ASU legend Jake Plummer shares advice to Sun Devils before Big 12 championship game
Dec 6, 2024, 9:20 PM
Arizona State’s Big 12 championship game matchup with Iowa State presents the greatest opportunity for the program in decades — a chance to make the College Football Playoff and compete with the blue bloods for a national championship.
This is arguably the biggest ASU football game since the 1996 Rose Bowl, and the quarterback of those national title-contending Sun Devils Jake Plummer has been watching this season closely and with enthusiasm. He has not been this excited watching his alma mater since a fellow Idahoan quarterback Taylor Kelly was winning games in the early 2010s.
On the evening before kick off, Plummer joined Arizona Sports’ Devils go to Dallas special and shared his message to the players preparing for the biggest game of their lives.
“I think this team’s matured a lot, and they understand the position they have earned by winning these games,” Plummer said. “Now doesn’t change that. Go out and play this game just like any other game. You’re playing Iowa State, and it’s the Big 12 championship. How awesome, what a great opportunity. Don’t look past that, because you take care of what you need to take care of and go play the way you’ve been playing, playing hard for each other, play through the ups and downs, make sure you keep pushing no matter what the situation is. You pull this out, and then the fun can begin.
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“There could be a bigger game down the road. At the Rose Bowl, we didn’t have any games past that. … We knew that if we win that game, it could be us as outright national champs. So that was really a huge game. … This is still a huge game, I mean, predicted to finish last in the Big 12 and here they are playing for the Big 12 championship, like, don’t be happy and pleased with that. Go out and prove to the world and prove to everybody watching that we deserve to be here.”
Plummer has had opportunities to observe this team up close, even back in spring practices when quarterback Sam Leavitt, a redshirt freshman who transferred in, caught his attention. (Plummer said he sees comparisons between his game and Leavitt’s with regard to how hard the freshman plays. The former noted Leavitt is further along as a freshman than Plummer in 1993.)
Does ASU legend Jake Plummer see any similarities between his game and that of Sam Leavitt? pic.twitter.com/oSlvFM4FYl
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) December 7, 2024
Plummer commended the effect Leavitt and running back Cam Skattebo have as tone setters for the team.
And the 1996 All-American credited ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham for his authenticity and culture building in Tempe. He applauded the young head coach’s character for sharing his bonuses with his staff, saying the effort he is putting in leads to a team that plays its heart out.
“It obviously goes back to him being a kid right there in Tempe, watching the Sun Devils and being in what he’s called his dream job,” Plummer said. “I mean, he’s putting out all the energy and all the effort and the consistent message behind that. The guys he put together this year, even though it’s a lot of new players coming into the program, whatever he’s doing is working to make them go out and play for each other, because that’s really what matters.
“I love what Kenny’s done. It’s fun to have a guy that’s really pushing hard to get alumni back from all eras, not just the good teams, but everybody who played in a Sun Devil uniform. Come out, watch practice, come be around, come talk to the players, come show up and be a part of what he’s trying to build. And it’s nice to see, and it’s authentic.”
ASU and Iowa State will kick off the Big 12 title game at 10 a.m. MST on Saturday. Listen to play-by-play coverage on 98.7 FM, the Arizona Sports app or online, with the State of the Sun Devils pregame show starting at 7 a.m. Watch the game on ABC.
