kind of coming at you to help fuel you."

"Last time I played there (at Arizona State), I was at Wisconsin and (with Wisconsin QB) Joel Stave. I think we wanted to take a knee and hand the ball to the ref and try to get a field goal at the end, and we weren't able to do that, and it was a walk-off. I remember the refs just running off the field, and it was a bad, bad, bad deal."

"Just my memories of that game, it is a very tough place to play. It's just loud, and at night it can be electric, and so we're in for it, and we'll be ready for it."

What Does Arizona State Do Well?:

"Offensively, they've got a quarterback (Cutter Boley) that makes really good decisions. He's able to see kind of the shells and go to. There's the man stuff, he's looking at the zone stuff. They've got some receivers that they move around. They'll put two pretty elite receivers on the same side to the boundary, and put a tight end and another receiver to the field, and they'll work that boundary side."

"Their running backs are really physical. I think their offensive line is a good one. Their tight ends are athletic, long guys."

"Defensively, I think they make you earn it. They'll play off with corners at times, and they'll play quarters and three deep and man, they'll make them play in such a way that it's eight, 9-10, play drives, and so it's just so important for us that, in the process of all of that, we try to find some explosives, but also we don't go backwards with a penalty or with a self-inflicted wound."

"Their whole (defensive) theory is that teams are going to mess themselves up, trying to go 10 plays or eight plays, so that's very much the fight on offense."

A Sign of Respect for ASU From Aranda:

"I have so much respect for Arizona State and Kenny (Dillingham) and then (Offensive Coordinator Marcus) Arroyo, it's a very smart attack. They're very intentional on what they do and how they identify you and kind of the plans that they put together."

"It's one of those things where you watch them. It's like, 'oh, they're doing this because of that.' They've got this figured out, and so it's going to be a major test. The coaching contest is going to be a good one this week. A lot of respect."

How Punter Palmer Williams Is A Factor:

"He did a great job of that (flipping the field vs. Colorado), so it was a huge part of the game. I thought all throughout special teams. I thought even the kickoff, I thought guys were flying down the field, and there's physicality throughout, and both the pump protection and then kind of the tackling on punt."

"That's definitely something, to where, depending on the flow of the game and how that's going, are we going to have to score here, or can we play just field position and make them have to drive the distance? That's certainly a thing that shows up."

Addressing a Missed Tackles Problem:

"It's a gradual thing. I think once you got closer to the fourth quarter, I think guys knew that it was time to close the deal. I think when it got to where it was a tie game (vs. Colorado), I think they were able to feel that. I think the scores of distraction kind of come into play with some of that, but that's (missed tackles) going to be a huge emphasis in this game. I feel like Arizona State does a good job of creating space, formations, and motions."

Aranda will make his return to Tempe this Saturday as Arizona State hosts the Baylor Bears at Mountain America Stadium.

Devil Details:

Who: Arizona State vs. Baylor
When: Saturday, October 3 at 7:30 p.m. AZ, 10:30 p.m. EST
Where: Mountain America Stadium (53,599) in Tempe, Arizona
TV/Streaming: ESPN

The Sun Devil Radio Network broadcast will air on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. Tim Healey will handle play-by-play alongside former Arizona State quarterback Jeff Van Raaphorst, with Kevin Turner reporting from the sideline.

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