ASU Football: Dillingham praises crowd against USC

TEMPE, Ariz. — The crowd and atmosphere in Mountain America Stadium was one the program hasn’t seen in years. In just the first drive alone, the roar and fire of Sun Devil Nation forced multiple pre-snap penalties from the usually poised and calm USC offense.

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham praised the crowd. He also challenged the fans to keep that energy for the rest of the season.

Kenny Dillingham praises the crowd against USC

“You come to ASU to play in these moments and every kid goes to a college and a lot of their decision is the environment,” Dillingham said. “To be honest, the environment we create is going to not only affect wins, it’s going to affect recruiting and that environment today.”

The effect of a loud crowd and electric environment goes much further than just the 60 minutes between the white lines. Its impact on recruiting and the overall culture of a program cannot be understated.

Imagine being a high school kid visiting Tempe on Saturday night. Witnessing just under 54,000 screaming Sun Devils. It’s hard not to be entranced by the energy, and want to play in front of it.

A consistent atmosphere like Saturday’s could work wonders for the program.

“That environment today, I challenge people to bring that because that was an environment that was an environment you can win at a high level in,” Dillingham continued. “That was an environment that our kids deserve. That was an environment our fans deserve because it’s fun. It’s fun to be in that environment and we’re going to keep getting better as a football team and let’s keep getting that turnout because that was a really good environment and credit to the fans, man… thank you.”

Thank you for reading Sun Devil Daily! Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with Arizona State news! For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email our Managing Editor at brendonpricco@gmail.com. Also, make sure to check out the Sun Devil Daily shop for merchandise! Forks up!