When it comes to coach speak, "one day at a time" is an overused mantra.
But in the world of Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham, that really is the only thing with which he is concerned.
The Sun Devils (2-1, 1-0) host Baylor
(3-1, 1-0) at Mountain America Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. showdown on Oct. 3. The Sun Devils were off last week after playing Kansas at London's Wembley Stadium on Sept. 19.Dillingham's squad will now play nine straight weeks. Still, he isn't worried about load management or handling that gauntlet of games.
"One game at a time. One day at a time," he said. "The key is staying focused on right now. And then reacting to the now. Hey, our bodies feel blank. Let's try and figure out how to make them feel better. But I think
it's got to be right now all the time. Singular focus. Week 10 doesn't matter if you don't take care of Week 3. Week 9 doesn't matter if you don't take care of Week 4. Right?
"So, the most important game is the game right now. If you look too far ahead, those games aren't going to make much of a difference anyway. If you want to play meaningful football, you have to worry about right now and just kind of figure it out as you go."
Dillingham planned to have a light practice on Sept. 24 to shake off the effects of the unusual road trip, but after 20 minutes it was postponed due to lightning, which also rendered the bubble facility useless.
With that practice scrapped, Dillingham took the unusual measure of sending his team out on Monday, Sept. 28, a few hours before his weekly meeting with the media.
"Up to this point, we hadn't been able to go in the bubble when it's lightning, so we couldn't really practice," he said. "So we get back on the field, get moving around. I think the energy has been really good."
Dillingham maintains his usual upbeat demeanor. Weather issues happen, although there are fewer such incidents in Arizona.
He is focused on the controllables.
"It is what it is, right?" he said. "So we figured we'd come back this morning and run around a little but try to get all the weekend out and all that, and then hopefully tomorrow we can have a really good day. So I challenged everybody today: we're not going to be out there long, but get tired. Run full speed. Get yourself tired. That way, you can start working your levels back."
Time has also been spent self-correcting some of the errors the team has had through the first three games.
"Early on in the season, we have seen teams losing games," he said. "We lost a game, so for us, we can't beat ourselves. We have to be a team that is efficient, that doesn't beat ourselves. The first step is not beating ourselves, and that goes into the detail of everything that is coach-speak goes into that part," he said.
Kickoff times announced
The Big 12 announced start times for games on Oct. 10. Arizona State will play Hawaii in its final nonconference game. It will kick off at 7:30 p.m. at Mountain America Stadium and air on FS1.
Arizona (3-1, 0-1) will play at much-improved West Virginia. That game will kick off at 9 a.m. and air on TNT.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State football braces for 9 games in 9 weeks
