Three takeaways from the first road test for Arizona State

Arizona State fell in a tight battle on the road to California 24-21. While the Sun Devils never led during the game, they still displayed a good effort against the Golden Bears, who now move to 3-2 on the year. As Arizona State drops to 1-4, here are three takeaways from today’s road performance.

Bourguet is a good temporary starter 

With freshman Jaden Rashada and Drew Pyne out with long-term injuries, Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham turned to junior Trenton Bourguet to start at quarterback. He made his second start of the year, and the first where he played all four quarters. In his first start against Fresno State, Bourguet completed 6/8 passes for 47 yards and an interception, before sustaining an injury on his pick.

Today, Bourguet turned the page, throwing for 344 yards with a 63.4 completion percentage while also logging an interception. It marked the fourth time Bourguet had surpassed 300 passing yards. He also rushed for a touchdown and received a 20-yard pass from junior running back Cameron Skattebo.

Bourguet looked comfortable in the pocket. This was true on chunk plays to his wide receivers, finding senior Melquan Stovall for two completions–one for 34 yards in the first quarter and one for 30 yards in the fourth–and junior Elijhah Badger for a 52-yard completion in the third quarter on drives that both led to points.

However, Bourguet looked flustered in the fourth quarter in key possessions for the Sun Devils. First, on the interception, thrown with 12:06 left to go in the game. Arizona State, down by four, had the chance to take the lead with a touchdown. On the first play of the drive, Bourguet threw the ball into double coverage, while under duress, which caused the ball to be picked off by junior defensive back Matthew Littlejohn.

The second was on an incomplete pass on fourth down and 4 that sealed the loss for the Sun Devils. Bourguet, once again, was pressured, and could not find Elijhah Badger for the first down. While Badger had a chance towards the middle, Skattebo was out wide and could have caught the ball.

With a shaky Colorado defense coming to Tempe next weekend, there is a good chance Bourguet could replicate his performance from today against Coach Prime’s Buffaloes.

Skattebo shines in homecoming game

While the majority of the fans at California Memorial Stadium were supporting the home team, about 200 were there to support one special Sun Devil: Cam Skattebo.

Skattebo grew up in Rio Linda, California, a suburb of Sacramento. He played two seasons with Sacramento State, winning the Big Sky Player of the Year award last year.

In Berkeley, about an hour and 45 minutes away from his hometown, he ran for 59 yards and a touchdown. Through the air, he caught four catches for 98 yards including one that went for 66 yards. Skattebo also completed a 20-yard pass to Bourguet.

Along with the stats, the Sun Devils’ bell cow brought the same physicality he did last week, bowling over defenders to pick up extra yardage. This was especially true on first and second downs in medium and long yardage.

But on fourth down and short situations, Skattebo was stuffed not once but twice by the Golden Bears’ defense. They knew Skattebo would get the ball, and were able to stop him and the Sun Devils’ drives. Dillingham may need to utilize other personnel and plays to convert on fourth down and avoid being too predictable.

Penalties haunt Arizona State at the wrong time

On the scoresheet, Arizona State only had 5 penalties for 35 yards. While they limited their penalties, (and had less than California, who had 7 for 51 yards) they happened at crucial moments in the game.

On a fourth down and goal at California’s one-yard line, Skattebo pitched the ball to Badger for the touchdown. But it was called back due to illegal substitution. On the next Arizona State drive, the Sun Devils were at a fourth down and two at California’s six-yard line. The line of scrimmage was pushed back to the 11-yard line.

Both of those drives ended in field goals when they could have been touchdowns.

The next costly penalty occurred with 3:20 left in the game on a Golden Bear fourth down and 7 at Arizona State’s 25-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Sam Jackson V heaved the football towards the end zone. While senior defensive back Chris Edmonds deflected the ball away from junior wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter, redshirt junior defensive back Ed Woods was called for pass interference. While the Sun Devils stopped the Golden Bears at the goal line, they only got the ball back with 2:50 left and no timeouts.

The Sun Devils will look to snap a four-game losing streak next week back home at Mountain America Stadium as they face the Colorado Buffaloes (3-2).

Quotes from Dillingham in the postgame press conference

On Bourguet’s play: “I thought he played really well. He took what the defense gave him. He had great poise, great pocket movement when he needed to. I thought he had a really good football game. That’s a really good defense. That’s the team that gave up 14 points to Auburn…Credit to that team, and credit to Trenton for playing a really good football game.

On going for it on fourth down multiple times: “We’re going to continue being aggressive on the fourth and twos. It paid off the first time. Then, we’ll look back at the tapes and see what didn’t work the second time.”

On the penalties: “We’re still keeping the penalties down, but they were crucial penalties. You know, you get a penalty and it takes four points off the board, and then you get a PI…So, it wasn’t a matter of the sloppiness of penalties, it was a matter of the timing of the penalties were critical. Pretty much, those were the most important plays of the football game.”

His message to the team after the game: “We’re getting closer, it’s not good enough. But, we’re getting better. Every week, we just have to get better. It doesn’t matter who’s out, it doesn’t matter who’s going, it doesn’t matter what’s happening. Respond. You can go back on Monday and quit. Or, you can go back on Monday and compete. And right now, we’re getting better.”

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