It was a valiant effort from the undermanned, outgunned Arizona State squad. However, a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and playoff-hopeful USC squad was too much.
The No. 5 Trojans went on to win 42-28, preserving their perfect season.
Sun Devil head coach Kenny Dillingham was asked if he believes in moral victories and if he considered tonight one of those.
“No. I tell the team losing, it doesn’t ever feel good,” he said. “If you walked into this room right now and you have an ounce of feel-good, that’s not what we are about.”
Despite Dillingham’s beliefs, the result showed that ASU has the ability to compete with a No. 5 team in the country with a Heisman quarterback. That was no easy task.
A combination of ASU’s frisky defense and an impressive crowd at Mountain America Stadium made things more difficult than star junior quarterback Williams likely expected.
“I thought our defense did a solid job,” Dillingham said. “They have a great offensive scheme, they have a great quarterback and they check almost every play at the line of scrimmage so it’s really hard to stop.”
The energy in Mountain America Stadium provided a huge boost for ASU in both halves. The first drive of the game saw Williams and the USC offense commit two procedural penalties in a row.
“This was activating the valley. This environment… sold-out crowd, wow,” Dillingham said. “There’s actually a competitive advantage when we have everyone in the stands. To see the Valley like that, that’s what we need every game.”
While the drive ended in a USC touchdown, the crowd set a tone that helped the underdog Sun Devils throughout the whole game.
“You know when I came out at halftime and I saw everyone still in the stands, it was like ‘they still believe in us,’” junior tailback Cam Skattebo said.
The decision to have Dillingham call plays was a net positive for the Sun Devils. The offense was high-risk, high-reward and made enough plays to keep the battered unit in the game for three and a half quarters.
Skattebo benefited greatly from Dillingham’s play-calling. The junior tallied 111 yards on the ground, 79 yards receiving and threw two passes for 42 yards including a fake punt play. He had one rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown as well.
“I like to do everything. I believe I can do everything,” he said.
ASU went into the half trailing 21-13. The team put itself in a position to win the game better than it had in any game prior other than maybe the season opener.
Down 24-13, ASU looked like it could very well win the game outright after a third-quarter drive led by redshirt sophomore quarterback Drew Pyne.
An 18-yard rush by Skattebo set the Sun Devils up to take a shot. Pyne hit Saturday’s top target, redshirt junior Elijhah Badger, in the corner of the endzone for a 25-yard touchdown. Skattebo would then add a two-point conversion to make it a 24-21 game.
BADGER badgers the Trojans even more with this TD! ‼️ 🔥 @ASUFootball pic.twitter.com/AGcHmAjxYo
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 24, 2023
While the offense showed improvement, it didn’t create enough sustained drives to allow the defense to recover. Without this, Williams was able to slowly wear down the defense with his mobility in the pocket and find his receivers for huge chunk plays on the run.
The dagger touchdown came after USC recovered a strip-sack fumble by Pyne, setting up the offense in ASU territory.
A handful of plays later, Williams scrambled in and out of the pocket like a whirling dervish, eventually finding a wide-open Brenden Rice for a back-breaking touchdown to make it a 35-21 game.
Pyne’s fumble and an earlier interception stalled the ASU offense and just put too much pressure on the defense.
Skattebo was not ready to let the raucous crowd leave early, however.
On a 4th-and-7 on the ASU 44-yard line, Pyne hit Skattebo on a swing route. It appeared the running back would be brought down just after getting a first down, but he broke the first leg tackle and proceeded to truck another USC defender before charging all the way to the end zone.
“I expect to score every play, so on that [touchdown catch] I just kept my feet and I was able to stay balanced and keep going,” the tailback said.
The videogame-like 52-yard catch and run gave ASU a shot in the fourth quarter. But Williams and the USC offense were just too potent.
On the following drive, Williams lofted a pass deep to redshirt senior Tahj Washington for a 45-yard touchdown. The 42-28 lead was just too wide a margin with just over seven minutes left in the game.
“Obviously they’re a great offense,” redshirt freshman linebacker Tate Romney said. “We didn’t execute plays like we wanted to.”
The Heisman favorite finished with 322 yards passing and three passing touchdowns. He also added 10 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
The 4-0 Trojans will travel to face Deion Sanders’s 3-1 Colorado squad in what will surely be another high-scoring affair.
While the result wasn’t a win, the growth was visible. A road trip for the 1-3 Sun Devils to Berkeley against a reeling Cal Bears squad presents an opportunity to get back in the win column.
“Something’s changed offensively, so now we just have to play a complete game, and if we play a complete football game, we’re going to be a pretty good football team,” Dillingham said.
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