Kenny Dillingham Challenges Arizona State to Respond to Success

TEMPE -- The Arizona State Sun Devils football program has seldom lived up to high expectations during an overall successful program history - the 2025 team has battled through adversity and have held up quite well with all factors considered despite lofty expectations entering the season.

The Sun Devils sit at 6-3 despite numerous extended absences of key players and other roadblocks - head coach Kenny Dillingham has stressed that the team needs to respond to success just as much as failure during the process in his weekly press conference on Monday.

Sep 26, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham looks on against the TCU Horned Frogs in the second half at Mountain America Stadium, Home of the ASU Sun Devils. Mandatory Credit: Jacob Reiner-Imagn Images | Jacob Reiner-Imagn Images

"Yeah, we're just focused on, like, from beginning of the year being the best version of us. Like I told the guys, we've been horrible at responding to success. This year, been really good at responding to failure. We have not success. We have not responded to playing good football game or beating a good team well. So we need to do that. We need to show this season that we can play a good football game and come back and play another one and stack them."

And that's what I'm excited for. I'm excited to see if our guys can go out there play the same passion and energy back to back weeks and stack good football games."

Dillingham Expands on What Was Previously Said

knkn — Sep 26, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils kicker Jesus Gomez (35) kicks a field goal against the TCU Horned Frogs in the second half at Mountain America Stadium, Home of the ASU Sun Devils. Mandatory Credit: Jacob Reiner-Imagn Images | Jacob Reiner-Imagn Images

Dillingham said that he did not believe that the Sun Devils have had a "good" performance yet this season - even in the 26-22 victory over Texas Tech.

He pointed to the fact that the special teams unit did not step up like they should have during that game, also pointing out that the offense and defense have typically traded off stepping up during the season.

Nov 23, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Detailed view of an Arizona State Sun Devils helmet at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

How do Special Teams Respond?

The Arizona State special teams have been one of the worst units in that phase of the game this season. Interim special teams coordinator Jack Nudo has been handed a challenging task to improve the outlook of the group over the final three games - the result against Iowa State was better than expected.

Oct 18, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils kicker Jesus Gomez (35) against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The tackling and coverages were unexpected outputs, while kicker Jesus Gomez is top five in all of the FBS in field goals made with 18 to this point of the season.

West Virginia will be a challenge, as Rich Rodriguez typically coaches sound squads that are built around communication and fundamentals.

Arizona State and West Virginia are set to play at 11 A.M. MST on Saturday morning in Tempe.

Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and three major takeaways following a gutsy win over Iowa State here

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