The Arizona State Sun Devils pulled off an exciting upset against the Utah Utes on Friday night and their coach immediately took the opportunity to strengthen their NIL collective in an interesting way.

No one expected the Sun Devils to do much this year, which is why their preseason betting total was set at 4.5 wins. Now, six games into the season, Arizona State has already surpassed that with a shocking 5-1 record.

After the game, Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham suggested that those who cashed that bet on the over tonight should donate a portion of their winnings to the NIL Collective, according to Chris Karpman of 247Sports.

“We were picked to win four games this year, so a lot of (Arizona State) fans chose Vegas. For those of you who won, put that money back into the collective,” Dillingham said as the crowd began playing . laugh. “Because you get to celebrate these wins. You get to experience another cold win with your friends. You get to have more great Saturday nights. That should be enough reasons.”

The 34-year-old coach is in his second season as coach of the Sun Devils and has already turned the program around faster than anyone expected.

Arizona State’s offense, which has been Dillingham’s expertise in the past, has been very solid this season. They already entered the top 40 for most statistics per game across the country on Friday. Much better than a year ago, when they were in the bottom 10.

Just take last season’s game against the Utes as an example of the quick turnaround. Last year, Utah won the game 55-3. This time it was a 27-19 Sun Devils win.

It’s not as simple as comparing one game to another in completely different campaigns, but there’s still a very noticeable difference.

The state of Arizona will need this surprise success to quickly translate into financial gain if they hope to keep the train running in Tempe.

Dillingham and his staff currently boast the No. 40 overall recruiting class according to 247Sports. It is largely filled with three-star players, but also contains a few four-stars.

However, it is much better than the state of the program before he took over. In 2022, they finished all the way at number 103. In the new look Big-12, they currently have the fourth division.

The atmosphere is already higher than expected around the Sun Devils program, wins like this will only continue to make Dillingham’s job easier.