After going 3-9 last year with a conference record of 2-7 the Sun Devils, with an overall record of 6-2 after this past Saturday’s 42-21 victory on the road at Oklahoma State, are already bowl eligible with four games left. In this one, Freshman QB Sam Leavitt was either throwing the ball to his talented Senior RB Cam Skattebo or handing it off to him. Skattebo was both the leading receiver and rusher with 4 receptions for 121 yards and 2 TD’s as well as 23 carries for 153 yards and another TD. Add Sophomore RB Kyson Brown’s 63 yards and 2 TD’s as well as Sophomore WR Jordyn Tyson’s 8 catches for 81 yards and another score and you’ve got the largest Sun Devil offensive output since they opened the season with a 48-7 win over Wyoming with the margin in their other four wins less than 6 points.
Arizona State drew first blood and went out to a 7-0 lead on a 22 yard Sam Leavitt TD pass to Jordyn Tyson with just 3.5 minutes gone in the 1st Qtr. Neither team would help themselves out their next two possessions with Oklahoma State punting and then throwing an interception and the Sun Devils missing a field goal and then having to punt themselves after a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty and a sack at their own 30 yard line. The Cowboys would take advantage of the short field after the punt and score on their next possession to tie the score 7-7 early in the 2nd Qtr. Both teams would score every time they had the ball the rest of the half until time ran out with the Sun Devils picking up 14 more points and the Cowboys 7 to make it 21-14 at the break.
Both teams would punt after five plays to start the 3rd Qtr and then after holding Oklahoma State to a three-and-out on their next possession the Sun Devils would extend their lead by seven points on a Kyson Brown 7 yard TD to go up 28-14. Forcing the Cowboys to punt again six plays later, Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt would complete a 5 yard TD pass to Senior WR Troy Omeire with just 13 seconds left in the 3rd Qtr—now up 35-14. Less than five minutes gone in the 4th Qtr the Sun Devils would score again making it 42-14 on RB Kyson Brown’s 2nd rushing TD of the day. With the Sun Devils being held to a three-and-out on their next possession, after a good punt return Oklahoma State would get the ball back at mid-field with about half of the final quarter remaining and would add another seven points to their side of the scoreboard before the end of the game on an 11 yard TD run by their Freshman RB Sesi Vailahi to give us a final score of 42-21.
Regarding becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2019 head coach Kenny Dillingham had this to say afterwards; “We never talk about stuff like this, but when you reach a milestone because of putting in the work every day, you’ve got to cherish it, you’ve got to embrace it. Like I told the guys in the locker room, they have changed the culture of this program.”