It's been a long time since a game of this magnitude has been played in the Valley.
No. 21 ranked ASU football is set to face No. 14 BYU on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Mountain America Stadium.
ASU is coming off perhaps its biggest win of the season, a 24-14 upset victory against then No. 16 Kansas State. BYU is coming off its only loss of the season, a 17-13 gut-punching loss to Kansas.
READ MORE: ASU football 'made a statement' in win against No. 16 Kansas State
The game is not only an important test for ASU football but also the program's senior day and homecoming, in which the team will be performing in front of a sellout crowd with a chance to go undefeated at home this season.
For ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham and company, the game is being viewed as a potential "entry game" for the program, a foray into the upper echelon of college football. Dillingham said this game holds the same importance as the Super Bowl for his program.
"We haven't had one like this yet, since I've been here," Dillingham said. "This is going to be the game that people can really feel, 'Wow. This is fun. This is exciting.'"
ASU will be playing in front of a packed home crowd on Saturday, as tickets sold out more than a week in advance. There were reports of over a 1,000-person online waiting queue for student tickets 20 minutes after they were released.
The crowd will be packed for good reason — ASU, if it wins its last two games, will be in contention for a Big 12 Championship Game bid depending on how various tiebreaker scenarios play out.
"Oh I have no clue (about tiebreaker scenarios)," Dillingham said. "Somebody was telling me 'If we win, and somebody else loses, and then like ranch dressing falls on a wing.' I don't know."
One of the marquee matchups in this game will be the Sun Devils' offense versus the Cougars' defense.
Dillingham, formerly an offensive coordinator at Oregon, will be facing off against BYU head coach Kalani Sitake, a defensive mastermind, who "dictates" his scheme to opposing offenses.
"He's one of the best defensive minds in football ... He's definitely in the top three of just best people in the profession from a head coaching perspective," Dillingham said. "This team plays hard and physical because of the connection that he builds. He's a phenomenal football coach."
Perhaps the biggest unknown entering the game is who Sitake will dictate his defense to. He can either primarily game plan to stop senior running back Cam Skattebo, or primarily game plan to stop redshirt sophomore Jordyn Tyson.
Skattebo has 1,522 total yards this season. Tyson has 58 receptions for 833 yards and nine touchdowns.
READ MORE: 'He's gonna bring his own block': Cam Skattebo brings physicality to ASU's backfield
Emotions will be high for redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt in this game, as he holds a strong familial connection to BYU. Both his dad and brother attended the school.
"(It's) definitely a factor more than other schools, just because my family all played there, and I was trying to talk to them heavily and stuff like that," Leavitt said. "So it's just more motivation."
Leavitt said he found a key tell on film that will significantly help him against BYU's defense, though he wouldn't say what it was.
On defense, ASU goes head-to-head against a BYU offense that loves to run the football and set up the play-action attack. The Cougars' redshirt junior quarterback, Jake Retzlaff, has excelled this year, completing 170 passes for 2,283 yards and 19 touchdowns.
"Their quarterback extends plays," Dillingham said. "They run the football really well. In some football games, they've been really efficient, and they're really good with the turnover margin."
Dillingham said ASU plans to stop the BYU rushing attack on early downs, forcing the Cougars' offense into long third downs. If accomplished, ASU can rely on its raucous home crowd to shake things up on third down.
"This could be huge for the program," graduate offensive lineman Ben Coleman said. "You can get this entire city, this school, really back to that football-school vibe where it's, 'hey, on Saturdays, we're shutting this thing down,' and we're all at Mount America Stadium making it happen."
ASU has matched up against BYU 28 times, leaving victorious in 20 of those feats.
"Where else would you want to be than in Mountain America Stadium at 1:30 on Saturday?" Dillingham said.
Edited by Henry Smardo, Abigail Beck and Madeline Schmitke.
Reach the reporter at jwkartso@asu.edu and follow @kartsonis3 on X.
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Jack is a sophomore studying sports journalism. This is his second semester with The State Press. He has also worked at other student journalism organizations.
