TEMPE, Ariz. -- There's something magical happening in Tempe, where the Sun Devils are working on a dream season.
For the second time in the span of a month, No. 14 Arizona State won on the final play of the game, this time beating No. 17 Utah 19-16 on Zane Gonzalez's field goal in overtime to maintain its lead in the Pac-12 South.
Between Saturday's finish and ASU's Hail Mary win at USC on Oct. 4, it's hard to imagine the Sun Devils' season getting much wilder, though next Saturday's marquee matchup with No. 10 Notre Dame presents an opportunity.
"When those (types of games) happen, it just creates this type of momentum and synergy and belief in people," ASU coach Todd Graham said. "It does something to the sense of urgency about every snap.
"There's no substitute for winning close football games. You can't be a champion without them."
With No. 12 Arizona losing to No. 22 UCLA on Saturday, ASU (7-1, 5-1 Pac-12) has a half-game lead in the Pac-12 South with three conference games left to play. ASU holds the tiebreaker over second-place USC.
"We're in the driver's seat," ASU quarterback Taylor Kelly said. "That's where we want to be, and we've just got to keep getting better every week. That's the big thing for us -- how we handle success."
ASU's opportunity to win in its first overtime game under Todd Graham could hardly have come together any better. Utah looked set to take a lead when sophomore Andy Phillips lined up to kick a 35-yard field goal. The kick missed wide right, but Utah (6-2, 3-2) had called a timeout just before the attempt. On his second try, Phillips, who entered the night leading the Pac-12 in field goal percentage with 17 of 19 field goals made, missed wide left.
That's not going to happen often.
The Sun Devils had a chance to walk off with a win, but Gonzalez still had to make his kick from 36 yards. Before Gonzalez took the field, ASU already felt it had won.
"I was just worried about the snap," Graham said. "I don't worry about (Zane). He has a personality that gives you a lot of confidence. He's the best I've been around. If he lines up right he's going to make every field goal he tries."
Added junior safety Jordan Simone: "We were extremely confident. He's the best kicker in the country. We believe that and he believes that, and he proved that tonight."
Gonzalez was confident, too. He'd made two field goals in regulation, from 20 and 45 yards, and his miss from 50 yards didn't faze him.
"I was just ready and excited for the opportunity," Gonzalez said. "I told (Kelly) early on, 'Give me another chance,' and he set me up and I just did what I had to do."
The kick was easily the biggest of Gonzalez's young collegiate career, and by his recollection his first game-winner since his junior year of high school.
As exciting of a finish as the game provided for a raucous Sun Devil Stadium crowd, ASU admittedly should not have needed to win in overtime. From untimely penalties to a turnover to sacks, ASU put itself in a tricky position it would have rather not faced.
"We made it harder than it had to be," Graham said.
The offense appeared to be in sync early, gaining 255 yards in the first half and tallying six plays of 20 yards or more, but had to twice settle for field goals and a 6-0 halftime lead. In the second half, the unit stalled, compiling 189 yards and punting five times. It converted just two of 14 third downs in the game and finished with its lowest point total in a regular-season game under Graham.
"We just kept hurting ourselves, whether it was penalties, misreads, sacks, those types of things," Kelly said. "Utah's a great defense, and you can't do that to yourself and put yourself in that position."
Kelly still appeared rusty from a six-week absence due to a foot injury despite returning last week. He completed 18 of 32 passes for 205 yards, a touchdown and an interception. ASU committed six penalties for 55 yards, its second-highest total this season.
The ASU defense, meanwhile, continued its astonishing turnaround. After holding Utah to 16 points, it is now averaging 12 points allowed per game over its last three contests. It allowed 241 total yards of offense Saturday and forced four three-and-outs. It allowed Utah running back Devontae Booker to rush for 146 yards but limited the impact of his performance.
"Over the last month our kids have really improved; they've bought into what we're doing," defensive coordinator Keith Patterson said. "We've found what they can do well."
The defense could hardly look more different than the group that allowed 55 points to UCLA a little more than a month ago.
"As I look back on that game we're not even the same football team that played against UCLA," Patterson said. "That night I was sick. That wasn't a good feeling that night. ... But I knew we still had a chance to be a good football team. I really did."
Perhaps the most amazing thing about ASU's season is simply that the Sun Devils have reached this point with just one loss, a loss that looks more like a fluke each week. Even the most optimistic fans or prognosticators would have hesitated to predict the Devils would enter their nonconference showdown with Notre Dame ranked in the top 15 nationally and leading the Pac-12 South.
This was a team losing 13 starters and facing a daunting rebuild on defense. A team armed with less talent than USC and UCLA. A team voted by Pac-12 media to finish third in the conference. But here they are, well positioned to repeat as Pac-12 South champions and on the fringe of the College Football Playoff conversation.
"I just know you've got to go undefeated in November if you want to play on Dec. 5 (in the Pac-12 Championship Game)," Graham said. "That's what we want to do."
Truthfully, magic or fate or any other concept of destiny has nothing to do with where the Sun Devils sit today. They're here because they've prepared for just about every situation they could face, and in most cases they've handled the situations they came upon just as they had to.
Certainly, things have fallen ASU's way as well, namely the lax coverage on Jaelen Strong's Hail Mary catch and Phillips' miss Saturday, but even so, it's hard to bet against the Sun Devils right now.
"We've got so much heart on both sides of the ball just to never give up," Simone said. "You've seen it before and you see it again: just the will to win."
RB Demario Richard -- We'd give it to Zane Gonzalez, but he's technically a special teams player, so Richard gets the nod. The freshman -- still just 17 years old -- had his best game yet, carrying 14 times for 116 yards.
S Damarious Randall -- The senior didn't lead the team in tackles (Simone did with 13), but he seemed to make every big play ASU needed. With seven tackles, a sack and two pass breakups, Randall was the star of a secondary that made Utah one-dimensional.
-- Redshirt junior defensive end Demetrius Cherry, a key player in ASU's defensive turnaround, did not play Saturday due to a suspension for a violation of team policy. Graham did not elaborate.
-- Saturday was ASU's first overtime game since a Sept. 9, 2011, win over Missouri in Tempe.
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