“It's a good bounce-back week,” senior linebacker Keyshaun Elliott said postgame. 

Coming off what can only be described as a disastrous defensive performance a week ago in Salt Lake City, the Sun Devils took it upon themselves to improve with No. 7 Texas Tech’s high-flying offense in town.

“We got embarrassed,” Elliott said regarding ASU’s defensive effort against Utah. “That wasn’t us.”

Head coach Kenny Dillingham echoed this sentiment while reflecting on last week's loss.

“I think over the last year and a half we’ve proven that's not us,” Dillingham said. 

Instead of wallowing in their sorrows, the Sun Devil defense used the loss as a “wake-up call,” turning up the intensity at practice throughout the week. 

“Coach did a good job holding us accountable,” Elliott said. 

ASU’s defense knew ahead of the game the test it would face from the red-hot Red Raiders offense, which, until this point, had yet to score less than 34 points in a game, averaging 47 ½ points per game in that time frame. 

“We’re going to go out there and play physical, run through your mouth,” Elliott said. “Play hard for four quarters.”

The Sun Devils’ defense came out of the gate swinging, forcing the Texas Tech off the field on its first five drives without points.

“We’re getting three-and-outs,” Elliott said. “We’re excited, we’re playing hot, everybody's playing together.” 

With the offense stalling early in the game, ASU’s defense took the game into its own hands, forcing the Red Raiders to punt on their first four drives to open the matchup.

“We had their back and they had our back,” Elliott said. 

Hero of the Sun Devils' overtime victory against Texas Christian University, sophomore linebacker Martell Hughes recorded his second interception of the year that set up sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt and the offense up with a short field. 

“I said it from day one, I knew he was going to be a player,” Elliott said. 

Dillingham had high praise for Hughes' play today, citing his interception as one of the keys to victory.

“That's a turnover and that's a game changer,” Dillingham said.

ASU’s defense went a majority of the week without the knowledge of who it would face at quarterback due to the injury sustained by Texas Tech senior quarterback Behren Morton.

“We didn't really know who was going to be the starter until last night,” Elliott said. “We just trusted our coaches to [give] us the right looks throughout the week, and they didn’t run anything that we haven’t seen.” 

With Morton out, the Red Raiders turned to redshirt freshman quarterback Will Hammond to lead the offense, following an impressive showing from him in previous games this season, where he flashed his talent as a dual-threat quarterback. 

“He's a good player, he runs the ball well,” Elliott said. “We knew from the first game that he played this year that they’re going to do some designed quarterback runs.” 

The Sun Devil defense did well, limiting Hammond, sacking him twice and holding him to only 3.1 yards per attempt on the ground. 

“Shout out to the coaches for getting us right,” Elliott said. “At the end of the day, we contained him.”

Dillingham expressed pride in his defense's ability to block out the outside noise and focus on the game at hand, following a week of scrutiny after its game against the Utes. 

“If you get caught up in the outside noise, you can get convinced of something you're not,” Dillingham said. “You can’t get convinced of something that you’re not.” 

Sophomore safety Adrian “Boogie” Wilson was a standout from today's game, stepping up in several big moments for ASU. 

“Boogie has been awesome; he's a ball of energy, a ball of joy,” Dillingham said. “I think [he played] his best game today.” 

Wilson filled the stat sheet, totaling three tackles and three pass breakups on the day. 

“He definitely is a vital piece of the program,” Dillingham said. 

While the Sun Devils defense showed out all night, no play was more crucial to their victory than their triumph on fourth-and-6, forcing Texas Tech off the field with 11:31 remaining in the game. 

“The play was dead,” Elliot said. “Just a really heads-up play from him [senior linebacker Jordan Crook].” 

Despite the woes of last week, ASU’s defense put the past in the past and made a statement in front of a national audience.

“That was unbelievable from start to finish,” Dillingham said.