There are three things in life Sun Devil football fans can count on: death, taxes and late game chaos.
But this time the chaos was not in the Sun Devils’ favor as two late turnovers led to Duke’s 42-39 victory in the 92nd Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.
With 2:51 remaining, the Sun Devils, up 39-35, just forced a turnover on downs. All they needed to do was run the ball enough to potentially eat the rest of the clock. Redshirt freshman running back Jason Brown Jr. fumbled on the first play, and the Blue Devils jumped on it.
Duke continued to score on offense, and with 2:10 remaining, it was redshirt senior quarterback Jeff Sims' time for late-game heroics. He drove the Sun Devils to their own 39, where tragedy struck. Sims was looking to complete a pass, but it was intercepted by the Blue Devils, sealing the game.
“We played well in the biggest moments,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “We got a stop when it was needed, and that’s a big piece of defense. They just made one more play.”
In the rematch of the 2014 Sun Bowl that saw the Sun Devils take down the Blue Devils 36-31, it was Duke getting its revenge. A combined 81 points were scored in Wednesday’s game. Both Devils made Sun Bowl record books, scoring 52 points in the first half, marking the highest-scoring half in the bowl game’s history.
The leader of ASU's season-high 619 yards of offense was Sims, who accounted for 445 of them. In his final collegiate start, he was outstanding. Sims threw for 375 yards and rushed for 70, as well as scoring five total touchdowns.
Even with the strong performance, all Sims cared about was the defeat.
“When the time came for me to make a play, I didn’t,” Sims said. “That’s probably going to be the only thing I’m thinking about. It’s cool to have the touchdowns and all that. But we didn’t win, and we (were) in a position to win, and we didn’t get it done.”
The Sun Devils showed off what could be the future of the running back position. Brown Jr. and freshman Demarius "Man Man" Robinson were the two backs who led the way. Brown Jr. had 134 rushing yards and 14 receiving yards, while Robinson was more of a threat out of the air, with 91 receiving yards and 42 rushing yards.
Redshirt junior wide receiver Jalen Moss played his best game yet in maroon and gold. He caught five passes for 129 yards and his first touchdown as a Sun Devil, which he then celebrated by jumping into a bowl of what else, but Frosted Flakes.
It was a rough game defensively for the Sun Devils, though. They gave up a season-high 539 yards and tied a season-high 42 points allowed. Redshirt freshman defensive back Tony-Louis Nkuba picked up the first interception of his collegiate career, but the Blue Devils were too much.
Senior linebacker Jordan Crook, a leader on the team, highlighted what it meant to play for ASU as his time comes to an end.
“I came here two years ago,” Crook said. “This means the world to me. Coach Dilly ... my teammates and everybody around me, just to take a chance on me and just allow me to be me.”
An emotional Dillingham looked on at his players as the 2025 season came to a close. Many of these players will end their college careers, go to the NFL or even transfer to other schools. For Dillingham, this team meant everything to him.
“They’re just a special group of guys,” Dillingham said. “They really changed the standard of the program. Not many people can completely flip an organization upside down, and they’ve done that.”
Edited by Henry Smardo and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at niall.rosenberg@gmail.com and follow @RosenbergNiall on X.
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Niall Rosenberg is a lead Sports Reporter at the State Press. He has previously worked with sports teams such as the Rockford Rivets of the Northwoods League. He is in his 2nd semester with the State Press with the chance to cover football and other sports.
