Dillingham cites the biggest issues with ASU football

Four keys that ASU must improve on to win games

ASU fought its closest battle of the season on Saturday against the Cal Bears. The game was neck and neck throughout with the Sun Devils falling 24-21. Despite the score, Arizona State won a lot of the statistical categories, but not the ones that matter most.

“You can win most of the statistical categories, but the most important things in football are holding the football and then winning situational football,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said.

Third down efficiency

Third-down efficiency was a major setback for the Sun Devils, as it has been all season. ASU was two for 15 on third down Saturday, which makes it hard to move the football down the field.

On the season, ASU ranks outside of the top 100 at 112 with a 33.33 percent third down conversion rate according to Teamrankings.com. When the offense can’t sustain drives and score points, it puts the team in an early hole, and the defense in tough spots.

Flipping the field

Punting has been another struggle for ASU this season. The Sun Devils averaged 36.3 yards per punt on its four punts Saturday and its season average is just 35.45 yards. That ranks 118^th in the nation. In fact, ASU’s longest punt of the season remains junior running back Cameron Skattebo’s 53-yard pooch punt against USC, which is one of just two punts ASU has downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line this season.

“The net punt battle is where we’re losing,” Dillingham said. “We have to fix that.”

The Sun Devil defense has performed pretty well this season, especially for some situations the offense has put them in. But the inability to convert on third down combined with the lack of punt yardage leads to a major discrepancy in field position and the inability for ASU to flip the field on its opponents.

With the lack of punt yardage, ASU has been forced to adjust its play calling to be more aggressive with fourth downs.

“Right now, a punt battle is minus 15 or 20 (yards) so you may as well go for it,” Dillingham said.

The turnover battle

Another pivotal part of the game is the turnover battle. ASU has severely struggled with this aspect so far this season. They have committed 13 turnovers, which ranks 129^th in the nation, and forced just one turnover, good for 127^th in the country. That leaves them with a negative 12 turnover margin which sits at 130^th in the country.

“Offensively we’re turning it over too much,” Dillingham said. “And the most explosive play on defense is turnovers and we’re not getting turnovers.”

Lack of explosive plays by ASU

Explosive plays are another area of shortcoming by Arizona State on both sides of the ball. Dillingham said the longest run of the season for the Sun Devils is just 17 yards. Explosive plays and quick strike offenses are taking over college football as well as the NFL and the inability to produce them is a weakness.

“We’re not explosive on offense, and we’re not explosive on defense,” Dillingham said. “So we’re making it really hard on ourselves to win games.”

ASU averages just 4.5 yards per play, which ranks 113^th in the country. With just one forced turnover, 13 turnovers committed, and less than five yards per play on the season; these are the pivotal situational aspects of the game Dillingham says the Sun Devils must improve on in order to start winning football games.

“If you look at the win rate for teams with explosive plays and teams that don’t have explosive plays, it’s one of the number one correlations to winning games nowadays,” Dillingham said.

Washington, USC, and Miami are the top three schools in the country in yards per play. They all average at least eight yards per play and have yet to lose this season. Seven of the top 10 teams in average yards per play are undefeated on the season.

“I have to be more creative, getting our guys in space, trying some tricks, and trying to pop an explosive (play),” Dillingham said.

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