Kenny Dillingham's program has evolved since that first haboob game

Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham is days away from the first game of his fourth season. During his first media availability of the week ahead of the season opener against Morgan State (1-0) on Sept. 5 at Mountain America Stadium, he was asked about his first game as the Sun Devils' head coach.

He remembered it well, but it wasn't because of the opponent. — Southern Utah.

And it wasn't because of the final score. ASU prevailed 24-21 on a Thursday night.

And it wasn't because of who played in it. Jaden Rashada was making his debut at quarterback as a true freshman on his birthday and threw for 236 yards.

It was the haboob that interrupted the game at halftime and resulted in a nearly three-hour delay before the second half resumed. The stadium didn't empty until it was nearly 2 a.m.

"The game and the game ball, and I'm like, why? We played horrible. We played in a haboob. We had kids doing homework at midnight for a class tomorrow," he said.

"I remember it like, 'Holy Cow, could it have started any worse?' That was kind of my takeaway from the first game. was like, 'Wow. This was not on my bingo card of how this stage of my coaching career would begin. But here we are.' That's what I remember. Is I can't believe this happened and is happening."

The one play he remembered? A 3-yard touchdown reception by Troy Omeire in the closing seconds of the first half that gave the Sun Devils a 20-7 lead. He had made the catch despite winds and dust that had started swirling two minutes before the game was halted.

"That catch, right?" he said.

That first game was quite the start for Dillingham, whose team experienced a myriad of injuries, even being down to a fourth-string quarterback. It finished 3-9.

Now there are standards and expectations. Dillingham won a conference title the next year. And he received a contract extension.

Dillingham is only hoping the season opener this time around is a little less dramatic. The Sun Devils will be taking on a Morgan State team that opened its season with a 17-7 win over North Carolina A&T.

He was asked if it was tougher to assess how his team might stack up to its opponents, and answered that some factors make that difficult.

"In the past, you kind of knew what a roster looked like," Dillingham said. "You knew who you were going verse because it was, `Oh, they graduated these 12. These are the young guys they signed. We recruited the same young guys. Those guys are older. We saw them play a little bit last year. They're now starting.' You knew what you were playing."

Now, a roster can turn over quicker, thanks to the transfer portal — and the NIL presence that has college football more like free agency now.

Dillingham said the key for him is to worry about his own football team. This year's Sun Devils will have nearly all new starters, with Kentucky transfer Cutter Boley at quarterback.

"I don't focus on other people," he said. "I focus on us. I truly want to look at where we are and what we can do better. I try to obsess over us because nowadays you can obsess over who they've got, what transfers are here, whose starting there. I just try to obsess over and over more than I ever had."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kenny Dillingham's program has evolved since that first haboob game