The Arizona State Sun Devils are traveling to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs on the road in Week 2 of the college football season, and they are trying to do whatever they can to simulate the environment they will be facing.
The Sun Devils attempted to prep their players for the hostile environment at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Ms. with a whole lot of cowbells. Bulldogs fans are known for disrupting opponents with cowbells, and Arizona State wanted its players to be prepared.
The solution was to have some staffers ringing them during practice on Tuesday. Coach Kenny Dillingham also had the sounds piped in.
🛎️ Cowbells are ringing at today’s ASU practice as the Sun Devils look to simulate Mississippi State’s environment ahead of a week two road matchup.@DevilsDigest pic.twitter.com/r4tjgGjxgf
— Justin LaCertosa (@LaCertosaSports) September 2, 2025
cowbell sounds being pumped in for asu practice — even during stretches — with some help from the support staff pic.twitter.com/c6rE3Y66GQ
— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) September 2, 2025
The videos led many on social media to question how much a few cowbells will actually help Arizona State prepare when they will be dealing with 60,000 of them on Saturday.
That’s what it may sound like… if you’re standing outside in Greenville.
— Tim Fletcher (@FletcherShow) September 2, 2025
Need about 50k more of those to get a little closer
— Thomas Broadus (@TbroOnline) September 2, 2025
That's no where close to the hell you will experience with those things Saturday.
— Brewer (@realwickedbrew) September 2, 2025
Yes keep doing that. Those are exactly what Miss. St uses. Will only be a couple hundred of those too. No biggie!
— Dusty Gilbert (@DustyDawgs86) September 2, 2025
Presumably, Dillingham and the Sun Devils know this is a poor imitation of what Davis Wade Stadium will actually be like. Even a little bit of effort to replicate it is better than nothing, though.
Dillingham is a pretty intense character. One can argue that his players will already be prepared for the tough environment on Saturday even without the cowbells.
