TEMPE — Arizona State’s 55-19 home loss to Baylor on Saturday night was the Sun Devils’ largest margin of defeat since joining the Big 12, and coach Kenny Dillingham did not soft-pedal the result afterward.
“I’m just as mad as you are,” Dillingham told reporters at Mountain America Stadium, per Cronkite News. “I feel your pain, probably times 100. I chose to be here. If you think anybody is more frustrated than me, you’re wrong.” Later he went further on standards: “I am not maximizing the team that we have… I am letting our football team down.”
Baylor improved to 4-1 (2-0 Big 12) while ASU fell to 2-2 (1-1). The Bears led 21-3 early in the second quarter and outscored the Sun Devils 31-6 after halftime. Quarterback Cutter Boley completed 25 of 43 passes for 304 yards, one touchdown and one interception — volume numbers that still left him calling his own night “sloppy” and saying the roster still needs to “find our identity.”
The defeat was ASU’s widest Big 12-era loss, topping last October’s 32-point setback at Utah and September’s 28-point loss at Texas A&M. Dillingham said schematic answers on both sides of the ball — especially coverage against consistent downfield passing — are on him to find before the schedule tightens.
Arizona State hosts Hawaii (1-4) on Oct. 10 in its final nonconference game, then faces seven straight weeks of Big 12 play with difficult road trips ahead. Linebacker Owen Long put the message simply: improvement has to be collective when the Devils return to practice Monday.