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If one were to take a quick peak at the field storming that occurred at the end of No. 21 Arizona State's 28-23 win over No. 14 BYU, they would simply surmise that Mount America Stadium was the site of a jubilant celebration. It is a bit more complicated than that, however. Tempers flared in the midst of the chaos, as a big delay frustrated the Sun Devils, Cougars and all those watching.
The passionate Tempe crowd became unglued when the game clock struck zero, flooding the field and forcibly bringing down the goal post. It is an exasperating task to contain such a frenetic scene, but it is far more grueling to put the madness back in the bottle and resume play. That migraine-inducing situation unfolded, much to the dismay of Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham and many others.
The officials determined that there was still one second remaining in Saturday's clash– which carried enormous consequences in the Big 12 Conference title picture. Thanks to some curious decision-making by the Sun Devils on the previous few plays, BYU got to try one final heave into the end zone from about the 50-yard line. The Hail Mary fell well short and incomplete, securing the huge W for Arizona State and allowing the fans to go bonkers once more.
Dillingham was visibly irate in response to the initial clock ruling, but he is not interested in dwelling on officiating in the aftermath of this significant feat.
Everything is coming together for Kenny Dillingham and Arizona State
“We won the football game,” he said, per ESPN News Services. “We beat another ranked team at Mountain America Stadium. So this is all about the guys. These guys battled, these guys fought and found a way to win. Whatever happened at the end, it happened.”
Dillingham, who is in his second season as Sun Devils head coach, is also putting a positive spin on the controversial and premature crowd storming. “You know what? We got to rush the field twice, how about that?”
Fan bases yearn for the chance to sprint from their seat and charge onto the field, but few get to do it twice. For the sake of the university, hopefully the NCAA will only count the field storming once when calculating its fine.
It has been a wild year for Kenny Dillingham and Arizona State football. Just last month, the young HC publicly and brutally called out his kicker following a tough loss to Cincinnati. Now, he is on the verge of guiding the program to the Big 12 Championship game and possibly the College Football Playoff. In a season packed with surprises, the Sun Devils are a fine representation of the havoc that is presently running rampant in the sport.
Arizona State (9-2) will try to solidify its first-place standing in the conference when it visits arch rival Arizona in the regular season finale next Saturday.
