Arizona State football falls short against Cal

BERKELY, Calif. — Arizona State football took to the road for the first time in the 2023 season. Arizona State’s first trip of the Kenny Dillingham era took them to Berkeley, Calif. home of the California Golden Bears.

Some were surprised as ASU closed as a 12.5-point underdog after last week’s close game with No. 8 USC. Both ASU and Cal lost their opening conference game and were seeking their first conference wins, respectively. Additionally, this was the first-day game for ASU and it showed at the beginning of the game.

Arizona State football comes up short

The Devils started with the ball and the first drive did not go as planned. Cameron Skattebo did what he normally would and ran the ball efficiently to begin the game, but that wasn’t the issue. Quarterback Trenton Bourguet started the game for ASU and appeared to be rusty. After a completed pass on a previous third down he was unable to complete a pass on a later third and ASU would punt the ball away.

Luckily for the ASU offense, the defense came to play just as they have every single week. On Cal’s first drive, they gained just one third down and would end up punting.

The first quarter was very slow between the offenses until the later half. On the Golden Bears’ second drive of the game, quarterback Samuel Jackson V led the offense on a 68-yard touchdown drive. The drive was capped off by a one-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Ifanse. 

The Sun Devils did not shy away from an early first-quarter deficit. Bourguet responded with a scoring drive of his own.

After multiple third-down conversions and one fourth-down conversion, ASU got on the scoreboard with a short touchdown of their own. After a 3-and-goal pass interference penalty on Cal, Skattebo took a direct snap and ran it in himself.

Defensive showdown in Berkely

All of the scoring excitement was soon tapered by both defenses. On both ASU and Cal’s ensuing drive they quickly punted, turning the game into a field position battle. After multiple quick drives from both sides, someone finally blinked and took the game back over.

After a three-and-out from Arizona State on their own three-yard line, Cal received the ball on the ASU 43-yard line.

Despite the excellent field position, the Golden Bears’ drive did not go as planned. After a promising start to the drive with multiple runs by Ott, ASU stuck its horns up and denied any real threat from the Cal offense.

The Golden Bear offense would wind up kicking a 37-yard field goal to retake the lead at 10-7 in the second quarter.

As the first half wound down, Kenny Dillingham attempted to get creative to try and score before the clock hit zero. On a fourth and one from their own 34-yard line, the first-year head coach elected to trust his offense and go for it.

Skattebo took a direct snap and did what no other running back in the country can, throw the ball. Skattebo threw the ball to QUARTERBACK Trenton Bourget who leaped up and “mossed” the Cal defender for the first down. Despite the trickery for Dillingham, the drive stalled out after a turnover on downs from the Cal 39.

ASU elected not to take the points and would go into the locker room down 10-7.

The second half

The beginning of the third quarter was a mirror image of the beginning of the game, with a twist. Both offenses struggled mightily out of the gate, but one play turned the game upside down. On ASU’s first drive of the second half, they elected to go for it from their own 31-yard line. Skattebo took a direct snap up the middle and was stuffed by the Cal defense. 

Therefore, Cal got the ball to start their drive on the ASU 31-yard line. 

The Golden Bears did have one drive in the first half where they started in Arizona State territory and ended up kicking a field goal. This drive would be different.  Jackson knew that a score by his offense would take control of the game for good. 

Jackson threw a dime to receiver, Jeremiah Hunter, for a gain of 21 and a Cal touchdown.

A four-play, 31-yard touchdown drive gave the Golden Bears the lead and seemingly all of the momentum heading down the stretch.

Despite the momentum shift, the Sun Devils fought hard and gave Cal a run for their money on the ensuing drive. After a long drive and multiple shots inside the red zone, a costly false start penalty killed the drive. ASU would wind up kicking a field goal which put the score at 17-10 Cal.

The Sun Devil defense stepped up for the rest of the third quarter, not allowing Cal to cross their own 50-yard line for the next three drives.  Although the defense was stout and the offense was coming off a field goal to cut it to a one-possession game, things got interesting down the stretch.

The ASU offense was once again stopped in the red zone and was forced to kick a field goal after a third-down mistake.

Although the offense seemingly could not get past their redzone woes that did not stop them from pushing the ball down the field.

As mentioned before, the defense stepped up and yet again gave the ball back to the offense. 

Arizona State football makes a fourth-quarter push

Early in the fourth, Bourguet and the offense finally got the red zone monkey off their backs. Bourguet punched it into the endzone with a two-yard run, followed by a throw to Elijhah Badger for a two-point conversion.

All of a sudden, Arizona State was only down by three halfway into the final quarter.

After a lackluster offensive performance in the third quarter, Cal got their offense going when it mattered most. Ott and the Golden Bears’ offense went on a seven-minute drive down the field but came up short of valuable points.

Coach Wilcox attempted to go for it on fourth down from the ASU one-yard line to attempt to ice the game away. The Devils stood up and stopped them from putting the game away once and for all.

After a critical defensive stop, Bourguet would look to drive down and score to either tie or win the game. After a catch by Skattebo for a gain of 21 to begin the drive, things went sour. While looking downfield Bourguet threw an interception that would end the game.

The Cal defense stepped up in a big situation despite giving up multiple scores by ASU in the second half. Cal beats ASU 24-21 to collect their first conference win of the season and their third overall win of the season.

As for ASU, they fall to 1-4 total and 0-2 in conference.

ASU is back home next week as they welcome Deion Sanders and Colorado to town next week.

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