Kenny Dillingham Explains Recent Practice Schedule Choice
In this story:
TEMPE -- Arizona State football is heading into the final three weeks of the regular season sporting a 6-3 record and holding an outside shot to return to the Big 12 title game despite suffering a pair of crushing conference losses.
Head coach Kenny Dillingham gave his team the week off from practice last week in an effort to regroup after an emotional week that culminated with a 24-19 win over Iowa State.
The team returned at the beginning of the week, leading up to the home date with the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday, with a light practice on Monday morning - Dillingham broke down what was accomplished in the brief tune-up before his press conference.
- “Yeah, we had good energy out there today. Today was just like a kind of get our feet back. It was only a 10 period, like work the kinks out. So Tuesday's practice of a game week is really good. So I think we worked some of the kinks out today."
- "We hit, you know, we got the thought a lot got to play catch. So I thought the guys’ energy was good, you know, like I told the guys, you know, it's a great opportunity for us to, you know, we did something a little bit different. Thought it was necessary, like, let's go and work now, and hopefully it was a good decision.”
The Sun Devils are set to enter the game with Jeff Sims at quarterback for the second consecutive game, while they are also set to return starting edge rusher Prince Dorbah and linebacker Tate Romney after each missed the Iowa State game. Arizona State is set to practice on Tuesday and Wednesday morning before turning its focus to walkthroughs over the rest of the week.
What Challenges do West Virginia Present?
Dillingham discussed how adaptive Rodriguez has been during his two-plus decades as a high-profile coach, going to great lengths in breaking down how difficult preparing for the different styles of running that his teams typically carry out.
West Virginia has also seen improved QB play in recent weeks, as freshman Scotty Fox Jr. has taken off over the last two games, throwing for five touchdowns and providing a consistent threat as a plus-one runner.
Lastly, West Virginia has been one of the very best run defenses in the Big 12 in recent weeks, which is an area that is sure to be of paramount focus during this week of practice.
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
Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page when you click right here.
Please follow us on X when you click right here, as well as @khicks_21 for nonstop Arizona State coverage!
Kevin Hicks is an Arizona State alumni and now serves as the Arizona State Beat Writer On SI.