By Jacob Seliga
Lead Writer
Writers Note: I’ve written this probably 100 different ways since the final snap of Wednesday’s game thinking over and over in my head, “How do I encapsulate how amazing this turnaround is without sounding like a fan?”
I mean truthfully, I’m not an Arizona State fan. But for 4 hours on a Wednesday morning/afternoon over 2,000 miles away from where the Sun Devils were playing, I found myself hoping for an Arizona State victory.
I wished for an opportunity to take time off work, to go to Dallas and cover this special team at least one more time.
Fate didn’t quite work out in that way.
For 24 hours, I asked myself what the clearest parallel between this team and others. It's a team that was heavily doubted going into a hostile playoff environment, and threw the biggest punch it could while ultimately coming up short.
A dear friend of mine named Richard Smith painted the best picture.
In 2020, Chandler High School was one of the best football teams in the country, entering the postseason No. 4 in the nation with one of the deepest rosters you will ever see at the high school level.
The Wolves rolled into the Open Division semifinals to face the new power that was building itself up from across town, Liberty.
To most this looked like a double-digit blowout, with the Lions having no chance. And for three quarters, no matter how hard Liberty punched, Chandler punched back.
But then, the fourth quarter happened. A team that battled through adversity and had been doubted in multiple games that season clawed their way back from a double-digit deficit to force overtime.
Liberty fell one point short. But the Lions sent a message that they would be back and weren’t a blimp on the radar.
Just four years later, they’re nationally recognized and have been the most dominant program in the state this decade. They show no signs of slowing down.
Ladies and gentlemen, Arizona State is on the same trajectory as Liberty was. And just as the Lions had to learn how to get past Chandler to take that next step, the Sun Devils now know what they need to do to take that next step.
What’s next for Arizona State?
This was the ultimate dream season for Arizona State. The Sun Devils went from being picked last in the Big 12 in the preseason to being one blown call away from reaching the college football semifinals.
For a program that just 24 months ago was marred in controversy with an NCAA investigation and in its worst stretch in program history, head coach Kenny Dillingham has turned his alma mater around from a national laughing stock to national threat.
So, what’s next? How does Dillingham and the Devils continue their positive momentum into next year and beyond? How do they take the next step towards winning a national championship?
Imagine that question back in August.
The biggest thing that benefits the Sun Devils is who their list of returning players.
Obviously, losing Cam Skattebo is going to hurt. Skattebo, in his two years, has become a folk hero and an all-time legend amongst Sun Devil fans. He may very well be the next player to have his name added to the upper deck at Mountain America Stadium. Fans were calling for it when the Sun Devils arrived back home from Atlanta following the loss late Wednesday night.
Needing a power back to replace Skattebo and to compliment the return of Kyson Brown, Raleek Brown and Alton McCaskill, Dillingham went out and got the star that led Army’s turnaround season in Kanye Udoh, who rushed for 1,117 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2024.
The highlight of the 2024 season offensively was arguably the breakout connection between quarterback Sam Leavitt and wide receiver Jordyn Tyson.
From the Kansas game in early October until Tyson’s untimely injury against Arizona at the end of November, no connection between quarterback and wide receiver was better in the country.
So what does Dillingham do to help improve that connection as well as strengthen the passing attack as a whole?
He goes out and brings in two of the best wide receivers in the transfer portal in Fresno State’s Jalen Moss and Clemson’s Noble Johnson to deepen a room that has Malik McClain returning and no one else expected to leave.
But with all of those weapons, if Leavitt can’t get the ball to them and Udoh can’t rush then what’s the point of having them?
That’s where offensive line coach Saga Tuitele and his development and relationship building skills have been crucial, as four out of the five seniors from the 2024 starting offensive line will return for the Sun Devils.
An experienced offensive line, a talented quarterback, a deep running back stable and quality receivers is a match made in heaven in 2025 for Dillingham and offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo -- fresh off his three-year extension.
Defensively, it’s the same story as the offense. They have unfinished business after giving Texas all they could handle.
In the secondary, Shamari Simmons is the only starter out of the five starting defensive backs that will not be returning. In his place, the Sun Devils brought in one of the best defensive backs in the portal in Adrian Wilson from Washington State to bolster an already deep unit.
The front six will return all but one starter as Jeff Clark graduates.
In total, out of the 22 starters on offense and defense, the Sun Devils will have 16 returning to start in 2025, assuming no one enters the transfer portal in the spring window.
In an era where rosters are bought and are adjusted week to week -- for any program much less a program that hasn’t fully established itself yet -- to have that level of continuity is special.
And what people don’t realize is that this is only the beginning.
Kenny Dillingham set out to “Activate the Valley” and bring a championship to Arizona State. He and his staff have taken that first step toward doing that.
Recruiting both in high school and in the portal is on fire for the Sun Devils, and NIL support is continuing to make progress and only get better.
You can win a national championship at Arizona State, and this year was the start of the Sun Devils being in that conversation consistently.
For as painful of a loss as it was for the Sun Devils, the Peach Bowl proved to everyone that doubted them that this is the beginning of a new era of Arizona State football.
This 2024 team set the foundation for future Sun Devil teams and they should hold their head high. From being picked to finish last in the Big 12 to the final play in double-overtime of the Peach Bowl, this team never gave up and kept fighting.
Arizona State will be the Big 12 favorite entering next year and will likely enter the season with a top-10 ranking and a Heisman trophy favorite on the roster.
Pressure makes both diamonds and expectations. Now the pressure that comes with the goal of getting back begins.
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