The rivalry week at Mountain America truly delivered. Arizona State had no answer when Arizona running back Kedrick Reescano landed the decisive blow with just under two minutes remaining. The Wildcats controlled the night from start to finish, sealing a 23-7 win. The defeat left Kenny Dillingham watching his team’s Big 12 hopes collapse on its home field. For Arizona, the result marked a near-perfect turnaround to close the season. Despite the celebrations, head coach Brent Brennan still found a moment to offer an honest assessment of their rivals.

“I got a lot of respect for Coach Dillingham and his staff. Those guys are good football coaches, and they’ve done a hell of a job up here.” Brent Brennan said in the post-game press conference. “And I think for us, recruiting the state of Arizona is always going to be job number one. Like that’s going to be the most important thing that we do. So, I thought it was awesome that coming into this game, you had two Arizona teams that are in the top 25 playing each other.”

Heading into Week 14, Arizona State was ranked No. 20, while the Wildcats were ranked No. 25 by the committee. With a 6-2 conference record, the Sun Devils still had an outside chance to make it to the championship game. However, the loss left them at 6-3, the same record as their in-state rivals.

At halftime, Arizona State had the lead at 7-3, but the offense never got going in the second half. The Wildcats’ quarterback, Noah Fifita, delivered one of his season-best performances, dropping a 62.2% completion rate for 286 yards and one touchdown.

On the other side, quarterback Jeff Sims delivered his worst performance of the season. He threw three interceptions that stalled Arizona State’s offensive rhythm, and the Sun Devils managed only 214 total yards. Adding two fumbles to the mix put the defense in an uncomfortable position for the entire game. The loss dropped the Sun Devils to 8-4, a stark contrast to last season’s 11-3 finish. Even so, Kenny Dillingham didn’t show anger or frustration. Instead, he reflected on the past three years and the program’s overall turnaround.

Kenny Dillingham’s Week 14 afterthoughts

After topping the Big 12 last season, Kenny Dillingham likely hoped to replicate that success. But the Week 14 game didn’t go his way. However, he faced the defeat head-on and assessed the situation, noting how far the program had come.

“I told the group, you guys have done something special. You guys took a program that was dead. Everybody who signed here when we were 3-9, which was anybody who didn’t sign here this last year, raise your hand.” Dillingham said in the post-game press conference. “You guys all came here when we were dead. Absolutely nobody wanted to be here. And you guys took a team and did something that hasn’t been done in 12 years.”

With their Big 12 championship hopes squashed, Arizona State will likely play a low-tier bowl game.