Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham apologized for his postgame remarks about the Sun Devils’ kicking struggles after Saturday’s 24-14 loss to Cincinnati. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI – After calling Arizona State’s kicking game “atrocious” in the wake of a 24-14 Big 12 loss at Cincinnati Saturday, Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham continued to walk back his criticism of kicker Ian Hershey during his Monday press conference.
Dillingham opened the media session by apologizing for his comments immediately after the game, when he said he would hold open tryouts for a kicker and invited ASU students to email him if they have kicking experience.
“I’m not kidding,” Dillingham said at the time.
Hershey missed field goals of 48 and 41 yards in the fourth quarter Saturday. The second miss came with just 30 seconds to play in the game and would only have gotten ASU within seven points. The sophomore kicker has made seven of 12 attempts this season but is just three of eight beyond 29 yards.
Dillingham had already sent out a social media post on X apologizing for the comments, and he expressed confidence in the kickers on the ASU roster. Still, it appears that he remains open to adding a walk-on kicker.
I would like to apologize in my post game press conference I talked about our kicking game like I do offense / defense. However the kicking game is always directed at one player. I should not have done that and I apologize. This team’s losses will always 100% fall on myself.…
— Coach Dillingham (@KennyDillingham) October 19, 2024
“At the end of the day, we have three guys who are collegiate kickers who are really good,” Dillingham said Monday. “We have to do a better job as a staff with them feeling more confident. I’ve been talking to them a lot. I’m excited for those guys moving forward.”
He said he decided to apologize “when I realized it was affecting the kid.”
There was plenty of blame to go around for the Sun Devils after they fell to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the Big 12. The Sun Devils surrendered 24 first-half points and never generated enough offense to dig out of the hole, twice turning the ball over after failed fourth-down attempts.
Those gambles led to a Cincinnati field goal and touchdown, which Dillingham pointed out was ultimately the difference in the game.
With starting quarterback Sam Leavitt sidelined by a rib injury, backup Jeff Sims completed 12 of 23 passes for 155 yards. He also ran 14 times for 53 yards. Dillingham indicated a 50-50 chance that Leavitt will return when ASU visits Oklahoma State following a bye this weekend.
“I think Jeff played well,” offensive lineman Leif Fautanu said. “We only had one turnover. I think he played confidently and I trust him just as much as I do Sam (Leavitt). Regardless of who we put back there, from the quarterback standpoint, they’re going to ball out and I feel like that’s what Jeff did.”
The only real fault on Sims was his lack of throws downfield, which was impacted by the playcalling and inability to sustain drives.
“It all starts with myself and the coaching staff to do a better job of getting our guys ready to play,” Dillingham said following the game. “We weren’t extending enough drives to be aggressive and take some deep shots.
“When you don’t convert third or fourth downs, drives stall out and then you can’t be aggressive. We didn’t have enough plays or sustain enough drives to really try to get the deep game going.”
The Sun Devils scored on their first drive of the game to lead 7-0, but then it was a mixed bag for their defense. Sophomore defensive back Keith Abney II intercepted Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby on the Bearcats’ second drive, but then Cincinnati took advantage of ASU’s inability to sustain drives and scored 24 unanswered first-half points.
The Sun Devils defense yielded 191 rushing yards in the game, the most that the unit has allowed all season.
Despite that, Cincinnati was unable to score in the second half. Still, ASU failed to take advantage, scoring just once late in the third quarter.
“We didn’t handle adversity well early in the game,” Abney II said. “They ran the ball a lot. We need to get back to square one and start playing our brand of football, no matter what the environment is.”
The Sun Devils head into the bye week hoping to regroup, get healthier and resolve their issues across the board. Their next game will be on Nov. 2 in Stillwater. The Sun Devils fell at home to the Cowboys last season, but this time it is a Big 12 contest.
“We have to look at ourselves and us as a staff to say, ‘OK, what can we do better? How can we grow?’” Dillingham said. “We’re 5-2 at the bye week. Let’s get healthy for this last stretch that’s coming.”