A false start penalty will cost you five yards in a game. In practice it costs nothing, but that's not the case for the ASU offensive line.
Each penalty will cost you three up-downs after practice, and for linemen that's exactly what they had to do this week in the early September heat. The punishment has been in offensive line coach Saga Tuitele's repertoire since he got into coaching.
Dominance in the trenches has been key to the Sun Devils' strong 3-0 start this season. The group needs a sturdy bond, as all five offensive linemen have to be on the same page during a game, a process that takes time as new faces come in and out every year.
"We do a lot of activities as a team," Tuitele said. "We put them through some duress in the winter, and we make them work together under duress. There are some good days or bad days, but it's the consistency of harping the culture and stuff like that, I think, that brought them together."
Last season the offensive line was one of the team's main weaknesses. A string of injuries forced the team's backups onto the field, leading to a 111th ranking in the country in total rushing with an average of just under 112 yards per game. The Sun Devils also gave up 30 sacks, putting them at 93rd nationally.
So far this season, the team has already rushed for 688 yards, matching 51% of the Sun Devils' total rushing in 2023. The recent jump in production was no surprise to the coaching staff who have witnessed the unit's stellar dedication.
"I couldn't tell you maybe one time, maybe twice or once since last season, has anybody in that group been late to anything," said head coach Kenny Dillingham. "They never show up on a list ever and it's the standard that coach Saga demands."
READ MORE: ASU football's early season roster boasts new additions, key returners
The standard isn't only set by the coaching staff. The players know what they need to accomplish to be great. It all starts with linemen graduate student Ben Coleman and senior Leif Fautanu, who both have high expectations for the group.
"The reality is we want to be the best offensive line in the country," Coleman said. "The best offensive line means number one."
That expectation shined in week two as senior running back Cam Skattebo ran for a career-high 262 yards against Mississippi State. The offensive line was a major reason Skattebo had huge lanes to run through.
READ MORE: Sun Devils football gets first SEC win over Mississippi State
The team has run for over 100 yards in all three games this year and 200 in two of them. The Sun Devils' ground game helps slow the offense for redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt. The unit finds a sense of pride in helping Leavitt find success in his young career.
"We think of Sam as a little brother," Coleman said. "He's the youngest guy on the offense. We have to do our job as leaders to make him feel comfortable."
The running game is the staple of the Sun Devil offense but going into Big 12 play it can be challenging to keep up the success. Texas Tech throws a lot of different looks and fronts on the defensive end which will pose a challenge and the Sun Devils will need to rely on their offensive line to survive.
"From January all the way over, you keep building and building," Tuitele said. "Whether it's walkthroughs or meetings, there's going to be a lot of recall when teams start stemming. You only have so many reps throughout the week and it's a lot of recall from what we did in spring, last week and yesterday."
READ MORE: 'This will go down in history:' ASU football to take on Texas Tech in Big 12 debut
The group has been building up to this moment since January and will now face the schedule's toughest slate.
"You're gonna go through adversity, You're gonna go through some things where you're gonna doubt yourself and you're a little out of shape," Tuitele said. "But if you keep working, there's no magic formula, and you keep working, you keep working, eventually your hard work is gonna pay off."
Edited by Jack Barron, Sophia Braccio and Madeline Schmitke.
Reach the reporter at danielr1102@gmail.com and follow @daniel_rios72 on X.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on X.
Daniel is a senior studying sports journalism. This is his first semester with The State Press. He has also worked at WCSN, OC Riptide, 1550 Sports and AZPreps365.
