West Virginia quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. (15) runs against Houston during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

West Virginia coaches and players have a lot to do during the week. They have to correct the past and then quickly prepare for the future. There are only a couple of days to do so. This is similar for journalists. Sunday and Monday are for looking at what happened in the past, and then you quickly have to move on to the game ahead.

You can look at stats, box scores and watch some highlights, but you don’t get the nitty-gritty details that a full-time beat writer would.

So, we reached out to the Arizona State football beat writer for the Arizona Republic to get the finer details on the Sun Devils before their matchup with WVU. Here is what beat reporter Michelle Gardner had to say about Arizona State:

Strengths

Quarterback Jeff Sims excelled against Iowa State. Without Sam Leavitt, everybody was wondering what was going to happen. Everyone likes how Sims stayed the course. There aren’t many quarterbacks who are in their last year of eligibility to come into a season and know they’re not going to be the starter and they stay.

Sims is tough to stop when he runs the ball. He’s a physical specimen. He’s 6-foot-4, 220 pounds. Sims’ 228 rushing yards were the most from an ASU quarterback since Mark Malone in 1975. Sims broke the record by almost 100 yards, too. Sims had an 80-yard rush that won ASU the game against Iowa State.

The pass rush has significantly improved from last year, which was a weakness. Arizona State’s linebackers are pretty good. The defense is solid. Looking at what Arizona State did to Texas Tech, holding it to under 300 yards, it was impressive.

The run defense has been strong. However, the team struggles to stop a rushing quarterback, but running backs aren’t really an issue.

Weaknesses

The offensive line was supposed to be better because it had four returning starters, but it has had issues all year. ASU’s starting center, Ben Coleman, was the anchor on the line and is out for the year. The offensive line had issues before he left, but it’s been even worse since. The offensive line has been rotating players and still doesn’t have a sure-fire left guard. Not having Coleman to stabilize the line has been huge.

Kicker Jesus Gomez has been really good, but their punting has been bad, and everything else is bad. The coverage and returns have been a complete mess. Arizona State’s punter, Kanyon Floyd, is decent, but he had a pulled quad, and he’s still playing, and he can’t punt, so he shouldn’t be playing.

Special teams coach Charlie Ragle took a leave of absence because he’s had health issues. Now, Arizona State has an interim special teams coach, creating more issues.

Arizona State hasn’t played a complete game all season, even after a win over Texas Tech. The special teams played awfully against the Red Raiders. Most of the time, special teams lets ASU down. Kenny Dillingham said not playing its best could be a positive, though, since the team has still won six games.

Carrying over from last year

From last year’s Big 12 Championship team, Arizona State brought back 16 starters and one specialist. The defense was only missing one starter.

Then, players started getting hurt. Kenny Dillingham took six players to Big 12 Media Days, who were the top players and leaders of the team, and now only two are still healthy. Arizona State does have more depth than it did last year to help out.

Even with all the injuries, the Sun Devils still have six wins. The schedule hasn’t been favorable either. ASU played Utah and Texas Tech back-to-back, who are both ranked in the top 15 of the College Football Playoff rankings. Dillingham has said he’s pretty happy with how the team has played with the injuries and the schedule.

With the carried-over success, Dillingham’s name has floated around for numerous head coaching jobs, and he’s not leaving. His sister lives next door, his parents live three doors down, and his in-laws live a block from him. He’s not going anywhere.

The only way Dillingham leaves is if it’s six years down the road, and what he was promised doesn’t happen. ASU is supposed to build an indoor football complex, so if that’s not built, Dillingham could leave.