Sun Devils celebrate bowl eligibility, focus on continuing winning ways

(Photo By: Marina Williams/ WCSN)

Directly after a monumental 42-12 win against Oklahoma State, many players on the Arizona State Football team left the field repeatedly engaging in a motion most akin to that of a bowler. One leg precariously pointed behind the other, an outstretched hand and smile beaming with jubilation.

They were punctuating what they had just accomplished on that field that night. After securing its sixth win on the year, for the first time in two seasons, ASU (6-2, 3-2) can officially say it is destined for a bowl game.

Prior to the season opener, it was a tumultuous offseason for the Sun Devils as they were required to bring in over 50 new players to replace what had left the team. What was once a ship that many jumped off of has now become one that many want to set sail and ride with, evidence of a complete and utter culture shift in Tempe.

“The guys want to be here,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “They want to be Sun Devils. They’re happy here, they’re proud to be here. They take some pride in doing what they’ve done, and getting this place back in the right direction.”

In year two of the era of Dillingham, the program has taken a momentous leap from the depths it had fallen to prior. The Sun Devils tallied a combined six wins between 2022 and 2023 and were not expected to be much better in 2024. It is now well-documented that ASU was picked to finish dead last in the Big 12 in the preseason media poll. Now entering week 10 those projections have been proven profoundly misguided as the Sun Devils sit entrenched at seventh in the conference of 16 teams.

It’s been a group that has turned its fortunes, from previous struggles and perceived ineptitude, due to the synergy created amongst the group. This is no longer a team built by individual cogs but by conjoined pieces with a level of synergy consistent with successful football programs.

“The connection,” junior defensive lineman Jacob Kongaika said. “We’re so tight, bonded on and off the field, that that we’re able to trust each other. ‘I’m gonna do my job, like, can he do his job?’ We’re not asking that question anymore.”

Much of ASU’s program-shifting season can be attributed to the play of borderline Heisman candidate and senior running back Cam Skattebo. The powerful back has been the trailer pulling the Sun Devils to victories through his dominant play. Against Oklahoma State, his 274 total yards of offense was more than the 270 entire Cowboys’ offense gained combined.

The performance earned him his fourth Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week award. No other player in the conference has more than one. In 2023 Oklahoma State junior runningback Ollie Gordon II won four conference Offensive Player of the Week awards and finished sixth in the Heisman voting. This season, Skattebo has already bulldozed to 1,001 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.

While currently ranked third in the conference in rushing yards he leads all running backs in receiving yards (404) with a 175-yard difference between him and second place. His bruising play has been the safety blanket for his team who can play freely knowing he will dominate in nearly every game he plays.

“I have never seen somebody who just wants to make contact every time and he’s not scared,” junior defensive back Laterrance Welch said.

The resurgence of competitive on-field play has led to a resurgence in general buzz surrounding the program. Mountain America Stadium has felt the effects as new student section attendance records were set in back-to-back weeks during the Sun Devils two wins over Kansas and No. 16 Utah earlier in the season. Once a school notorious for having empty stadiums after halftime now fills the night sky with cheers for hours on end.

“I feel like we woke up the sleeping giant,” Welch said. “The fans are starting to buy in, we’re getting a lot of love from the fans. We can’t let that distract us from our main goal.”

One might ask what is that main goal? Well ASU has four games remaining on the schedule including dates with two of the conference’s stronger teams through ten weeks in Kansas State (7-2, 4-2) and No. 9 BYU (8-0, 5-0). Even though both those games are on the road and formidible hurdles to overcome, anything is feasible.

The Big 12 has no current team generally considered a traditional college football power or a widely considered championship contender leaving the door open for a a fair amount of viability that ASU can pull one, if not two upsets. Simply making a bowl game isn’t enough there are still peaks left to ascend and an outside shot of a Big 12 Championship berth. It was important for the team to recalibrate their targets back to the present in order to chase a bigger bowl game down the road.

“Winning the next game, winning the week, winning every day, one by one,” Kongaika said. “Focusing on the opponent we have right in front of us and making sure we do everything we can to solidify the win.

Should the away trips prove insurmountable, the Sun Devils will focus their efforts on their final two home games. Those last two duels in the desert will be against two unranked opponents more in the realm of beatability for ASU. Both UCF (4-5, 2-4) and the Sun Devils greatest rival to the south Arizona (3-6, 1-5) will come to Tempe. Neither team is above .500 which offers a good platform for ASU to continue increasing its win total on the year.

“We’re trying to make sure we win every game at home from now on,” Kongaika said. “That’s one of our goals. So we have to finish off the season with all our wins at home.”

The man of the hour is Dillingham. The journey to rebirth for this program, under his watch, has been quicker than initially expected. However while many may settle to bask in the glory of Bowl eligibility, Dillingham won’t allow it. For him, these were the right steps forward but not nearly the completion of the entire voyage. The Sun Devils have reset the floor for what is capable. Now the only palace they must look is toward continued ascension.

“(The Sun Devils are) not where we want to be yet,” Dillingham said. “But getting in the right direction.”