ASU football: Three takes from the win over UCF

TEMPE, Ariz. — ASU football moves to 7-2 (4-2) after another nailbiting Big 12 game. The Sun Devils hold off UCF 35-31. Quarterback Sam Leavitt looked as comfortable as ever, making plays both with his arm and his legs. Leavitt threw for 161 yards and three touchdowns, which proved to be enough.

Here are three quick takeaways from ASU’s victory over UCF.

Three takes on ASU’s victory against UCF

ASU football needs more WR threats outside of Jordyn Tyson

Jordyn Tyson had an incredible outing for the Sun Devils, tallying 99 yards on seven receptions and adding two touchdowns.. His athletic ability was on display high pointing deep balls, and making defenders miss while carrying the ball. While Tyson was incredible tonight, and has been consistently good all season, Arizona State needs to find other threats at the wide receiver position.

Several times the offense stalled tonight, for various reasons. One of those reasons was the lack of firepower at the receiver spot. Jake Smith had a crucial drop on a third down in the second half. Melquan Stovall and Xavier Guillory combined for two total receptions.

ASU has been able to hide this problem by turning elsewhere this season. Running back Cam Skattebo has been an elite receiver and tight end Chamon Metayer has proven to be a reliable option as well. Tonight, even with the absence of Skattebo, those two positions stepped up in the passing game yet again. Brown had three receptions for 21 yards and Metayer had three receptions for 10 yards and a touchdown.

Entering tonight’s game Tyson leads all ASU receivers with 558 receiving yards and 39 receptions. In second? Xavier Guillory with 12 receptions and 169 receiving yards.

Skattebo is second overall on the team in receiving yards (404) and Metayer is third (199). The drop-off in production from Tyson to any other receiver limits the offense and allows defenses to zero in on Tyson. While the Sun Devils were able to squeak by tonight, this is a problem that needs to be addressed for the offense to reach its full potential.

Fans missed out on an elite RB duel

Entering tonight’s game Skattebo and UCF’s Harvey were the top running backs in the Big 12 according to total yardage. Skattebo has 1,001 yards on the ground this season and 404 through the pass game. On the other side, Harvey entered Mountain America Stadium with 1,201 rushing yards and 219 receiving yards.

Unfortunately for fans in Tempe and tuning in on television, they would only see one of these elite running backs play. Harvey took the field for UCF and Skattebo was ruled out before the game recovering from an injury sustained last week against Oklahoma State.

Harvey lived up to the hype for UCF.

“He is the best back we’ve faced,” Dillingham said after the game.

After a slow second half, he came alive in the second half, running all over the field and smashing into defenders with a ferocity that looked familiar to ASU fans who have watched Skattebo all season. It was impossible to watch Harvey run and not notice the similarities between the two talented backs.

UCF’s star finished with 127 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries. On the other side of the ball, Kyson Brown carried the load for the Sun Devils in Skattebo’s absence. Running back Kyson Brown put in a nice performance, racking up 73 yards on 18 carries.

I can’t help but wonder what it would’ve been like watching Skattebo and Harvey exchange punches like two heavyweight fighters in a ring.

Great teams find ways to win

Is Arizona State a good team? Yes. Is Arizona State a great team? Well, I think they can be.

“We shouldn’t have won that game,” Kenny Dillingham said after the game. “We played horrible… but good teams find a way.”

Great teams find ways to win, even when they don’t play well, and that’s exactly what ASU football did tonight. The first half was particularly poor football from the Sun Devils, as the defense had no answers for UCF, and the offense sputtered. When the first half came to a close, UCF had doubled ASU’s total yards with 227 compared to 103. UCF also ran 42 first-half plays compared to ASU’s 21. They were dominating.

Except for one stat… points. ASU went into halftime with a 21-17 lead. A blocked punt by Martell Hughes was recovered by Montana Warren and returned for a touchdown in the first quarter, putting ASU on the board.

The deciding plays

Then late in the second half, the Sun Devils finally found success on offense. Leavitt helped guide a nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive to close the gap on UCF. Still, with 43 seconds left in the half, UCF led 17-14. Then a major mental lapse by UCF’s kick returner Christian Peterson stranded the Knights inside their own one-yard line. All UCF needed to do was gain a yard, and then take the ball into halftime. Except QB Dylan Rizk didn’t see ASU defensive back Laterrence (LT) Welch underneath an inside passing route. Welch jumped the route and strolled into the endzone for a touchdown.

Moments like that decided the game. UCF made mistakes, and ASU capitalized in a significant manner, despite not playing their best football.

That’s exactly what great teams do, they find a way to win. Tonight, Dillingham and the Sun Devils, somehow, someway, found a way to win.

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