With just under two minutes left in the game, junior running back Cameron Skattebo took the handoff on 3rd-and-8 and gained nine yards. Over on the sideline, Arizona State football head coach Kenny Dillingham threw his hands in the air and signaled in the victory formation. After coming up just short multiple times over the last seven games, ASU (2-6, 1-4 Pac-12) put a full game together, snapping a six-game losing streak and earning its head coach his first Pac-12 conference win as head coach.
“I’m not relieved at all,” Dillingham said when asked if he was relieved to see a win.” I’m happy it’s up. It’s gonna be a great night, fun night. But it’s still about the process. We’re four plays away from probably losing the game, too. But the feeling is a little bit different at night. And that’s where people get wrapped up in the feeling of winning, which is fun. But at the end of the day, I’m more worried about the process.”
Week after week, Dillingham continually pointed out how, despite losing each and every week, his team was improving. In their 38-27 win over Washington State (4-4, 1-4), that progress was on full display as the Sun Devil offense had their best game of the season, and although the defense didn’t play nearly as well as they did last week in Seattle, they allowed just six second-half points and came up with timely stops down the stretch.
“We won the situations,” Dillingham said when asked what led to the win. “We won third down in the second half, and then we won the low red zone battle. When you get them in the low red zone and on two drives, give up three points. That’s a win.”
Against Washington, it was the first time Dillingham was able to see both Skattebo and junior running back DeCarlos Brooks in the backfield since week two. They were able to post ASU’s strongest rushing attack of the year, rushing for a season-high 145 yards on the ground. One week later, the pair topped their performance as the Sun Devils rushed for a new season high of 235 rushing yards.
Sometimes, in a running back committee, the players are forced to trade nights in the spotlight, but on Saturday, each running back got their opportunity to shine. After Washington State drove down the field on a 15-play, 75-yard drive to open the scoring, ASU answered with a long opening drive of their own, capped off by Brooks punching it in from 13 yards out for his first touchdown of the season.
Two drives later, ASU capped off another long drive with Brooks punching it in from one yard out, putting the Sun Devils up 14-7 halfway through the second quarter.
“He’s physical. He’s passionate. He runs hard through people,” Dillingham noted about Brooks. “That’s a guy who’s battled a pretty severe injury and wanted to come back. He loves the game, and I think people feed off of that. So really good to have him back.”
All season, one of Dillingham’s biggest talking points about the offense was their inability to create explosive plays, particularly in the run game. Entering the game, ASU’s longest run of the year was just 24 yards. Explosive plays in the ground were quite rare, but with Brooks scoring on the first two drives, Skattebo decided that it was his turn to take over.
On the first play of ASU’s fourth drive, Skattebo finally delivered the chunk run they were looking for, exploding for 66 yards that placed ASU deep inside the Cougars’ territory. Three plays later, the running back finished what he started and punched it in from two yards out to put ASU back on top 21-14.
“We had one big run, and then we consistently chopped wood down the field,” Dillingham said. “That one big one was huge in the football game. Credit to [senior tight end] Messiah Swinson, a guy that I really challenged. They bring double gut cross in super wide. You have [graduate wide receiver] Gio Sanders blocking a defensive end, and then you have Messiah coming around cleaning it up. Both those guys are fifth, sixth-year seniors on a 1-6 team. That tells you everything you need to know.”
The Cougars scored to tie it up 21-21 late in the second half, leaving ASU with just 42 seconds on the clock and around 40 yards to get into field range. With the Sun Devils getting the ball at the half, many expected Dillingham to kneel out the clock and head into the locker room tied at 21. However, time and time again, the first-year head coach has proved that he is more aggressive than others.
Junior quarterback Trenton Bourguet began chipping away at the Cougars’ defense, putting ASU in field goal range by completing a 13-yard slant route to junior tight end Jalin Conyers. Dillingham sent out the field goal crew to attempt the 51-yarder, but it was surely not without some apprehension.
Last week against Washington, graduate placekicker Dario Longhetto cost ASU the game by missing two field goals, and on ASU’s second drive of tonight’s contest, Longhetto made it three straight misses, leaving a 50-yard field goal short. So it was far from guaranteed that the 51-yarder would be successful, but Longhetto put it straight through the uprights, giving ASU the lead as the first half came to an end and restoring confidence in a group that desperately needed it.
“I was more intense on the field goal unit than I think I was on offense or defense when watching everybody,” Dillingham remarked. “When you have a multitude of guys going in there getting run over and defensive guys just getting run over. That’s the thankless job. I was just so happy with a huge play in the game. And for us to execute a scenario like that, we haven’t gotten to execute many scenarios at the end of the game.
“For us to win a four-minute drill at the end of the game. And secondly, for us to win at the end of the second half and get the extra three points. That’s winning football.”
ASU was in a familiar position, entering the second half with the lead for the fifth time this season, but it has been the second half that has been ASU’s biggest shortcoming. Entering Saturday’s game, only 32 of the Sun Devil’s 119 total points came during the last two quarters, so Dillingham and his players knew that they had to reverse that trend in the final 30 minutes.
Looking to put their second-half struggles behind them, the Sun Devils put together a lengthily 12-play drive that saw them overcome two separate holding penalties. Instead of Brooks or Skattebo carrying it into the endzone, junior wide receiver Elijah Badger took the handoff on the end around, made two defenders miss, and ran into the endzone for ASU’s fourth straight possession, ending in a score.
Badger had one of his better performances of the season, and he did it on both aspects of the offense. Ending the game with four receptions for 60 yards and four carries for 18 yards, as well as the touchdown, Badger proved that he was a nightmare to bring down when in open space, making guys miss all over the field.
“Trying to get Elijah the ball is obviously the key,” Dillingham noted. “Like I said, it’s not the scheme. The scheme didn’t win the game; the players won the game, the execution won the game, and the effort won the game. Everything goes to those guys, and I couldn’t be proud of those guys, couldn’t be prouder of Elijah. All those guys just executed at a high level, gave elite effort, and were unselfish.
After Washington State kicked a field goal to cut ASU’s lead back to one possession, the Sun Devils immediately answered a Cougars score with a score of their own for the fourth straight time. Conyers set up the final score with a 50-yard reception that saw him throw off one defender and draw an unnecessary roughness penalty, moving ASU down to the WSU eight-yard line. On the next play, Brooks punched it in from eight yards out for his third touchdown of the game.
The duo of Brooks and Skattebo has shown in two games that ASU is able to run the football effectively. After struggling all year to move the ball efficiently, the running back tandem has led ASU to two impressive performances against Washington and Washington State.
“I think they just keep each other fresh,” Dillingham noted about the pair. “They’re both similar runners, a little bit different but similar. So I think they just keep each other fresh, and you got to keep guys fresh.”
With four difficult opponents still in front of them, this win against Washington State could end up being Dillingham’s first and only win in the Pac-12. If ASU wants to add another one, this Skattebo and Brooks-led attack must continue to run the ball efficiently and effectively.
“I still think you have to run the football to win in college football,” Dillingham said. “Throwing the ball is fun, and it’s exciting, and it’s good. But at the end of the day, you have to be a physical football team. And teams that win championships, play physical football, and they can run the ball.”
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