ASU football: Three observations from Tuesday’s practice (9/03/24)

TEMPE, Ariz. — ASU football began its prep for Mississippi State under the sun Tuesday morning. After last week’s game against Wyoming, fans’ confidence has grown heading into Week Two. However, it will be a challenge, and Kenny Dillingham knows it.

Arizona State football has never beaten an SEC opponent before. Not only is history going against the Sun Devils, but there’s pressure on the program for the first time in years. The spread has ballooned to favoring ASU by 6.5 points (DraftKings Sportsbook).

Here are three observations from Tuesday’s practice in preparation for Mississippi State.

Three observations from ASU football practice

Dillingham isn’t satisfied

“Today our kids thought that they won the Super Bowl on Saturday,” Dillingham said following practice. “They came out here acting like we’re (a) undefeated, good football team. And we practiced like a 1-11 team today.”

A common theme in college sports is teams having letdown games following big wins. While winning against Wyoming at home for most teams isn’t considered a big win, for a program that had four total wins against FBS opponents in the last two seasons, beating a Wyoming team that won nine games last season is a solid victory. Then add in the dominant fashion and the fact that the Cowboys were lucky to squeak in their first points of the game with two seconds left, and the vibes are high in Tempe.

“Now luckily, they responded the last six periods, and we had a really, really good ending of practice, but that was a 1-11 practice for about an hour and a half… it was pretty embarrassing,” Dillingham continued. What lead to the slow start at practice? “People feel good about themselves. All y’all (the media) writing really good things and posting all these stats. We’re ‘The number one defense in America’ through one week? What kind of stat is that? We’re this, we’re that, look at all of this really cool stuff. We’re now the 14th-worst team in the Big 12. What the hell are we doing? We got comfortable.”

Dillingham’s goal? Keep the players humbled and focused.

“We haven’t done anything,” Dillingham said. “We’re still a nobody.”

Pass defense needs to improve ahead of Mississippi State game

Playing a team like Mississippi State is not easy for a defense. New head coach Jeff Lebby and his offense are going to run tempo and throw the ball down the field a lot on Saturday.

The defense got worked today with a lot of tempo and focused on preparing to defend against the air attack. Against Wyoming, the Sun Devil secondary was stout only allowing 42 passing yards by Cowboy QB Evan Svoboda. ASU also picked off Svoboda twice.

However, Mississippi State will have a much stronger passing offense than Wyoming. In the Bulldogs’ 56-7 victory over Eastern Kentucky last week, starting QB Blake Shapen threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns while only having five incompletions.

Mississippi State’s leading WR against Eastern Kentucky was junior Jordan Mosley who hauled in five receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown.

Mississippi State features several speedy wide receivers so if ASU wants to keep them in check, its pass defense will need to be ready.

Looking for a fix in the kicking game

Arizona State’s performance against Wyoming was near perfect. However, if you had to find a potential issue to point at, it would be the kicking game. Overall the Sun Devils went 2/4 on field goals. Redshirt sophomore Ian Hershey drilled two field goals, both under 30 yards. On his lone attempt over 30 yards, he missed from 38 yards out.

In the fourth quarter, ASU brought out local redshirt freshman Carston Kieffer, a graduate of Corona Del Sol in Tempe. Kieffer missed a 43-yard field goal attempt, ASU’s longest of the night.

Special teams coach Charlie Ragle focused on attempts from 40-yards out with Hershey and Kieffer both taking reps. While kicking isn’t crucial in a 48-7 blowout victory, many games are won and lost by kickers.

Arizona State faces off against Mississippi State at 7:30 p.m. AZT on Saturday, Sept. 7. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

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