The 2025 football schedule for Arizona State and the rest of the Big 12 was unveiled on Tuesday and featured several new teams and locations for the Sun Devils.
Following a non-conference slate with Northern Arizona, a trip to SEC country to face Mississippi State, and a home date with pesky Texas State, ASU dives off the deep end into Big 12 play.
The Sun Devils face six of the top nine teams in the Big 12 in 2024, starting in Week 4 at Baylor and Week 5 back home against TCU. The schedule also features a pair of rematches for ASU. Texas Tech, who defeated ASU in their conference opener in Lubbock last season 30-22, will make the trek to Tempe on Oct. 18. The Sun Devils will later travel to Ames, Iowa for a Big 12 Championship rematch with the Iowa State Cyclones. Cam Skattebo and the Devils exploded in the second half of a 45-19 drubbing of the Cyclones in Arlington to take home the conference title. ASU’s four Big 12 road tests (Baylor, Utah, Iowa State, and Colorado) combined for a 33-19 record in 2024.
New Season, Same Fire.
— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) February 4, 2025
Presenting the 2025 Sun Devil Football Schedule 🔥#ForksUp /// #ActivateTheValley pic.twitter.com/5sLbjaNE1b
The schedule also features a few familiar faces. ASU will make trips to former Pac-12 foes Utah and Colorado. The Sun Devils upset Utah last season in a 27-19 thriller while falling to Shedeur Sanders’ Buffaloes in 2023, 27-24, in head coach Kenny Dillingham’s first season. ASU will also host Arizona for the 99th Territorial Cup to close the regular season.
A year of success for ASU’s football program has historically been followed by disappointment. It’s been a long time since the Sun Devils have been able to string together multiple impressive seasons. Even without Skattebo, the amount of returning talent should give ASU a shot to do just that.
“That’s a great challenge,” Dillingham told media members Friday morning. “I think any time you have the world’s version of success, it’s hard to maintain it. I think that’s been the push for our guys. We’ve been a flash in the pan, and that’s cool, but it’s hard to keep a fire burning. It’s easy to start a fire. You can start a fire and then it dies out. How do you keep a fire burning? That’s really been the message to the guys.”
A product of success on a national stage like ASU’s in 2024 can be seen in the change in recruiting wins. The Sun Devils reloaded in the backfield by bringing in running back Kanye Udoh, who ran for more than 1,000 yards at Army last season, and recently signed Grayson Rigdon on National Signing Day after he ran for 2,000 yards in his senior season in high school. They will add to a running back room that already includes Kyson Brown, Raleek Brown, Alton McCaskill, and Jason Brown Jr. from last season.
Tight ends coach Jason Mohns has also been hitting the recruiting trail hard, securing Kentucky transfer Khamari Anderson and a recent commitment to the 2026 class in Israel Briggs, a highly sought-after recruit.
For Dillingham, the process hasn’t changed, but their perception has.
“Before, it was like, ‘Oh, they got the youngest coach. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. They’re not winning. They’re under sanctions. You don’t want any of this.’” Dillingham said of how other teams recruited against Arizona State. “Now it’s like, well all that’s gone. Uh oh. They got to create a whole new plan to bad mouth us …That’s the part that’s exciting for me is to hear the changes in people’s way they’re attacking us on the recruiting trail, which is funny cause I’m focused on us. I only want kids who want to be here.”
Arizona State will continue its spring workouts and search for a repeat season of glory when the season rolls around on Aug. 30 at home against Northern Arizona.
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