On Wednesday, Arizona State football suffered one of the most heartbreaking losses imaginable. Kenny Dillingham and the No. 4-seed Sun Devils fell 39-31 to No. 5-seed Texas in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Peach Bowl. Arizona State had a lot of chances to win this one in regulation, but the officials arguably took one of them away.

With Arizona State driving in the final two minutes with a chance to kick the field goal for the win, the Sun Devils were stopped short of a first down to bring up a possible punt. The play was reviewed for targeting, but it was ultimately ruled that there was no foul and Arizona State kicked it away.

After the game, Dillingham was confused about the no-call, via Devils Digest.

“In terms of the targeting, I don't know what targeting is,” Dillingham said. “We lost one of our best players in the first half for targeting and I just don't know what it is. I'm not gonna comment on something that I have to get a better grasp of what it is. It's so, I just don't understand it.”

The call would have given Arizona State a first down in Texas territory with just a minute remaining. Dillingham's squad has had problems with field goal kicking all season, but it's reasonable to assume that the Sun Devils could have moved closer and lined up a potential game-winning attempt.

After the game, Dillingham gave Texas plenty of respect even after a brutal defeat, via Chris Karpman of 247 Sports.

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“That's one of the best teams in the country, if not the best team in the country, that we played today,” Dillingham said. “We started off not so great, and the way the guys battled back was remarkable.”

Arizona State trailed 24-8 in the fourth quarter before storming back with a plethora of big plays made by running back Cam Skattebo. Skattebo threw a long touchdown to jump-start Arizona State early in the final period of regulation. Then, a long reception by the star running back got Arizona State in scoring position before he punched in both the touchdown and the two-point conversion.

Arizona State then had a chance to stop Texas on fourth-and-13 and win the game in the first overtime, but Dillingham's defense gave up touchdowns on its next two plays, and the offense was stopped to end the game.

Before this game, Dillingham signed a new five-year contract extension to stay with Arizona State. He addressed the new deal after the game as well, via Devils Digest.

“I wanted that to be released later. I wanted this to be about the guys because it’s not about me. I’m fired up we can continue building this thing and I wanted to make sure it was about the guys,” Dillingham said.

Despite the loss , it's clear that this Arizona State football program is on an upward trajectory with Dillingham leading steering the ship. As long and he's there, this team should have a positive outlook moving forward.