Going into the 2024 season, the Arizona State Sun Devils were well aware of what outsiders thought of their football program.

Media projected ASU to finish last in the 16-team Big 12 Conference. Those that didn’t have the Sun Devils at the bottom had them close to it. Nobody projected the Sun Devils to be anywhere near as good as they were, but now comes the hard part: maintaining success.

This summer, BuffZone is previewing each of Colorado’s opponents for the 2025 season and in this installment we look at Arizona State, which will visit the Buffs on Nov. 22 in Boulder.

In 2024, led by second-year head coach Kenny Dillingham, tough-as-nails running back Cam Skattebo and young quarterback Sam Leavitt, ASU shocked the college football world by going 11-3, winning the Big 12 title and landing in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

The expectations aren’t low coming into this year. In fact, ASU is widely viewed as a top-15 team nationally, even with Skattebo now playing for the NFL’s New York Giants.

“People think we’re good, which is way different, for one,” Dillingham said in a recent interview on ESPN about the difference from a year ago. “That’s the funny thing about this world right now, with the transfer portal and all these other teams changing; you never know how good you are.

“We definitely have a different type of adversity this year, and that adversity is people telling us that we are good, even though, who knows nowadays?”

There’s no question ASU rode some momentum last year, and Skattebo was the heart of the team. Dillingham said he hopes Skattebo’s mentality is still a part of the 2025 Sun Devils.

“I want our team to play with more passion. I want people to see our passion. I want people to feel our passion,” Dillingham said. “The way he played the game, with his passion and energy, is definitely what I hope this team continues to carry on.”

Even without Skattebo, ASU looks to be loaded and will be one of the favorites to win the Big 12.

Seven starters return on offense, including Leavitt, a sophomore who is one of the top quarterbacks in the country. Leavitt guided an offense that ranked 30th nationally in scoring (32.9 points per game) and 28th in yards (429.4 per game).

Also back is receiver Jordyn Tyson, a former CU Buff who had a breakout season in 2024, racking up 1,101 yards; tight end Chamon Metayer; and four of the five regular starters on the offensive line.

To replace Skattebo at running back, ASU will look to Kyson Brown, who had 351 yards in a backup role last year; Raleek Brown, who missed most of the year with injury; and transfer Kanye Udoh, who rushed for 1,117 yard and 10 touchdowns (6.2 yards per carry) at Army last year.

Defensively, the Sun Devils were top-40 nationally in points allowed (22.6 per game) and yards allowed (339.6) last year. Nickel back Shamari Simmons, the team’s defensive MVP the past two years, is gone, but nine starters are back including three that earned first- or second-team All-Big 12.

Perhaps most important is that ASU has shown full buy-in to the 35-year-old Dillingham, who in 2023 took over a 3-9 program rocked by off-the-field problems. He got the Sun Devils to shock the world last year. Now he has to keep them on top.

“If you’re being told you’re not good, you naturally want to work,” he said. “What happens when people tell you that you’re good? What’s your response then? Are you satisfied with what you hear, or are you driven to do more? I think that’s the challenge for this team this year.

“We return so many guys. So many other teams in our league and across the country have made their teams better that the (ASU) team from last year is not going to accomplish it. We have to be better. We have to do more. We can’t be satisfied with just who we were or what we are right now.”