Arizona State converts incredible 4th-down play in Big 12 football championship game
You aren't named Big 12 Coach of the Year by making safe calls — you get it by making the right ones.
Arizona State football head coach Kenny Dillingham showed why he was named the best coach in the Big 12 by taking a deep shot on 4th-and-1 deep in his own team's territory in the first quarter of Saturday's Big 12 championship game vs. No. 16 Iowa State.
No. 15 Arizona State (10-2) has shocked the college football world with an unexpected appearance in the conference title bout, and Dillingham knows it.
After the Sun Devils 42-21 victory over Oklahoma State on Nov. 2, Dillingham was very aware his team had surpassed expectations this season.
"This team got bowl eligible," Dillingham said after Arizona State’s win over the Cowboys, which made them 6-2 at the time. "This team has four games left. They're playing with house money now."
The Sun Devils were picked to finish last in the Big 12 and projected to win no more than 5 games by the oddsmakers.
House money, indeed.
On 4th-and-1, down 7-3 late in the first quarter with a conference title on the line, Dillingham called one of the gutsiest plays you'll ever see.
The predictable decision was to hand the ball to senior running back Cam Skattebo and let him barrel through the line of scrimmage — but nothing about Dillingham is predictable.
A play-action fake to Skattebo sucked the entire Iowa State defense in, leaving senior wide receiver Melquan Stovall streaking downfield without a Cyclone in sight. Redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt hit Stovall for a 63-yard bomb, setting the Sun Devils up in the red zone. Leavitt punched in a 3-yard touchdown run three plays later.
Watch the incredible play:
Sam Leavitt takes it himself for the touchdown after the Sun Devils go for it on fourth down in their own territory 😯
— ESPN (@espn) December 7, 2024
📺: ABC pic.twitter.com/Z4bGCFGmNX
The old saying goes, "no guts, no glory." Dillingham is not shying away from showing he has some in pursuit of the Big 12 title.
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Jordyn Bennett is a staff reporter for Arizona State On SI.