After Further Review: Arizona State's win over BYU highlights the magic of this year's team

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham said it best following his team's narrow but significant win over 14th ranked BYU this Saturday:

"So many times, it takes one play and we got it. I have so much confidence in these guys..."

That's pretty much been the mantra all year for these Sun Devils, who have seen seven of their 11 games decided by one score. Miraculously, the team is 6-1 in those games, proving they have a rare ability to make the play when it's needed most. That often can be what separates good teams from great teams, and with one week left to go before the Big 12 conference championship game, the 9-2 Sun Devils sure look like a great team.

Of course, it wasn't supposed to be this way. Dillingham, who became the youngest head coach in Division I football a year ago when he was hired to coach his alma mater, took over a serious rebuild. The Sun Devils were coming off a 3-9 season, their worst since 1946, and the program had been ravaged by the aftermath of a recruiting scandal that only just concluded a few months ago.

This wasn't just a rebuild. Dillingham had to tear things down to the studs and build it back from scratch. But the Arizona native who grew up going to football games in what is now called Mountain America Stadium felt he could do it, given time. That said, even he didn't think things would turn around this fast.

Last year's team, which saw 31 players transfer in and 30 players transfer out, won just three games all year. Offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin was stripped of offensive play calling duties just three games in, with Dillingham taking over an offense that had so many injuries at quarterback they ended up resurrecting the historic swinging gate offense just to be able to move the ball.

Coming into this year, expectations weren't much higher. Baldwin was replaced by Marcus Arroyo, another longtime offensive coordinator who had spent the 2023 season out of football following an unsuccessful stint as the UNLV head coach. The team brought in another 30 transfers and saw another 30 players transfer out, including presumed starting quarterback Jaden Rashada. That cleared the way for Sam Leavitt to start.

Still, expectations were low. Most sportsbooks listed Arizona State's projected win total right around four wins, which seemed reasonable. The Sun Devils were likely to make a modest improvement in Year 2 of the rebuild, especially as they transitioned to a Big 12 that was considerably more wide open than the Pac 12, which had arguably its best season of football ever in 2023.

Still, Arizona State was not supposed to be a contender in the Big 12. When football media days rolled around, the Sun Devils were picked to finish dead last in their new conference. Notably, of the four teams that are currently tied for first place in the Big 12, the highest-ranked team in that poll was Iowa State, who came in at sixth place. Colorado, BYU, and Arizona State didn't even crack the top ten.

So what happened? How are the Sun Devils staring down a shot at winning 10 games for the first time in a decade and competing for a conference title and a spot in the first ever 12-team playoff?

In the words of Dillingham, they just made plays when they had to. In retrospect, their non-conference schedule looks a lot easier than it did at the start of the season: Wyoming and Mississippi State, both in their first year of a new head coach, each sit at 2-9, while Texas State has fallen from their early hype as a playoff contender, sitting at 6-5.

Still, the Sun Devils kicked off their year with a 3-0 start, which included notching their first win over an SEC school in program history. The defense had been stifling and the offense was efficient, though not overly explosive. Cam Skattebo was the offense for the first month and a half, and Leavitt really just focused on taking care of the ball and doing just enough to move the chains.

A narrow loss on the road to Texas Tech proved to be only a stumbling block, as the Sun Devils returned home to beat a Kansas team that has now upset both BYU and Colorado in consecutive weeks before taking down No. 16 Utah. They've only lost one game since then, and it was a road trip to Cincinnati in which Leavitt did not play.

All of this, week after week, built up a level of confidence. You could see it in the way Leavitt began throwing more decisively from the pocket, or in the way Jordyn Tyson caught fire over the last month, or the way the defense flew around the field. The season began with a chip on their shoulder, a classic "Us against the world" mentality. That's an easy mindset to adopt when a fresh new year lies in front of you.

It's a different proposition entirely when the wins actually start stacking up, and that chip turns into genuine belief that you're good enough to win. That belief bled into the fan base as well, with Mountain America Stadium becoming a legitimately hostile environment to opposing teams. That effect was underscored in this most recent win, as Arizona State reached a perfect 6-0 at home this year and their rowdy fans got to rush the field twice in celebration.

The way they beat BYU, too, was impressive. The Cougars have won games like this all year long. They, too, were largely overlooked in the preseason polls, but BYU has found a way each week to grind out wins. Their MO has been hanging around until the fourth quarter and then pulling it out at the last second. But Arizona State beat them at their own game, building up a huge first half lead and then slamming the door shut in the second half with a clutch interception in the final minute of the game.

Like Dillingham said after the win, it often comes down to just one play here or there. More often than not, these Sun Devils have found a way to make that play, and it's happened week in and week out. That's how they've shocked the college football world, and it's why they have a legitimate shot at making the College Football Playoff in just the second year of this rebuild.