Arizona State has hardly been playing up to the expectation as the Sun Devils currently look to snap a five-game losing streak.

Injuries to key players have played a large role in that. But despite all that is going on, head coach Kenny Dillingham believes his team is still playing winning football.

“That’s easy. Are you competitive?” Dillingham said after a 27-24 loss to Colorado on Saturday. “Or, for lack of a better word, are you a loser? Like, are you gonna go compete and go get better or are you gonna quit? It’s very, very simple.”

There’s nothing additional to do from a motivational perspective in his eyes, either.

“So in terms of getting guys motivated to play, if we have to get guys motivated to go practice and motivated to go play, this is not the place for you,” Dillingham said. “I’ve been in this exact scenario. Year 1, taking over a program, you just can’t find out how to win. Don’t know how to do it yet. You’re trying to find a way. Every single time there’s an opportunity, you find a different way to lose.”

Dillingham was the offensive coordinator at Florida State in 2020 when the Seminoles went 3-6. The next year, FSU started 0-4 before roaring to a 5-3 finish. Now the Seminoles are a College Football Playoff contender. Dillingham watched FSU build a foundation.

Dillingham made it clear he feels that his new program is very close to “clicking” on multiple cylinders.

“We’re playing winning football, but we’re not winning, which means we’re very, very close,” he said. “You don’t know when it’s going to click. You don’t know, but when it clicks, we’re ready for it because we’re playing significantly better football than we did at the start of the year.

“I think for the guys, it’s are you gonna compete or are you gonna quit? And there’s really only one option. Go back to work. You compete to get better and better and better and better. Eventually, the bamboo that nobody can see is going to grow. Very simple. You just can’t see it, but the growth is happening.”

Arizona State will look to get back to the right side of the win column as the Sun Devils face Washington next on Oct. 21.