Kenny Dillingham explains reasoning behind fourth down decision

SEATTLE, — Arizona State led against No. 5 Washington all night… until a pick-six on a fourth-and-three from Washington’s 12-yard line gave the Huskies the lead, and eventually, the win.

PICKED OFF !!!!@UW_Football takes it 89 yards TO THE HOUSE 😤 pic.twitter.com/fDVtA9LGQa

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 22, 2023

While a lot of fans blamed a controversial missed call by the officials that put ASU in the fourth-down position, many blamed head coach Kenny Dillingham. The Sun Devils were up a point and in field goal range. In a game with one offensive touchdown between both teams, points were at a premium… so why go for it?

Dillingham explained the factors behind the decision in his postgame press conference.

Kenny Dillingham explains the reason for not kicking a field goal

“We were down two linemen, and we went in saying ‘if we lost two more linemen, we couldn’t kick field goals’. So, one lineman was risky, and we knew it, so we kicked the one-field goal,” Dillingham said. “… And that one got blocked. Then we lost another o-linemen, Cade (Briggs) was out for a little while, so it was a ‘no go’ that we couldn’t kick it.”

Not having enough healthy offensive linemen to kick a field goal is something I haven’t seen before. This is one of the most important, arguably the most important, position groups on the team, and they’ve been decimated with injuries.

It’s so bad that Dillingham even called out for students to help.

“I don’t know if there are big bodies at ASU who just go there that want to play field goal for us,” Dillingham continued. “If you weigh 330 pounds, and I mean it, reach out to our team. Because we need big bodies to put out there on field goal because we’re down a lot of them.”

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