ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham ran to the middle of the field to shake Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell's hand after a well-fought game; he was instantly met with a Gatorade bath.
Dreams were turned into reality.
Dillingham has preached about enjoying the process, which has made his team successful. They loved the process, but as the game began to close, he couldn't wait to start celebrating with his team. The confetti started falling as the Sun Devils wrapped up a 45-19 win over the Iowa State Cyclones.
"It was pretty cool," Dillingham said. "That's pretty cool. The process was over. We got the job done."
Early in the game, fourth-and-1, with five-time Big 12 offensive player of the week in the backfield, the ball was expected to go to him, but that's not the case with Dillingham.
He and offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo dialed up a shot play to graduate receiver Melquan Stovall for a significant gain.
The trust and constant belief in his players is a major factor in why Dillingham and ASU have made it to Arlington to compete for a Big 12 championship. While Dillingham has the trust, he is adamant about everyone else doing their job.
"I had nothing to do with that," Dillingham said. "That was Coach Arroyo. He called it, and I was like, 'Oh crap, all right, let's do it. You watch more film than me when it comes to the offense right now.' I trust him, I trust our quarterback and I trust our players. He thought that was the best call in that situation."
With a shocking feeling of normality, star senior running back Cam Skattebo had himself 208 yards from scrimmage. That performance warranted three Heisman poses from the endzone due to three touchdowns scored.
"Coach Arroyo uses me to max potential," Skattebo said. "That's why I'm here and that's why I stayed because I knew I was in a good position to be successful. I just love playing for this football team."
One of the major talking points going into this game was redshirt sophomore Jordyn Tyson who was out with an upper-body injury. He made up for 38% of ASU receiving targets going into the game.
But the Sun Devil receiving room stepped up. Redshirt senior receiver Xavier Guillory had two receiving touchdowns, catching the ball with just his fingers as he turned his body during one of them. Stovall chipped in with 91 yards and senior Malik McClain, who hasn't seen the field since week four, chimed in with an impressive 43-yard catch.
It's been a next-man-up mindset from the Sun Devils all week leading up to this game, and that mindset was evident on the field in AT&T stadium.
"We knew when one man goes down, somebody has to step up," Guillory said. "We all collectively as a group, I feel like, chipped in from top to bottom. We had Malik, who has been out since week four, come in and make a great play down the field. It's just trust, we work with Sam every single day."
A narrative that has stuck with the Sun Devils all season long is closing out games efficiently. Going up 27-3 against Mississippi State, the game ended 30-23. They were up 24-0 against Kansas State, and the game ended 24-14. They were up 28-9 against BYU, and the game ended 28-23.
It's been a nagging but real stigma that has stuck with the team. ASU twisted the knife last week against its rivals the University of Arizona. But now it was time to do it on its biggest stage of the season.
"It's been great to see our guys play better in the second half," Dillingham said. "I mean, they took it kind of personal after week 11 when we let another team come back and wanted to finish games better."
Trying to finish the game strong, graduate defensive back Shamari Simmons made a brutal tackle on Iowa State sophomore quarterback Rocco Becht. Simmons was then ejected due to targeting and will miss the first half of ASU's College Football Playoff game.
They say everything is bigger in Texas, and the Sun Devil defense made that evident. During the third quarter, the defense forced three Iowa State turnovers: two fumbles and an interception by sophomore defensive back Keith Abney II.
Even after the team lost its first-ever Big 12 game to Texas Tech, Dillingham still did not doubt his squad. He's created a culture and team that can seriously compete, and have fun while doing it.
A football team that loves and believes in one another is scary, ASU has proven that.
Now they're onto the College Football Playoff.
"Last year they left a team out because of a quarterback," Dillingham said. "We're 11-1 with our starting quarterback, having beat four ranked teams and having won the Big 12 Championship. So I do think because we've made a standard that the quarterback is that valuable, I think there should be a real chance we get a first-round bye. I definitely think we should host a game."
Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Braccio and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at danielr1102@gmail.com and follow @daniel_rios72 on X.
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Daniel is a senior studying sports journalism. This is his first semester with The State Press. He has also worked at WCSN, OC Riptide, 1550 Sports and AZPreps365.
