ASU's Kenny Dillingham Laments Loss to Texas in CFP Bracket ...

Kenny Dillingham didn't sugarcoat how losing to Texas in the Peach Bowl felt on Wednesday.

The Arizona State head coach was blunt after the 39-31 double-overtime loss, which eliminated the Sun Devils from the College Football Playoff.

"God, that one sucked," Dillingham said, per Yahoo Sports' Jay Busbee.

Considering the journey Arizona State has had this season, it's no surprise to see Dillingham and his squad heartbroken after the loss. The Sun Devils faced earlier losses to Texas Tech and Cincinnati but managed to stay in the CFP race by winning their final five regular season games. They punched their ticket to the Playoff with a Big 12 championship win over Iowa State.

On Wednesday, Arizona State seemed on its way to a loss against Texas, going into halftime trailing 17-3.

But the resilient Sun Devils, behind heroics from star running back Cam Skattebo, crawled back into the game. They faced a 24-8 deficit heading into the final quarter but scored on a trick play to make it 24-16 after a two-point conversion.

On the defensive side, they picked off Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers before capitalizing on offense to tie things up.

Arizona State scored first in overtime and the Longhorns answered, sending the game into double-overtime. After Texas scored first, an interception on the other end sealed the win for Texas.

Though they came short of their goal of winning a national championship, it was a year of tremendous growth for Dillingham and the Sun Devils. They went just 3-9 in Dillingham's first season a year ago before finishing 11-3 this year with a conference title in their first season as Big 12 members. Arizona State also won 11 games for the first time since 1996.

It's clear Dillingham and the Sun Devils are trending upwards, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see them right back in the College Football Playoff next season.