‘I want to play better’: ASU’s Dillingham hungry for more despite victory over Hawaii

TEMPE – One word said everything when Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham described his level of fulfillment Saturday.

“Blah.”

“I want to play better,” he said about his team’s 30-12 victory over Hawaii. “I think we’re better than that. I think we can get better. I think this is a team that can continue to grow, and we’ve got to find a way to win games while we’re growing.”

Perspective is required as ASU reflects on the victory. Hawaii is ranked 129th out of 138 FBS teams in scoring offense and 88th in scoring defense. With a difficult schedule ahead, growth is pertinent.

Saturday’s effort came on the heels of ASU’s largest defeat since joining the Big 12, a 55-19 loss to Baylor.

Dillingham responded by handing playcalling duties back to offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo. Dillingham took on that role ahead of the 2025 Sun Bowl and kept it until the poor performance agains the Bears.

After ASU (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) defeated Hawaii (1-5, 0-3 Mountain West), Dillingham found success in places.

“There’s some things that we have to clean up throughout the week, but I thought the game was called really well,” Dillingham said. “I was supportive of basically everything that was happening.”

While the offense made the biggest adjustment during the week, the defense had the most work to do after giving up its highest mark since 2023.

After holding the Rainbow Warriors to 12 points, the least the defense has allowed against an FBS opponent this season, junior linebacker Martell Hughes was happy with how the defense fixed the mistakes seen the previous week

“I felt like we did good at that,” Hughes said. “I feel like we all played with energy, played off of each other, and were able to make each other right.”

With Arroyo taking over playcalling duties for Saturday, the offense found its rhythm.

ASU gained 420 yards, the most it gained since week one.

The primary contributor to the offense was freshman running back Cardae Mack, who celebrated his 19th birthday by rushing for 154 yards and two touchdowns. His 154 yards were the most by an ASU freshman since Keegan Herring ran for 197 in 2005.

After the game, Mack was proud that the win got ASU back on track.

“We just had to get back in our groove and find ourselves,” Mack said. “Who we are is who we are. The only people that can stop us is us.”

Heading into the game, nobody wanted to see Mack succeed more than his mom. Dillingham said that Mack’s mother asked him before the game he was going to play.

The answer from Dillingham was a resounding yes, giving Mack 13 carries as a birthday gift.

Mack made the most of his opportunity, averaging 11.8 yards per carry. Mack’s first touchdown of the night came from ASU’s “Sparky” formation, the term the team uses instead of wildcat.

Mack lined up at quarterback, a position he played in high school, caught the snap and rushed one yard for a touchdown.

Mack’s second score came on a polar opposite play. From ASU’s territory, Mack took a handoff up the middle, going untouched for 65 yards of his 67-yard touchdown run.

After the game, Dillingham recalled his interaction with Mack’s mother that morning, crediting her for his success.

“He’s the person he is because of his mama,” Dillingham said. “She did a great job raising him. He played well. He’s going to play well, he’s going to get the ball more. That’s how it works.”

Dillingham also credits Mack, a true freshman, in showing how his program has improved since he took over. Mack was a four-star prospect out of high school and has already left his mark on the 2026 season through five games.

“It just shows the progress of the program,” Dillingham said. “You’re not just going to recruit those types of kids when you show up. You have to build and have success to get in the door.”

The run game had its best performance of the season against an FBS opponent overall. ASU’s 231 yards was over 100 more than the next best mark.

Dillingham knew the importance of running the ball against Hawaii, and having 167 more rushing yards than the opponent did the trick.

“If you win the rushing battle, you know you’re probably going to win most games,” Dillingham said. “We won the rushing battle, and it was clear.”

Although ASU’s air attack was not as notable as the run game, Boley’s 189 yards and two touchdowns on 21-for-31 efficiency was more than enough to help lift the offense.

The passing game once again benefited from the connection between quarterback Cutter Boley and wide receiver Reed Harris.

Against Hawaii, Harris went for 91 yards and two touchdowns on eight receptions.

Behind a cleaner pocket than he’s had in weeks past, Boley seemed much more comfortable throwing the ball. He limited mistakes and had no trouble finding his wide receivers in space, something that started on the first drive of the game when the quarterback connected with Harris for an 18-yard pass.

The offense found success in putting together long drives. While two of ASU’s four touchdowns were defined by large gains, the two others came from drives that lasted over five and a half minutes. Each of those two drives were 79 yards, the first taking 10 plays and the second taking nine.

After a wake-up call against Baylor, ASU responded with a performance that showed a new side of the offense, something Dillingham saw in practice leading up to the game.

“I learned the guys are going to fight,” Dillingham said. “They showed up and they had a really good week of practice. They worked their butts off all week. … I know I’ve said that before, but I really like our football team.

“I really think if I can get this team to operate on all cylinders, we can be a team that gets better and better and better throughout the year.”

ASU now faces the toughest stretch of its schedule.

The Sun Devils will travel to Lubbock, Texas, to face No. 11 Texas Tech, before returning home for a matchup with Kansas State. After playing the Wildcats, ASU will take a trip to Provo, Utah, to face No. 8 BYU.

With a test ahead, Dillingham is pleased with what Saturday’s win means, but he knows they still have work to do.

“Our guys were a lot more intent in how we played,” Dillingham said. “I thought we played harder. I thought that was clear. I still think there’s a little bit of trying to figure us out, though. That’s just being transparent.

“There’s a little bit of us still figuring us out, but I thought we were closer to where we need to be today.”

This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.