Arizona State sports fans have become accustomed to being disappointed. That’s part of being a sports fan in the Valley, whether it’s ASU, the Suns or the Cardinals.
A team gets off to a good start. Things look promising enough that the entire fan base gets excited. Then, for whatever reason, it all comes crashing down.
You’ve heard that before right? Seen it many times right?
That makes this run by the Arizona State football team that much more enjoyable. The Sun Devils (11-2) have a Jan. 1 date in the Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Coach Kenny Dillingham’s squad advanced to the 12-team College Football Playoff by defeating Iowa State 45-19 in the Big 12 championship game earlier this month.
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Being one of the last 12 teams left standing is a remarkable feat, particularly after suffering through a miserable 3-9 showing last year, with injuries making it difficult to field a team each week.
When did it feel this ASU season would be different?
Let’s go to the sixth game, against Utah at Mountain America Stadium.
The Sun Devils were 4-1 so there was already a feeling of progress — especially since the win mark of the previous season had been eclipsed — but there were still skeptics. ASU had beaten Wyoming 48-7 in the season opener, which looked good at the time with the Cowboys bringing back a bulk of their starters from a team that won nine games the previous season.
But Wyoming was 1-4, so maybe it wasn’t such a great win after all.
The 30-23 win over Mississippi State also took a hit. ASU had never beaten a school from the almighty SEC so this was also an indication of progress, right? Well, the Bulldogs were 1-4.
And then Texas State? Meh!
Then ASU split its first two Big 12 games, losing at Texas Tech 30-22 but rebounding with a 35-31 win over Kansas, the latter coming when freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt engineered a game-winning drive in the last minute. That brings us to Utah on Oct 11.
This has not been a good matchup for ASU in recent years. The Sun Devils lost to the Utes 55-3 last season in Salt Lake City, 34-13 at home in 2022 and 35-21 in 2021. The 2021 loss was even more painful because that was another season in which ASU had lofty expectations — and led that game 21-7 at the half, only to give up 28 unanswered points in the second.
Utah boasts one of the more respected coaches in the country in Kyle Whittingham, who is known for getting the most out of his players. Utah had long been a top contender in the Pac-12 and was deemed by most as the conference favorite in 2024 in its move back to the Big 12.
The Utes also had a veteran quarterback, Cam Rising, who had an injury-plagued last couple of years but has always been known as a quarterback who delivers in clutch situations.
ASU won that contest over the then-ranked No. 16 Utes 27-19, propelled by two magnificent touchdown runs by Cam Skattebo, the latter being a 47-yarder with 2:41 left for the decisive points. Fans stormed the field. It was the game in which Dillingham’s postgame interview in the middle of the students’ celebration went viral.
ASU grabbed national attention for the first time. The game was on a Friday night so it wasn’t competing with the plethora of games on a Saturday. The Dillingham video was replayed hundreds of times on various media outlets, as were the dynamic runs by Skattebo.
More important, the Sun Devils held up in the trenches. One thing that has separated Utah from its counterparts is its physicality on both sides, especially up front. But this was a game in which the Sun Devils won the toe-to-toe battle.
Like many of the earlier wins, the Utah win didn’t hold up from a quality standpoint as the Utes finished 5-7 overall and 2-7 in conference play, but it served as a catalyst for the rest of the season because of its impact at the time.
Sun Devils rolled into the nation’s consciousness
Often, it’s hard for a team to get over the hump. You have to lose some close games before you learn to win close games, and this team has done that consistently. The Sun Devils are an impressive 6-1 in games decided by eight points or fewer.
The Utah win was followed by a 24-14 loss at Cincinnati, but that was without Leavitt, sidelined by a rib injury suffered in the Utah game. That was the only hiccup the team has had in the past two months. They have won six straight games since that setback.
The Sun Devils are peaking at the right time, with their most impressive wins being the more recent ones. It beat nationally ranked opponents in back-to-back weeks, 24-14 at Kansas State and 28-23 at home against Brigham Young.
The BYU game sold out five days ahead of kickoff. Game day was one of the more electric atmospheres anyone can recall in the Valley in decades. The Sun Devils turned back a BYU rally in the closing seconds, spurring the second field storming this season.
Then came the trouncing of rival Arizona, 49-7, returning the Territorial Cup to Tempe.
Skattebo jumped into the Heisman Trophy conversation, adding to ASU’s push to gain national attention. Skattebo and wide receiver Jordyn Tyson have earned All-America honors.
If the Utah win hadn’t happened, the season would still have been successful, based on the failures of the last two years, but the Sun Devils appear to have momentum like never before.
The story isn’t over, and a Peach Bowl victory would add another improbable, incredible chapter.
