Arizona State loses to USC: Three takeaways from the game

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State fell to USC on Saturday night, 42-28. The Sun Devils played some of their best football of the season in front of a sellout crowd, but it wasn’t enough to upset No. 5 USC. Here are three takeaways from ASU’s performance.

Get Cameron Skattebo the ball

Junior running back Cameron Skattebo had his best game of the season by far Saturday night, going for 232 all-purpose yards. Skattebo ran for 111 yards on 20 carries and caught four passes for 79 yards. If that wasn’t enough, he was ASU’s leading passer at halftime with 42 yards. Skattebo’s 232 yards accounted for 65.7 percent of the Sun Devils total offense, nearly two-thirds of their 353 yards.

“I like to do everything. I believe I can do everything,” Skattebo said. “I’m put in the right position with the right guys around me.”

Skattebo led the ASU offense all night, but he contributed on special teams as well. On the Sun Devil’s first offensive series, Skattebo took the field on fourth down and delivered a pooch kick punt. With a favorable bounce, the punt went 53 yards, making it the Sun Devils longest punt of the season, and effectively switched the field.

Skattebo is in his first year at ASU, after transferring in from Sacramento State this past offseason. During his two years at Sacramento State, Skattebo ranked eighth in school history with 1,893 career rushing yards. In 2022, he totaled 1,878 all-purpose yards to place fourth in school single-season history.

Cam Skattebo’s career

The junior running back transferred to Arizona State with high hopes of showing off his talent at the FBS level. After a magical night, he’s shown that he is a big play waiting to happen, you just have to get the ball in his hands in space.

Skattebo set season highs in rush attempts, and rush yards and tied his season high in receptions Saturday night. He recorded more receiving yards than he had all season combined and doubled his touchdown output from the first three games of the season. Skattebo’s 42 passing yards in the first half were more than he had in the rest of his collegiate career, although he did throw for a touchdown while at Sacramento State.

“I’m just going to keep playing hard and trusting what the coach has got for us.”

Maybe head coach Kenny Dillingham will draw up a Skattebo touchdown pass later this season!

The Arizona State defense is legit

Through the first three weeks of the season, there was not much fans had to cheer about. Frustration grew with both sides of the ball. Yes, ASU lost to USC Saturday night and gave up 42 points. However, the defense has actually played pretty well this season, they have just been put in difficult situations.

“Adversity makes you quit or makes you work harder,” Dillingham said. “I think our guys right now are treating this adversity and coming together and working harder.”

Arizona State’s defense shines against USC

Coming into Saturday night, ASU had allowed just 2.8 rushing yards per carry, which ranked twenty-second nationally, according to Team Rankings. ASU has allowed just 28 plays over 10 yards this season, which is seventeenth in the FBS.

With the offensive struggles early this season, the Sun Devil defense has been forced to play extended minutes without time to rest and forced into defending short fields. The defense is capable of defending in those scenarios temporarily, but eventually, they wear down.

In ASU’s game against Fresno State, they committed eight turnovers. The defense allowed just 15 points off of those eight turnovers, which was the fewest points an FBS team with eight or more turnovers had allowed since 2021. They were the only team over that span to not allow a touchdown off of those turnovers.

Defensive standouts

Junior defensive lineman BJ Green has 14 quarterback pressures this season, which is tied for tenth among all FBS defensive linemen. Senior defensive back Chris Edmonds has forced six stops on run defense, leading all safeties in the Pac-12.

USC averaged more than 580 yards and nearly 60 points per game coming into Saturday. Despite the track meet on the field, the Sun Devil’s defense gave up 535 yards for 42 points, both substantially below the Trojans’ season averages.

“I thought our defense did a solid job,” Dillingham said. “It’s really hard to stop what they do when you combine the talent with good scheme.”

ASU knew coming in it would be difficult to stop the Caleb Williams-led USC offense, but its defense forced two three-and-outs, a fumble, a turnover on downs, and a red zone field goal.

If the ASU offense can continue to see improvement, sustaining drives and limiting turnovers, the future is bright for the Sun Devil’s defense and what they can achieve. The key is getting off the field early and limiting scoring on short-field opportunities.

Kenny Dillingham should continue calling the plays

Arizona State scored its most points this season Saturday night against the best team they’ve played this season. The Sun Devils had not surpassed 24 points on the season and scored a combined 15 points over its last two games. Tonight against USC  28 points. What was the change?

Head coach Kenny Dillingham took over playcalling. In the first three games of the season, offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin called the plays. The offense struggled and it seemed like the playcalling was too predictable and unsuccessful. The offense was shut out against Fresno State, a team that gave up 35 and 33 points in the first two weeks of the season.

Saturday night the offense was creative, fun, and fearless. There was a point of emphasis on staying committed to the run game and getting the ball to star players. Redshirt junior receiver Elijhah Badger had nine catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. Redshirt junior Jalin Conyers had five catches for 71 yards and Skattebo, as mentioned above, had more than 230 all-purpose yards.

ASU players on Dillingham’s playcalling

“I think he (Dillingham) went into the game with a great plan,” Badger said. “I just think he (Dillingham) used everybody to the best of their ability.”

From successful run plays on third and long, to trick plays, to trusting your best players in one-on-one matchups, the play calling was unpredictable and dynamic, something many fans have been anxious to see.

“It was super aggressive. We ran the ball a lot more than we have in the past,” Skattebo said. “We attacked downhill.”

Dillingham was the offensive coordinator at Oregon before becoming ASU’s head coach, and on Saturday the ASU offense showed flashes that resembled the high-flying Oregon offense many college football fans across the country love watching.

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