‘I’m only out here … so I don’t get fined:’ Kenny Dillingham pulls out the Marshawn Lynch meme

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham started his victorious postgame interview with a Marshawn Lynch-ism after referees added extra time — and an extra Texas State Bobcats possession — saying the Sun Devils turned the ball over on downs on their final play of the game.

ASU thought quarterback Sam Leavitt had kneeled down after the game clock hit 0:00, but after the Sun Devils celebrated, they were called back to defend one more play from Texas State.

“You and I are finally speaking because, after a while, they put a second back on the clock and ran another play,” ESPN sideline reporter Harry Lyles Jr. said to Dillingham. “Can you explain what the referee told you there?”

“Yeah, I’m only out here right now so I don’t get fined. That’s all I got to say because that was ridiculous,” Dillingham answered following the Sun Devils’ 31-28 win.

‘I’m only out here right now so I don’t get fined’ hahaha pic.twitter.com/t519dBBAVB

— Kyle Martin (@StrangersAstory) September 13, 2024

He had reason to be confused or a little impatient.

ASU’s weird ending vs. Texas State leads to Kenny Dillingham’s meme moment

Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt took a few seconds before he put his knee down with whistles blowing, thinking he’d ended the game.

Leavitt met with Dillingham with a celebratory mid-air body bump. And Dillingham even made it all the way to Lyles in front of ESPN’s camera to prepare for a postgame interview but was caught saying “if they put another second on this clock …” before he ran off to prepare his team for a final play.

Officials had to clear the field of players off the field and reconvene with a message they were giving the ball back to Texas State at its own 30-yard line to run one more play.

Nothing came of a little bubble screen and a lateral recovered by ASU, but it delayed the postgame proceedings.

Dillingham at his podium press conference made clear it wasn’t the fault of the referees on the field. He said the clock went to a replay review room but wasn’t sure why.

And despite Dillingham’s appearance of being perturbed in the second interview with Lyles, he promised to reporters afterward he was not mad at the game officials and not all that upset to be standing with Lyles.

He admitted his sarcasm was layered on a little thick.

“First things first, I said something on TV … That was a joke, right?” Dillingham said later.

“They said they’re reviewing the time on the clock. … To be clear it’s not the guys’ on the field’s fault,” Dillingham added. “Not fun for them, obviously … I thought for sure we could take two seconds (off the clock) and take a delayed knee. If that’s how it’s going to work, we should start throwing those away, which is also fine.”

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