The No. 4 seed Arizona State Sun Devils saw their incredible season end on New Year’s Day against the No. 5 seed Texas Longhorns.
It was a thrilling Peach Bowl, but Texas escaped with a 39-31 win in double overtime. Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo had a massive performance, finishing with 143 yards rushing with two scores and another eight catches for 99 yards in the loss.
After the loss, Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham took to X with an emotional post after the season ended.
“What an incredible season!” Dillingham wrote. “Losing sucks! But man I have never been so proud of a group of young men in my entire life! The bonds this team has is old school, and it’s real, these relationships will live on forever! This is a team that truly loves each other, and watching it first hand is something I will never forget!”
Arizona State finished 11-2 in the regular season, including a Big 12 Conference title and wins over Kansas State, BYU, and Iowa State.
It was just Dillingham’s second season as the head coach at Arizona State, and it was a remarkable turnaround after a 3-9 finish in 2023.
Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham
Arizona State trailed 24-8 in the fourth quarter before scoring 16 unanswered points and seeing Texas kicker Bert Auburn miss the potential game-winning kick to send it into overtime.
Unfortunately, Quinn Ewers connected with Gunnar Helm on a 25-yard pass to give Texas the lead, and Sam Leavitt’s pass was intercepted to end the Sun Devils season.
The Sun Devils brought in several transfers last cycle, including Leavitt, who revealed his intentions to stay another year after the Peach Bowl loss.
While it’s a tough way for the season to end, Dillingham admitted it was “incredible.” All in all, the future looks bright for the Arizona State football program.
