TEMPE — Down 18, Arizona State and Coach Kenny Dillingham needed a miracle to mount a comeback in the second half of its Big 12 home opener against Baylor. On a third-and-1, it seemed like it wouldn’t be a difficult task to pick up a first down. Of course, nothing has come easy for the ASU offense lately. This play was no different.
Under pressure, junior quarterback Cutter Boley twisted and turned to avoid the pressure, only to launch the ball off his back foot into the awaiting hands of the Bears’ senior linebacker Ryan Davis — an interception, another microcosm of the start to the season for the Sun Devil offense.
A couple of plays later, senior quarterback DJ Lagway threw his fourth passing touchdown, breaking his prior passing touchdowns-in-a-game mark. A swarm of students left the Inferno student section. Meanwhile, a roar of boos overflowed Mountain America Stadium.
Baylor defeated ASU 55-19 on Saturday night at Mountain America Stadium. It was a deficit that matched Dillingham’s worst margin of defeat at home in his entire tenure as Arizona State’s coach.
“That one sucks,” Dillingham said. “I’m not doing a very good job this year. I got to figure out the right recipe for this team. … I’m a fan here just as much as I am a coach, and I’d be as frustrated as a Sun Devil, I hope, more than anybody because I’m responsible for it. I will say this is an unacceptable performance from our football team, not an acceptable performance by me, and it’s very disappointing.”
Entering Saturday, the Maroon and Gold remained undefeated in Big 12 play. The opposition — donning white jerseys with green lettering — were also undefeated and coming off an up-and-down performance, in which they defeated Colorado by 10.
The premise and keys to success couldn’t be clearer. The Sun Devils needed their offensive line to hold up in the trenches and control the tempo — both of which have been inconsistent. For the Bears, it was a little simpler: get Lagway in a rhythm.
One side, evident in the scoreline, followed its key perfectly. The other, left feeling miserable, battered and, according to Dillingham, confused.
“I usually have a good feeling for what’s going to happen, and I did not expect what happened out there today in any way, shape, or form,” Dillingham said. “I’d be lying if I told you I knew the answer right now. … I think it was more the fundamentals of the football game. We didn’t do very well, and that starts and ends with me.”
Dillingham’s feelings encapsulate his offense’s performance on Saturday — particularly the rushing attack and offensive line play. The offensive line unit, while slightly banged up, isn’t on par with units from Dillingham’s past. The left side of the offensive line has been a weakness. Senior tackle Luke Baklenko didn’t start against Baylor; however, he’s struggled this season and even when rotating in on Saturday — evident by a crucial missed block on a Boley catch that could’ve gone into the red zone.
While the offensive line’s had its fair share of struggles in pass and run blocking, freshman Cardae Mack shone as one of the few bright spots. Aguano mentioned more running backs being involved, and it proved true with four different ones touching the ball in the first half.
ASU averaged under four yards per carry and, because of the lack of offensive production, seemed to have removed the ground-and-pound game plan entirely. Boley put the brunt of the blame on himself as his offense looks to redefine its bread-and-butter from the once run-first team it was just a season ago.
“There are a lot of areas we got to get better,” Boley said. “We need to find our identity and what we want to lead on. What’s our bread and butter? We got to keep growing and keep trying to be the team we want to be.”
Sparky’s struggles extend to third down. Arizona State converted on a 4-for-15 clip, and its under-30% conversion rate on third downs marks the third straight game in which ASU has converted at under 30% rate on third downs.
The Sun Devils’ third-down conversion rate ranks bottom-15 among all 138 FBS teams. Dillingham owns the offense’s ineptitude and vows to right the ship in the coming weeks.
“I am not pulling out more than this team has,” Dillingham said. “I’m letting our football team down. We’re falling short of the ability that we have. That’s what I was led to try to figure out: why and how to get there. I don’t know the answer to that right now. I have got to figure it out.”
While Dillingham blamed himself for tonight’s loss, he and the rest of his staff and team have a chance to right their wrongs and lead a bounce-back performance when ASU hosts Hawaii at Mountain America Stadium on Saturday, October 10 at 7:30 p.m. MST.
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