Arizona State Head Coach Explains Controversial Fourth Quarter Decision

TEMPE -- The Arizona State Sun Devils moved to 4-1 on the season after storming back from down 17-0 in the first half and down 24-17 within the final two minutes of the game to sink 24th-ranked TCU.

The Sun Devils only won by three points despite out-gaining the Horned Frogs by nearly 200 yards - the game was up-in-the-air until Martell Hughes intercepted Josh Hoover with 44 seconds remaining in the game - the potential for overtime was strong prior to that point behind a curious decision by head coach Kenny Dillingham.

Dillingham had his offense line up on a fourth-and-goal situation with just under two minutes remaining - a decision that was questioned by some, as a false start pushed the offense back to the six-yard line, allowing Jesus Gomez to kick a go-ahead field goal that eventually proved to be the difference.

The 35-year-old head coach explained the thought process behind the decision, ultimately acknowledging that the flow of the game impacted his initial decision during his post-game press conference.

What Coach Had to Say

"Yeah, we're on the foot yard line, so it's like, hey, if the sneak is there, we're going to take it. If it's not we're not right? And the thought was, we had three timeouts before I called the second one, right? But he wasn't gonna, unless he wasn't gonna do it, unless there's no score, right? So you don't get it and it's not there, okay, we'll burn a timeout, or we'll take and then we'll have, we'll take it away a game or whatever.

We get a three and out with a minute and 10 seconds left, we're gonna get the ball in the 50 with 40 seconds left, and then we guaranteed last possession of the ball, negating, even if we get a two, if we get a safety, we win, right? So it was more just saying it's a free opportunity to try to, you know, win the game with seven and if it's not there, there's very minimal risk because of our three timeouts, different than Mississippi State, because the amount of timeouts."

QB Sam Leavitt ultimately ran in the fourth-and-short attempt for a touchdown - the game worked out in the Sun Devils' favor regardless of the false start. That is life in the world of college football, and Arizona State will take the 2-0 start to league play in any manner they can get it.

Read more on major takeaways from Arizona State's clutch-time victory over TCU here, and more on why Arizona State fans should be feeling confident about the outlook of the season following the win here.

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