ASU football: Three takeaways from impressive victory over Mississippi State

TEMPE, Ariz. – ASU football played a game that was a tale of two halves, but ultimately finished strong and got the win over Mississippi State 30-23. It’s Arizona State football’s first victory over an SEC opponent in program history.

In the first half, the Sun Devils were dominant and controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. However, in the second half, they struggled to move the ball offensively and let Mississippi State back into the game. Eventually, ASU prevailed and showed growth by responding to adversity ending the game on a high note.

Three takeaways from the ASU football game

1. RB Cameron Skattebo is the MVP of the game

Cam Skattebo has been very impressive since stepping foot on campus in Tempe last year. He has grown into a dynamic weapon to use in Kenny Dillingham’s offense. Skattebo had 262 rushing yards on 33 carries on Saturday while adding another 35 receiving yards. This offseason Skattebo dropped between 10-12 pounds, turning him into a faster and more elusive back. The extra burst of speed was apparent while maneuvering around, and sometimes through, Bulldog defenders.

His performance earned high praise from his coach following the game.

“Yeah, it was awesome. I mean he has so much passion the guys feed off of the passion,” Dillingham said. “I think that’s the key to our football team is we play hard right now. Our guys love football. They love to compete and he’s the ultimate competitor right now.”

2. Defensive line stout performance

The defensive line played the entire game like their hair was on fire. The Sun Devils held Mississippi State to just 24 rushing yards on 27 carries. One of the most dominant groups on the team has shined in the first two games of the season.  The D-line was in the backfield all night racking up seven tackles for loss including three sacks.

Coming into the game, the Sun Devils had a tall task defensively to keep up with this high-tempo offense that Mississippi State runs. They like to run a lot of “no-huddle” sequences, and get on the ball and snap it very quickly. This can lead to many tired players, especially the defensive lineman. Dillingham knew they had to be sharp, including with their substitutions, to keep their players fresh.

“I thought they did a phenomenal job there,” Dillingham said. “I’ve been harping on the substitution patterns, that’s one of the little things in a game that no one notices, but that’s what good teams do.”

3. ASU dominated the “Middle 8”

Dillingham talks frequently about winning the “middle 8”. Those are the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half.

Arizona State had the ball with 5:34 left in the first half up 20-3. They then went on a five minute drive lasting 11 plays and 68 yards to go up 27-3.

Following halftime, the Sun Devils came out and went on a 14-play drive down the field ending in a field goal, spanning 8:27. The Sun Devils won the “middle 8” while also creating a 10-point swing in the score. Besides Mississippi State having the ball for 34 seconds and one play before half, ASU had the ball for 13:27 of game time which ultimately gave them a nice lead and cushion.

By creating the lead ASU gave themselves some margin of error. The Sun Devils ended up needing every point they could get after letting their 27-point lead dwindle to seven points in the fourth quarter.

“That’s 14 minutes straight of our offense on the field,” Dillingham explained following the win. “That is the difference in the football game. That 10 points right in the middle there. You take away those 10 points in the middle right that swing and we don’t go on halftime with a 24-point lead. And I mean we don’t get to a 27-point lead so unbelievable job by those guys.”

The Sun Devils return to action on Thursday, Sept. 12, vs Texas St at 4:30 pm.

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