ASU is off to a hot start in head coach Kenny Dillingham's second season at the helm as the Sun Devils sit at 3-1, already reaching the number of wins they totaled last season.
The dramatic shift in success is the byproduct of better overall team output, improved player performances and new schemes. Four trends have emerged four games into the Sun Devils' season.
ASU has improved dramatically
ASU was just 1-3 four games into 2023. The Sun Devils were outscored by 52 points with an offense that had gained just 1,231 yards and a defense that only forced one turnover.
Fast forward to this season and the Sun Devils are 3-1. They have outscored their opponents by 43 points and have gained 1,637 total offensive yards while forcing seven total turnovers.
Several offseason additions have significantly contributed, including redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt, junior linebacker Keyshaun Elliott and redshirt junior offensive lineman Josh Atkins.
Arguably the Sun Devils' most impactful improvement has been quarterback play. Leavitt, who has 1,035 yards and seven touchdowns, has provided stability to a quarterback room ravaged by injuries last year.
Dillingham doesn't believe talent is the only change from last season as his tenure has coincided with a culture shift. He said he has seen the change in the weight room and on the team's short lists of player infractions.
"It's not just when they are on the field, it's not just they like it when they post on social media, they love football," Dillingham said. "This year's team, they come out and work ... the leaders of this team love football ... I see guys with their cars parked outside at 6:30 a.m. getting treatments. They just love everything that goes with football."
Cam Skattebo is better than ever
Senior running back Cam Skattebo is building on an impressive 2023 season. Skattebo lost 14 pounds over the offseason and has shown enhanced speed with his stronger frame.
So far, Skattebo has made a bigger game-by-game impact in 2024 than he did in 2023, totaling 234 more all-purpose yards in his first four games this season.
Against Wyoming, Skattebo gained 41 of his 49 total rushing yards on ASU's first three offensive drives powering the Sun Devils to a 24-0 lead.
Skattebo then ran for 262 yards against Mississippi State, averaging 7.9 yards per carry on his way to AP National Player of the Week honors.
In ASU's matchup versus Texas State, Skattebo didn't light up the stat sheet because Texas State committed to containing him. This opened up ASU's passing game for a successful Leavitt outing.
Then, Skattebo showcased his skill as a receiver against Texas Tech. He gained 117 of his 177 total yards through the air in a two-touchdown performance.
Dillingham said that after the 2023 season, he wasn't sure if Skattebo was an NFL-caliber player. Now, Dillingham believes Skattebo "looks like a Sunday player" after his play early this season.
"Cam stepped up in the offseason," redshirt senior center Leif Fautanu told The Arizona Republic. "He's had more of a voice than last year and really cares about the standard of this team. He's passionate about what he does and he wants to have the rock every play."
Brian Ward's blitz-heavy defense
The Sun Devils have forced seven turnovers and tallied three defensive touchdowns with a defensive unit built to breed chaos. This season, defensive coordinator Brian Ward has shown the ability to run multiple blitzes within the same look.
One of the team's looks is the double mug front where two linebackers threaten to blitz by lining up over the center. The scheme brings pressure to the offense with six rushers. Then, the opposing quarterback has to anticipate if all six rushers are coming or if some are dropping back into coverage.
"Our pressure is real and imaginary," Ward said. "We're trying to make the quarterback think that we're bringing pressure, and then we don't, then we're not bringing pressure when we do ... We're going to try to get him to guess, and hopefully we can get him off his spot."
A great example of creating chaos from the double mug came against Texas Tech. Early in the first quarter, ASU showed a look with both linebackers at the line of scrimmage.
Seconds before the snap, both linebackers dropped off from the line of scrimmage into coverage as junior nickel corner Myles Rowser came screaming off the edge to get home for the sack.
Sometimes the blitz doesn't get home such as in the Texas State game. Midway through the first quarter, the Bobcats faced a third-and-9 play with ASU in a double mug with seven players threatening to blitz.
Both linebackers and redshirt junior safety Xavion Alford blitzed, while both defensive ends dropped in coverage as flat defenders. On the play, ASU died by the blitz as Texas State picked up the rush perfectly and redshirt senior quarterback Jordan McCloud delivered a strike for a first down.
Play-action passes key to the offense
A learning curve is expected for Leavitt as a first-time starter. However, there are ways to alleviate the pressure that comes with inexperience.
A successful running game can make everything easier for a young quarterback by opening up play-action passes. ASU has the 27th-best rushing offense in the country, forcing defenses to focus more on Skattebo's ground game instead of Leavitt.
ASU offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo knows that when linebackers see Leavitt turning around to hand the ball off to Skattebo, they’ll come crashing down. That was exactly the case against Texas State.
On a second-and-9 play, Leavitt faked a handoff to Skattebo and caused all three linebackers to buy the run. The handoff was a fake that left the middle of the field wide open for redshirt sophomore receiver Jordyn Tyson.
This advantage has been crucial for ASU all season. To help their quarterback in the play-action game, ASU's run game must remain effective for the rest of 2024.
Edited by Jack Barron, Henry Smardo, Sophia Braccio and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach out to the reporters at jwkartso@asu.edu and danielr1102@gmail.com and follow them @kartsonis3 and @daniel_rios72 on X.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on X.
Jack is a sophomore studying sports journalism. This is his second semester with The State Press. He has also worked at other student journalism organizations.
Daniel is a senior studying sports journalism. This is his first semester with The State Press. He has also worked at WCSN, OC Riptide, 1550 Sports and AZPreps365.
