TEMPE, Ariz. — Cameron Skattebo had a great first game as a Sun Devil. The Sacramento State transfer ran for 71 yards on 17 carries against Southern Utah. He drove in Arizona State’s first touchdown of the year, and he also made a major impact in the passing game. The former FCS star had four receptions, tallying 41 receiving yards. For those keeping track at home, that’s 112 all-purpose yards in his FBS debut. Not bad.
I was extremely impressed by the running back, and I think he has the potential to be one of the best in the conference this season. Let me show you some film and explain why.
Cameron Skattebo film breakdown
I’ve chosen a handful of Skattebo’s plays against Southern Utah to take a closer look at. Let’s get started.
The two plays above are Arizona State’s first two offensive snaps of the game. Cam Skattebo’s number got called in both.
Play One
Kenny Dillingham and Beau Baldwin began the 2023 season by dialing up a simple screen pass for Rashada. An easy throw to get your true freshman quarterback settled down. Makes sense.
Rashada fulfills his part of the bargain and delivers a throw to Skattebo. It’s a little inaccurate, but the running back hauls it in anyway. Now pay attention to where Cam Skattebo catches this ball. He’s roughly five yards behind the line of scrimmage. Then, he’s four yards behind the line of scrimmage when a cornerback sniffs out the play and makes contact. Well, good idea, but it’ll end up being the loss of about four.
Wrong.
Skattebo sheds the defensive back with ease. After spinning away from the corner, he’s able to move a yard or two forward. Then he makes it back to the line of scrimmage when a defensive end jumps on him from behind. Except he has no plans to just go down.
The transfer breaks his second tackle and powers into what looks like basically Southern Utah’s entire secondary. Skattebo gets low and churns his legs, powering forward. They finally brought him down, but it was a group effort and Skattebo gained three yards on the play.
I know what you’re thinking, three yards. Not impressive. Well, remember, Southern Utah had a chance to bring him down for a four-yard loss. That’s a seven-yard difference, and football is a game of inches.
Play Two
The second play that Baldwin called for his offense was involving Skattebo again. This time, a run. Rashada lines up in the shotgun again, with Skattebo on his left this time. They call an outside run toward the weak side with tight end Jalin Conyers pulling over and being Skattebo’s lead blocker.
Conyers does an excellent job blocking for Skattebo and he’s able to gain about five yards untouched. Then a defensive lineman attempts to bring down Skattebo, but with no success. The 5’10, 212lb running back lightly tosses the lineman to the ground and continues running.
Skattebo spun out of another tackle a couple of yards later and stumbled forward, easily getting the first down. He gained about seven yards after contact.
A common theme throughout the night was that Cameron Skattebo is not easy to bring down.
Play Three
Rashada lines up in the I formation with Skattebo in the backfield and a fullback in between. Arizona State is six yards from their first touchdown of the season after a nice deep ball set them up. Rashada hands it off to his new running back, and Skattebo follows the fullback, his lead blocker.
Skattebo hits the B gap behind his fullback, in between his right guard and right tackle. A Southern Utah linebacker is waiting to stop him a few yards short of the endzone. Except he’s trying to stop a bowling ball. The power back easily bounces off the linebacker and high-steps into the endzone.
Touchdown Sun Devils.
Play Four
Our fourth play of the breakdown is in the second quarter. Arizona State is driving and looking to extend their lead before halftime. Rashada and the Sun Devils have plenty of time as they’re inside Southern Utah’s 40-yard-line with a little over two minutes to go in the half.
Rashada is lined up in the shotgun again with Skattebo on his left. The freshman hands it off and lets the magic happen. Having good vision is an incredibly important part of being a good running back, and Skattebo shows it in this play.
The left tackle is overpowered and pushed inside. The Sac State transfer adjusts and takes a hard cut to the outside, away from the traffic in the trenches. There’s one blocker in front of him and he’s faced with the choice of bouncing it to the outside or bending it back inside. He plants a hard cut, gives a little shoulder shake to fool the defender, and bends the run back inside.
Skattebo then hits the gap with an explosion and sprints into the second level of the defense. Southern Utah safety George Ramirez (from Mesa, Ariz.) makes a tough arm tackle in the open to prevent Skattebo from going any further, but the damage was already done. Another first down for Arizona State.
Play Five
Jaden Rashada is in the shotgun again with Skattebo on his right this time. Arizona State is backed up before their drive can even start thanks to a penalty. Baldwin and the Sun Devils go to an inside run to try and dig out of the self-inflicted hole.
Arizona State pulls in the tight end as a lead blocker, but unfortunately, Skattebo is hit less than two yards past the line of scrimmage.
But the play isn’t over yet.
Skattebo gets low and drags the Southern Utah defense, literally, for 10 yards after contact. Skattebo single-handedly willed a two-yard gain into a 12-yard gain, and his ability to fight for yards is why I think he can be one of the best backs in the Pac-12.
Play Six
The final play we’ll look at in this breakdown is Skattebo’s most impressive from Week 1, at least to me. On a late third-and-five, Arizona State desperately needs a first down. Southern Utah is within three and has all of the momentum.
Rashada lines up in the shotgun yet again, with Skattebo on his left. As soon as the ball is snapped, Skattebo leaks out on a swing route to the left. Rashada hits him pretty quickly and the ball is caught roughly two yards short of the sticks. Almost immediately Skattebo is hit by a corner, literally head-on. The running back tosses the smaller defender off him easily, a story we’ve seen before.
The redshirt junior then tiptoes on the sideline for a few yards before spinning away from a second defender, leaving him in the dust. Skattebo stumbles forward and cuts back inside around a blocker engaging with another defender. He’s finally brought down by three Southern Utah defenders after a 26-yard gain.
Yet another play where Skattebo was hit early and then gained over 10 yards after contact. His ability to shed defenders, make hard cuts, have reliable hands in the receiving game, and hit the right gaps makes Skattebo a special player. He dominated at the FCS level for Sacramento State, winning Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year, and now I think he’s going to dominate the Pac-12.
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