There’s going to be a buzz in Tempe on Friday night. NFL people are coming to town for the Big 12 showdown between Arizona State and TCU. A stage big enough for FOX’s primetime slot, a top-25 opponent, and about two dozen NFL scouts roaming the press box with clipboards and sharp eyes. The Sun Devils aren’t sneaking into this one. The spotlight is huge, and Kenny Dillingham knows it. 

When Kenny Dillingham spoke to the media about the NFL attention, he exuded confidence in his guys. “Kudos to our players. It means people are noticing our players and their players,” he said per an X post on September 24. “It’s a game on Friday that everyone wants to be at because there’s a lot of potential guys that can play on Sunday.” He’s reminding his locker room that Week 5 is about showing 20-25 sets of NFL eyes that this program is producing Sunday stars. 

That kind of message matters when you’re the defending Big 12 champs trying to prove last year wasn’t a one-time wonder. ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid already has ASU pegged in Tier 3 of “teams scouts are watching,” with projections as high as 10 future draft picks, including a first-round grade on wideout Jordyn Tyson. That’s rarefied air for a program that wasn’t even sniffing the scouting radar before Kenny Dillingham rolled in. And yet, the scouting buzz is only half the story. 

The other half is the football game itself, one that could swing the balance of the Big 12 before September even ends. TCU just punched into the AP Top 25 after a clean 3-0 start capped by a rivalry win over SMU. ASU, sitting at 3-1, has strung together seven straight wins at home and has the kind of gritty, late-game DNA that makes you believe no lead is safe. And that’s where the transition comes in, because if the scouts want fireworks, ASU’s offense needs to stop sputtering when the lights get hottest.

Kenny Dillingham has the weapons 

If last week’s 27-24 win at Baylor proved anything, it’s that Sam Leavitt and Jordyn Tyson are the lifeline of this offense. Down in the fourth quarter, the QB found his WR for a clutch touchdown and a two-point conversion that flipped the script. Jesus Gomez drilled the 43-yard walk-off field goal, but the Sun Devils didn’t get that chance without their stars dragging them there. The problem is that too many of those drives are ending with Gomez’s right leg instead of six points. 

Kenny Dillingham’s frustration boiled over this week. “We kicked four field goals. It just pains me to say it out loud. That’s usually not a recipe for success,” he said, and rightly so. Style points matter to scouts, but so do red-zone conversions when you’re trying to win championships. The flip side, of course, is potential. The HC insists his offense is “right on the brink” of turning into something explosive. Week by week, he sees improvement. The question is whether they can make that leap against a TCU defense that isn’t forgiving and against Josh Hoover, the quarterback leading the nation in passing yards per game at 333.3.

On Friday night, ASU won’t just be playing for a win. They’ll be playing for respect, for credibility, and for the kind of validation only 25 NFL scouts and a national audience can give. And if Kenny Dillingham’s message rings true, the locker room won’t shrink from that stage. They’ll embrace it.