This was such an entertaining game—especially if you are an Arizona State fan. The Sun Devils got the ball to start the game and their first play from scrimmage foretold what was about to come to pass. Arizona State’s wrecking ball of a running back, Cam Skattebo—who came into the game having already rushed for 1300+ yards this season—took the handoff from his Freshman QB Sam Leavitt and ran through tackles for 28 yards and a 1st down on the Iowa State side of the field. It would only amount to a 32 yard field goal six plays later to go up 3-0 with just three minutes gone in the game, but it was just a tease to get things going.
Iowa State responded well and came back 11 plays and 75 yards later to go up 7-3 on a 3 yard touchdown pass from the Cyclones Sophomore QB Rocco Becht to RB Carson Hansen with 6:30 left in the first quarter. The next possession for the Sun Devils featured the second half of their one-two punch, QB Sam Leavitt, who completed a 63 yard pass to Senior WR Melquan Stovall down to the Iowa State three yard line before running it in himself to go up 10-7 with a little less than three minutes left in the 1st Qtr. The Cyclones would tie it right up 10-10 about four minutes later on a Kyle Konrardy 36 yard field goal early in the second quarter.
At this point if you’re thinking it was going to be one of those back-and-forth games where whoever has it last wins, you’d be so wrong, because this is just when the party got started. The Sun Devils Cam Skattebo would run it into the end zone twice before the half while Iowa State would miss a field goal and then be held to a three-and-out to go into the break trailing the Sun Devils 24-10. It felt like Arizona State was just gathering speed at the end of the first half because they exploded to start the 2nd half with back-to-back-to-back touchdowns while the Cyclones imploded with a fumble, an interception, and another fumble. By the end of Arizona State’s three possessions of the second half they were up 45-10. Iowa State would put up another nine points on the board with a field goal and a touchdown to make it look a little closer at 45-19. But after that Cyclone field goal to tie the game up at ten each right at the very start of the 2nd Qtr it wasn’t close at all with Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt and his partner Cam Skattabo looking like a force of nature that nothing was going to stop. So much fun to watch our former PAC-12 team win the championship of their new conference—especially when they were picked to come in dead last.
Sam Leavitt connected on 70% of his passes for 219 yards, 3 TD’s and no interceptions with two of those TD’s going to Senior WR Xavier Guillory and the other to Senior RB Cam Skattebo. In addition to his one TD reception and 38 yards in the air, Skattebo was unstoppable on the ground rushing 16 times for 170 yards—10.6 yards per carry—for 2 TD’s with Leavitt picking up another himself while rushing 7 times for 33 yards. On the stats side Iowa State had six more first downs, converted at a higher percentage on third down, were only five yards behind the Sun Devils in passing yards, had fewer penalties and just one less minute time-of-possession. But the two missed field goals and three turnovers all leading to Arizona State TD’s killed any chance they had of winning this game. As Cyclone head coach Matt Campbell said after the game, “It doesn’t get [any] more deflating than that. Their ability to take care of the football and our inability to do that in the third quarter was just paralyzing.”