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By Tucker Sennett
Cronkite News
TEMPE – Before the game even started, a lineman from the No. 14 BYU Cougars yelled, “It’s like a home game” as he ran to the locker room for the final team talk to a chorus of visiting fans chanting “BYU, BYU.”
“That was the craziest thing I’ve been a part of,” Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson said. “Their crowd getting loud, our crowd getting loud.”
Yet Saturday wasn’t about BYU’s storybook season getting back on track or the strong contingent of Cougars fans that filled a significant portion of Mountain America Stadium. It was about ASU and coach Kenny Dillingham achieving what he has sought to do with the program since arriving: Activate the Valley. A reporter asked him after the Sun Devils’ chaotic 28-23 win that put them one victory away from a Big 12 championship game berth whether he felt like his vision had come true.
“What do you think?” Dillingham asked the reporter.
“I did think so,” the reporter said.
“Yeah,” Dillingham said. “So did I.”
The victory captured the attention of the nation. ASU moved up seven spots to No. 15 in the U.S. LBM Coaches Poll and to No. 14 in the A.P. Top 25 poll.
The Valley’s activation didn’t prove to be a perfect science in Saturday’s iteration. Redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt heaved a ball high toward the sideline with just a few seconds remaining in the game to finish off the Cougars. When the ball hit the crowd, fans from all sides of the field surged onto the field. Pandemonium. But a second too early.
Big 12 officials huddled tightly around the DVSport video monitor while being swarmed by what seemed like every ASU fan in the Valley. Stadium staff took down the goal posts. The officials determined one second remained on the clock. Dillingham was upset but the situation was out of his control. After a lengthy delay, BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff took the field with his offense for a Hail Mary.
As the ball hung in the air, every heart covered by maroon or gold stopped. A group of players went up for a jump ball, just too short for a touchdown and it ultimately fell incomplete. This time, the field storming was not premature. Still chaotic, but warranted after what had ensued.
“That’s what we do,” Dillingham said. “We win close games and like drama.”
Despite the chaos of two field stormings, BYU coach Kalani Sitake did not take issue with the craziness.
“It’s OK,” he said. “None of our guys are hurt. There was no big issue there. They cleared it and we were able to get that one play. We understand the fans’ excitement and energy and it’s OK.”
Mountain America Stadium and the 55,400 fans that piled in, particularly in the student section, made for an atmosphere worthy of national attention. In the past, many referred to Arizona State as a sleeping giant of a football program. If Saturday was anything, it was an indication that the giant is awake.
“They counted us out, man, they counted us out,” sophomore Tyson said. “I got a tattoo right here that says, ‘Diamond in the rough.’ That just describes this team, just a diamond in the rough.”
By “they,” Tyson meant most pundits and many rational fans circa August 2024. The well-documented Big 12 preseason media poll has become laughable, as the Sun Devils, who were picked to finish last, sit in a tie for first place in the conference.
The Sun Devils put on a show in the first half. Star running back Cam Skattebo tallied all three of his touchdowns before halftime, including one which he capped off by signing a football of a fan in the endzone. He received a penalty for the act and the ire of his head coach during and after the game.
“I think that might be my second personal flag in my entire life,” Skattebo said as Dillingham watched, shaking his head.
The second half felt like a slow march to a disappointing finish. BYU upped its tempo, allowing Retzlaff to connect with his receivers time and time again. The Sun Devils looked tight and struggled to put together consistent drives, although Leavitt connected with redshirt senior wideout Xavier Guillory for a 61-yard touchdown to put the Devils up 28-9. Dillingham revealed his messaging to the team throughout the struggles of the second half.
“Guys, we’re still winning,” Dillingham said. “Just make one play the rest of the game, we win … I just have such confidence … I’m glad on this sideline. I wouldn’t want to be on the other sideline.”
The one play came as a result of a risk that failed by the Sun Devils offense. Sam Leavitt could not convert on a 4th-and-1 and gave BYU the ball back with a chance to take the lead down 28-23. Retzlaff led the Cougars to the 39-yard line. Retzlaff fired a quick hitter toward the ASU sideline, but sophomore cornerback Javan Robinson jumped the route and picked it off. That play more or less sealed the victory, other than the field storming situation and heart-stopping Hail Mary attempt.
Dillingham said it best. The Devils love drama. They also love winning at home. The win on Saturday marked the first time since 2004 that Arizona State won every game at home. For players including Guillory, who won just two home games last season and three total, the climb back up the proverbial mountain made it more meaningful.
“You see the scores and all the cool touchdowns but … we literally started from our foundation and completely erased it and started new,” Guillory said. “So you know, building it from the ground up, it’s just awesome to see (that) our work … is coming to fruition.”
That achievement marks the latest notch on a lengthy list of superlatives the Sun Devils continue adding to in 2024.
The win was validation for that hard work across the program. The players, Dillingham, the staff. But now things change. Now expectations grow.
“I don’t know if we’ll ever have a season that over-exceeds expectations than this year,” Dillingham said. “Hopefully the expectations become higher because I don’t know if there’s a way we can exceed expectations more than we’re exceeding them right now.”
With the chaos in the Big 12 standings, Arizona State essentially controls its own destiny in terms of making the Big 12 Football Championship. All that stands in the Sun Devils’ path is a trip to Tucson to face their in-state rivals, the Arizona Wildcats.
While the excitement and expectations are now to compete for a conference championship, what the Sun Devils have achieved so far in 2024 is nothing short of a miracle. And everybody loves an underdog in sports.
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