Exploring State of Arizona State Athletics Heading Into 2026
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TEMPE -- In today's episode of the Arizona State Sun Devils Insider Podcast, we take a general look at the state of Sun Devil athletics as a whole - from the hockey season opening, to football, to both basketball squads ramping up for the season.
To listen to today's podcast, view below.
Below is a partial transcript of ASU OC Marcus Arroyo speaking to the media after last Wednesday's practice.
On Bye Week
"Yeah, always good to have now, kind of a chance to catch your breath. Look at who you are as an offense. You know where you were, maybe last year, who you are before, to be who you are, and find out exactly what we can do with a few personnel, how we can attack that differently, how I can coach it better, how we can find different ways and angles and creations. And so to have a week to get it, get through it, and get our guys dialed in, is good. Really, can always get a chance."
On 4th Down Play That Resulted in Jordyn Tyson Touchdown
"Yeah, oh yeah. We were like, we ran it at Wyoming. It split his finger. We dropped it at NAU, we missed protection, and it was a touchdown missed. And then this one again, so it's been one of our staple plays. One was once he said it finally hit. Because you're like, we're calling or calling, there it is. There is, Oh, finally there is. So it was a good deal. They executed it well, got that, got the ball in the hands of playmaker. Should have a couple before that, when he was open as well, but we found them laying that down. Had to wait till fourth."
On Running Back Roles Moving Forward
"You know, I don't know if it's gonna be, I'm not putting any person in any of those roles. It might be a spot where on those shorter situations, maybe it's a different scheme. Maybe it's a different stuff that we believe we've got to put guys in a different situation for one reason or the other. Any of those backs we call on any of those situations, we hope the prominent guy, whoever's in that role, can get that done."
On Offense Hitting Stride
"Yeah, I mean, we've, we've hit our stride, and a few these games and throughout the season, obviously, running football and moving the ball. And moving the ball effectively, first and second down, moving the ball into the field, where we become stagnant as some of these, some of these situations, and we're really getting down, and that's part of getting better. And of course, the season, making sure you look at those things and being honest with yourself and being humbled and finding out different ways to do it. We're moving the ball. That's not an issue. We're on the ball. Well, we're having school plays. JT and 10 are playing. Ten threw the ball 39 times again, 38 times. It's really effective. We used his legs. It's funny, those little situations where we got to be really, really good, where what is this unit can do in our situation."
Read more on major takeaways from Arizona State's clutch-time victory over TCU here, and more on why Arizona State fans should be feeling confident about the outlook of the season following the win here.
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Kevin Hicks is an Arizona State alumni and now serves as the Arizona State Beat Writer On SI.