Arizona State may have given No. 8 BYU a true Halloween fright, but the Cougars managed to avoid another upset by fending off the Sun Devils late for a 27-20 victory Saturday in Provo.

It was the first trip to LaVell Edwards Stadium for Kenny Dillingham since taking the helm of Arizona State’s program, and he offered plenty of praise for the afternoon’s atmosphere and environment.

“Kalani (Sitake)’s a great coach. This is a top-10 team in the country with over a 10-game winning streak at home with a sold-out crowd,” Dillingham told reporters postgame.

“I mean, (BYU fans) were in there doing chants two hours before kickoff. I’ve never seen anything like it. Literally, two hours before kickoff, their student body and their fans are in there practicing chants. It was unbelievable to experience, and you’ve got to give them a lot of credit.”

Controversy emerged early in Saturday’s action, as BYU’s opening touchdown — a Bear Bachmeier goal line fumble which was recovered by and advanced into the end zone by Sione Moa — was awarded following a pair of lengthy replay reviews.

Dillingham, who was visibly upset on the sideline regarding the touchdown ruling, shed some light on his frustration.

“Well, the rule is, if the ball is fumbled and the whistle blows, the only way to advance it is a clear and imminent advancement. There may be some other fancy words instead of those words, and they reviewed it. They didn’t think it was recovered. Then they reviewed it again. So, needing a double review, I would think that that’s not a clear and imminent advancement if you have to review it twice,” Dillingham said.

“But the second review, after they reviewed it and called it a clear advancement of the ball, I was trying to argue that he does have the right to recover it post-whistle, because that’s not a clear advancement, which means the ball should be on the three.”

Dillingham continued, “Obviously, that wasn’t what happened, and it’s not the officials’ fault. Those officials don’t have a say in that. That’s all back (at the replay center). I was talking to them, but I wasn’t overly yelling because I’m yelling at the messenger.”

BYU bounced back with a 27-20 win over Arizona State on Saturday afternoon, but it wasn’t easy. Now, the Cougars’ focus turns to Rivalry Week and Utah.

After trailing 17-3 at halftime, Arizona State rallied for two touchdowns to tie the game entering the fourth quarter. BYU responded with 10 unanswered points, including a 95-yard touchdown drive, to prevent suffering a second consecutive loss.

Despite coming up short and falling to 4-4 on the season, the Sun Devils put up an admirable fight against BYU, holding the Cougars to just 47 yards rushing, forcing two turnovers and frustrating them for the majority of the contest.

“You can tell we’re not going to quit as an organization, as a program. You can tell our guys had energy, our guys played with passion tonight. They played hard. They played physical. They played the way that I want us to play. They’re playing ASU football again,” Dillingham said.

“… I think we just have to continue to build on that these last four weeks of the season, one game at a time. You know, we found that piece of it, but it wasn’t enough to get it done tonight.”

Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham complains to referees about a call during a game against BYU at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, October 31, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News