The maroon and gold have seen a lot of yellow flags this season, but they are beginning to clean it up.
The squad sports a 3-1 record heading into a conference game against No. 24 Texas Christian University. Still, one thing has plagued the Sun Devils through the first part of the season: penalties. ASU's 32 penalties for 252 yards have been rough compared to its opponents' 20 for 201 yards.
Last season, the Sun Devils finished sixth in the Big 12 in average penalty yards per game with 53.6. So far this season, they are fourth, averaging 63. ASU is also second in total penalties and yards, only behind Texas Tech.
"Penalties drive me nuts," head coach Kenny Dillingham said. "They extend drives for free ā¦ when it comes to in-game penalties, I always look at 'compared to the opponent', because every crew calls things differently."
Looking at game-by-game comparisons for ASU, the worst case of penalties was in the first game against NAU. The Sun Devils committed 12 penalties, the most in the Dillingham era, for 93 yards. The Lumberjacks committed six for 45 yards.
Following the 38-19 win, redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt believed his team would be able to minimize their mistakes.
"It's just tough going from camp to now playing in a live setting where calls are being made," Leavitt said after ASU's dozen penalty game. "So, (we're) just going to go back to work and get it down. I'm not too worried about it."
The Sun Devils improved in the following weeks. In the game against Mississippi State, ASU had eight penalties for 49 yards, and the Bulldogs had six for 60 yards. This was still a large amount of penalties for the Sun Devils, but they won the yardage matchup.
The return home to Tempe against the Texas State Bobcats saw ASU's cleanest game this season. The Sun Devils, though, came out on the wrong side of the penalty battle. The Bobcats played a very clean game, with only one penalty for 10 yards to the Sun Devils' five penalties for 40 yards.
Most recently, in the Sun Devils' win against Baylor, ASU outright won the penalty battle. Both sides finished with seven penalties apiece, but the Sun Devils had 70 yards of penalties, and the Bears finished with 86.
The biggest takeaway of this most recent penalty battle was the tale of two halves. ASU's first half saw six penalties for 60 yards, but the second half only had one for 10. The Sun Devils are learning to play a clean game without losing their edge.
"As long as we're not doing it recklessly," Dillingham said. "But I want to see violence and passion and aggressiveness, that's what football is. I say over and over again, move people backwards, you win games on both sides of the ball."
The biggest killer of penalties so far this season has been pre-snap. Of the 32 penalties this season, 14 of them have been before the ball is snapped.
These types of penalties can be a killer for a team. They provide the opposing offense with free yards without having to work for them and create unfavorable yard-to-go situations on offense.
"I don't like procedural penalties," Dillingham said. "I hate pre-snap penalties. Those are (missed assignments) in my mind."
Some players are seeing bounce-backs from penalties quickly. In the victory against Baylor, junior cornerback Keith Abney II had a pass interference call against him in the second quarter. Still, he came back quickly in the third, with an interception that led to a field goal.
This bounce back from Abney II comes from the mindset the coaches help build and what's instilled in the rest of the team.
"Penalties, they're really judgment calls," cornerbacks coach Bryan Carrington said. "I wasn't a fan of those calls on them, but you've got to continue playing."
As the Sun Devils enter the thick of conference play, penalties will continue to be a story for weeks to come. The next two tests for ASU are No. 24 TCU and Utah. They rank eighth and ninth in the conference, respectively, in average penalty yards per game.
ASU will continue to play aggressively under Dillingham, but certain penalties are tough on a team with championship quality. It's on Dillingham to clean up his team's play, but also have them ready for whatever the season brings.
"There's a balance of wanting your guys to play aggressive and teaching them to never get penalties," Dillingham said. "There are some penalties you can't live with ... If we're getting penalties attacking and playing the game in an aggressive mindset, in terms of blocking, Iām cool."
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, Henry Smardo and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporter at niall.rosenberg@gmail.com and follow @RosenbergNiall on X.
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Niall Rosenberg is a lead Sports Reporter at the State Press. He has previously worked with sports teams such as the Rockford Rivets of the Northwoods League. He is in his 2nd semester with the State Press with the chance to cover football and other sports.
