Thirty Sun Devils were listed on Thursday’s injury report with nearly half labeled as “out.” 

At the same time, ASU coach Kenny Dillingham thinks he’s gotten “a little bit soft” with the veterans on this team, prompting a hard-hitting week of practice before Saturday’s game against No. 7 Texas Tech.

While trying to stave off the injury bug, which sidelined senior starting center Ben Coleman for the rest of the season in Utah’s 42-10 splattering over ASU last week, Dillingham expressed concern with his team’s physicality, a keystone in the emergence of the program.

“I was surprised,” Dillingham said after the game. “We haven’t been a team that missed a lot of tackles … that’s definitely been something that we’ve been good at. The last year and a half here, that’s been a strength. 

“They absolutely whooped our butt. … It’s the first time we’ve really been whooped like that in a long time.”

The Utes consistently pushed the ASU line backward, allowing skill players like junior quarterback Devon Dampier to plow the Sun Devils on the ground like a locomotive.

ASU had allowed five rushing touchdowns through five games. Utah scored six in 60 minutes.

 Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, there’s always a bigger fish.

When Texas Tech played Utah in Salt Lake City on Sept. 20, the Red Raiders forced two fumbles, converted on third down 53% of the time and beat the Utes 34-10 while averaging nearly five yards per rush. 

“I never would have believed you (if you) would have said we would lose the line of scrimmage,”  Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said after their loss to Texas Tech. “(I) Never would have believed that in a million years. But, we did.”

Texas Tech dominated the same Utes line that sacked ASU senior quarterback Jeff Sims five times and allowed the offense to average 6.6 yards per carry. 

And now, the Sun Devils have to stop them.

Before they do, the team must change how they operate.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result,” Dillingham said. “So, there's gonna be a different level of intensity ... so that it doesn't happen again."

The sense of urgency is heightened this week as a loss complicates the road back to the Big 12 Championship.

With three undefeated teams in conference play and an additional three with one conference loss, it would be challenging to include a three-loss ASU in the postseason picture if the Sun Devils, in fact, win out after a loss to the Red Raiders.

Additionally, a loss to Texas Tech and Utah would give the Sun Devils a disadvantage in the tie-breaker, if the standings come down to that.

It’s not unreasonable to rule out since four Big 12 teams finished with a two-loss conference record, and the ticket to the championship game was a tie-breaker.

For now, a Texas Tech team that averages 47.5 points per game and has not allowed a single opponent to score more than 17 points in a single game this season stands in the way.

Battered from the loss in Utah, ASU must bear down for a 1:00 p.m. showdown at Mountain America Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 18.