QB competition to highlight Arizona State spring football

When Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham began talking to quarterback Mikey Keene about transferring to the school, the Sun Devils coach had to make sure the Chandler native knew he was part of a bad memory — possibly the worst loss of his still-young coaching career.

It was Dillingham's first year, and Keene was the starting quarterback for Fresno State, ASU's opponent in the third game. Keene went 32-for-49 for 281 yards and two touchdowns in leading the Bulldogs to a 29-0 win. What made the game a debacle were the eight turnovers — five interceptions and three fumbles — ASU committed.

The game was so bad that Dillingham took over play-calling duties the next week and eventually fired his then-offensive coordinator.

Three years later, Keene is finishing his eligibility by playing for the school he once played against. He's one of five quarterbacks who will be fighting for the starting spot when spring drills begin on March 19.

There is no better scouting report on a quarterback than actually having played against him.

"The first time I saw him, I said, 'You realize you are associated with the most embarrassing game since I've been here.'" Dillingham said ahead of spring practice. "That was so bad. Then Utah came along that year and may have trumped it."

"What I told him was I saw the way you operate, I saw you get the ball out versus pressure. I saw how efficient you were, and that's what excited me the most about him, just his efficiency in college football. That he can do it at this level, on the road, and he's from here. I told him, 'Golly, that wasn't fun. What did we have? 97 turnovers.' That was just dreadful."

Keene is the most experienced of the group, although he redshirted last season at Michigan. The other leading candidate for the job is Kentucky transfer Cutter Boley, a sophomore.

There is also true freshman Jake Fette, a native of El Paso who is not short on athletic ability or confidence. The two returning quarterbacks are Cam Dyer and Michael Tollefson, both of whom redshirted as true freshmen in 2025.

"I thought we brought in some good guys," Dillingham said. "We brought in competent guys. Guys who have done it in college football. Guys that we're hoping can do it in college football. Jake (Fette) was a really productive high school player, one of the best athletes on our team already. Really fired up about that room as a whole. I think it's going to be a really fun one to watch in the spring. Really a fun room to see compete."

Boley looks like a frontrunner since he started last season, throwing for 2,160 yards and 15 touchdowns. He did throw 12 interceptions. At 6 feet, 5 inches, he is an imposing figure.

"His completion percentage was fairly high for what they were asking him to do, throw the ball vertically down the field," Dillingham said. "What excited me was that I saw the tape; he operated in their system really well. He was a very good basketball player in high school, so he's a better athlete than people give him credit for."

With Keene being the only upperclassman, Dillingham was asked if he would balance playing time to ensure the younger quarterbacks get playing time to prepare for the future. That hasn't been Dillingham's nature. Before the Sun Bowl he said he'd like to get Dyer into the mix, but that never happened because the game was close, and veteran Jeff Sims was the best player to lead the team.

Dillingham doubled down on his philosophy in responding to that question again.

"We're always going to play the players that give us the best chance to win right now," he said. "Even in year one, when we sucked, I made every decision based on who gave us the best chance to win. We were horrible, and I still made every decision to try to win. That's what you do. You want to win. You want to create a team that doesn't accept losing. So we're going to make every decision to win football games this year. College sports are different than pro sports because you have seniors. These guys have one senior year. It's our job and our responsibility to try and make it the best year possible for them."

Odds and ends

• Dillingham said a handful of players will not be participating in spring drills. That group includes wide receivers Derek Eusebio and Harry Hassmann, safety Adrian "Boogie" Wilson, and defensive linemen MyKeil Gardner, Zac Swanson and Ramar Williams. Running back Marquis Gillis will miss a week or so. C.J. Fite will miss a good portion, possibly all, of spring.

• Clayton Smith, who was granted a sixth year, will be spending the spring on offense, getting reps at wideout. It's an experiment. Smith already knows the defense, so if the experiment does not pan out, he can always go back to his customary position at defensive end in the fall.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Quarterback competition will be highlight of ASU spring drills