ASU football OC Marcus Arroyo evaluates Utah ahead of Big 12 bout
Arizona State Sun Devils football offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo explains what type of challenges Utah will bring in Week 7.
STILLWATER, Okla. — The Arizona State Sun Devils let a game against Oklahoma State get away from them last year. They exacted a bit of revenge this time, surging past the Cowboys 42-21 at a wet Boone Pickens Stadium Saturday in a Big 12 contest that featured a two-hour, 38-minute weather delay at the half.
It was another game in which the Sun Devils got a dynamic performance from Cam Skattebo who tallied 153 rushing yards and 121 receiving yards, becoming the first ASU player to hit 100 yards in both offensive categories since Demario Richard did so in 2015.
That boosted Skattebo to 1,001 yards on the season, putting him over the 1,000-yard milestone for the second time in his career. He did that two years ago at Sacramento State.
It was a contest in which ASU never trailed. It had leads of 7-0, 14-7 and 21-14 in the first half but put the game away by scoring 21 unanswered points to start the second half.
ASU offensive lineman Brandon Lloyd on switching from track and field to football
ASU’s Brandon Lloyd discusses transitioning from shot put and discuss to playing football for the first time in his life.
With the win ASU (6-2, 3-2) becomes bowl eligible for the first time since 2019. It also gives the team twice the number of wins it had last season with four still left to play in the regular season.
Let’s review:
What went right
Got off to a good start: The Sun Devils have not played well in the first half of their three road games this season and were lucky to win one of those. In this one ASU jumped out to a 21-14 lead at the half and, although it was far from a perfect half, it was a marked improvement over the first halves ASU had at Texas State, Texas Tech and Cincinnati. It had 278 yards in the opening half, 198 of that through the air.
Third-down success: ASU converted 10 of 16 third-down tries and both of its fourth-down attempts. That was a big factor in finishing with a huge advantage in time of possession 38:26 to 21:23. On the other side, ASU held Oklahoma State to a woeful 3-for-11 on third downs. During ASU’s losses this season, this was an integral factor.
Handled halftime delay: It’s not always easy to come back out after more than a two-hour delay and look like you never skipped a beat. We saw that last year when the Sun Devils encountered that in the first game of the season. This time the Sun Devils not only handled it, they came out and dominated the second half. Dillingham did not have any good answer as to why that happened except to say his players love playing the game and enjoy playing together.
Leavitt showed no signs of the rib injury: Leavitt showed no signs of being slowed by the rib injury that kept him out of the last game. In fact, he had a scramble for nine yards in the first half in which he was twisting and turning and broke three tackles. It did not result in a first down but got ASU close to where it could go for a fourth down and got it.
The offense was rolling: The Sun Devils had both the rushing and passing games working. In most games this season, they were either run-heavy or pass-heavy but in this one, they were able to move the ball with both. The 529 yards of total offense was 128 yards more than the Sun Devils were averaging coming into the contest.
What went wrong
Another missed field goal: Parker Lewis missed a 47-yard attempt, his first try of the season. ASU’s three kickers are now a combined 7-for-14 on the season on field goal tries, the longest being a 47-yarder by Ian Hershey against Mississippi State. It looked for a short time like it could have been a factor with the first half being so close but ASU dominated the second half.
What to watch this week
Elliott hurt: Junior LB Keyshaun Elliott was injured early in the third quarter. He left the game and did not return.
Personnel notes
Leavitt was able to return after missing the last game with a rib injury. WR Xavier Guillory missed the last game and practiced much of the week, but was in the game only briefly and never targeted. Troy Omeire started in his place . . . . DL Justin Wodtly was ejected in the first quarter for spitting at a player after the Sun Devils had gotten the ball back on an interception by Javan Robinson . . . Parker Lewis was used on extra-point kicks for the first time and went 6-for-6. He also got his first field goal attempt of the season after Ian Hershey and Carston Kieffer saw action in earlier games.
Grades
Offense (A-): The Sun Devils racked up a season-best 529 yards. Not only did Skattebo have his normal game, Leavitt was 20-for-29 for a career-high 304 yards and three touchdowns. Kyson Brown ran 15 times for 63 yards and had the first two rushing touchdowns of his career. The success on third down and huge edge in time of possession were bonuses. ASU played as well offensively as it has in a long time — on the road and in the rain. The offensive line did give up two sacks, which was the lone negative.
Defense (A-): Oklahoma State was held to 270 total yards, well under their season average of 399. The Cowboys managed 84 yards rushing (24 tries). Preseason Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year choice Ollie Gordon managed only 25 on 11 carries with a best of 9 yards. ASU held the Cowboys to a 3-for-11 on third down. LB Caleb McCullough had a team-high nine tackles, seven of those in the first half. Javan Robinson had an interception, the game’s lone turnover.
Special teams (D): There was another missed field goal, from 47 yards by Parker Lewis, although Lewis did make all ASU’s PAT kicks. Punter Kanyon Floyd averaged 40.3 yards on three kicks, all of which resulted in fair catches. ASU allowed more yards on returns than usual. The Cowboys had a 37-yard punt return — which actually went for 98 yards and a touchdown, but the bulk of that came back due to a holding penalty. The Sun Devils also gave up 25 yards on a kick return.
They said itASU head coach Kenny Dillingham on being bowl-eligible
“It’s nice. You’d be lying if you said it doesn’t feel good. We never talk about stuff like this, but when you reach a milestone because of putting in the work every day, you’ve got to cherish it, you’ve got to embrace it. Like I told the guys in the locker room, they have changed the culture of this program in 22 months.
“The leadership council, the guys we chose to be here, they took a program and they completely flipped it from where it was. It has nothing to do with the staff, nothing to do with the coaches, it has to do with the guys in that locker room. They’ve done such an unbelievable job with the work ethic, the mindset, with their belief.”
ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt on the offensive performance
“Everybody is getting more confident in the plays and being impactful when you get the opportunity. It’s us understanding who we are as a team, coming to play for one another, playing for the brother next to you and really understanding how you work with each other. It’s just time, we’re really young in this offense, so there is a lot of growth to have.”
ASU safety Myles “Ghost” Rowser on getting stops on third down
“Third down has been a real hurt for us, especially the beginning games this season. I feel like during practice, third down has been a really big sequence for us, so we have been keeping them in front of us. We kept it simple and kept it to what we knew and what we were comfortable with.”
Up next
The Sun Devils return home to host Central Florida (4-5, 2-4) at 5 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2) at Mountain America Stadium. UCF registered a 56-12 win over Arizona at home on Saturday to snap a five-game losing streak.
The Knights racked up 602 yards total offense, with R.J. Harvey running for 184 yards and three touchdowns on 22 tries in overwhelming the Wildcats.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=67272e3df0f044d49baebb327b1031a4&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.palmbeachpost.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fcollege%2Fasu%2F2024%2F11%2F02%2Fasu-football-cam-skattebo-sun-devils-surge-past-oklahoma-state%2F75965508007%2F&c=6362756157384166068&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-11-01 12:59:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
