ASU Football: Leavitt, Skattebo torch Arizona to win Territorial Cup, earn Big 12 Championship berth

December 1, 2024 Logan Brown Football 0

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Senior running back Cam Skattebo scored three touchdowns for the second week in a row, this time in Arizona State's dominant win over Arizona in the 2024 edition of the Territorial Cup on Nov. 30, 2024. (Hana Kaufman/Inferno Intel)

A year ago, the Arizona schools were headed in different directions. The Wildcats smacked the Sun Devils 59-23 in 2023 thanks to a pair of budding stars at quarterback and receiver. ASU finished with just three wins for a second straight season.

Just twelve months down the line, the script has flipped in the Grand Canyon State.

No. 16 Arizona State (10-2, 7-2) took back the Territorial Cup from Arizona (4-8, 2-7) in the 98th matchup in series history in a 49-7 drubbing in Tucson. They also earned a bid to the Big 12 Championship next weekend.

“It was awesome because the get-back sucks,” Cam Skattebo said. “We planned that all year. That was our cup. That cup is going to stay in Phoenix for a long time. I don’t think he ever plans on getting rid of it. So we might as well write ASU on that one for now.”

The Sun Devils scored touchdowns on five of their six possessions in the first half. Senior running back Cam Skattebo turned in a three-touchdown performance in the first half for the second straight week. He finished the day with 21 carries for 177 yards and three scores. He was crowned the 2024 Bob Moran MVP of the game.

Skattebo punched in a two-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat formation on the opening drive. After a 59-yard catch-and-run by sophomore wide receiver Jordyn Tyson set up the Sun Devils inside the 10-yard line, Skattebo again scored from two yards out in the wildcat position.

A three-and-out from Arizona quickly put the Devils back on the field and Skattebo back to work. A 34-yard run by the senior back and a 27-yard run by sophomore running back Kyson Brown placed the Sun Devils deep in Arizona territory. Redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt tossed a screen pass to Tyson, who shook a defender and scored from 12 yards out to take a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Leavitt had a monster day in just over three-quarters of play. He completed 17-of-22 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns. His partner in crime, Tyson, caught eight of his ten targets for 143 yards and a touchdown. Tyson also became the first Sun Devil to catch at least 10 touchdowns since Jaelen Strong in 2014.

Arizona’s best scoring opportunity of the half came following a 61-yard kickoff return by redshirt junior returner Jeremiah Patterson. However, the Arizona State defense stood tall and forced a 55-yard field goal try, which missed wide right.

Just before the half, Leavitt and Tyson hooked up for three big completions of 19, 16, and 13 yards to move down the field. Redshirt junior tight end Chamon Metayer capitalized for a 22-yard touchdown catch to take a 35-0 lead into the break.

Arizona managed just 57 yards of total offense in the first half, while ASU totaled 390 yards and possessed the ball for nine more minutes than the Wildcats.

The Wildcats finally got on the board to start the third quarter. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Noah Fifita found his junior star wideout Tetairoa McMillan, a presumed first-round draft pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, for a 28-yard score on their opening drive.

ASU churned out more big plays on the ground with Brown with gains of 22 and 38 yards before the drive stalled. Brown’s explosive runs pushed him over the century mark rushing for the first time in his collegiate career. Brown carried the ball just eight times for 100 yards and added one catch for 31 yards to give Sun Devils’ fans something to look forward to next season after Skattebo departs.

The biggest concern of the day for ASU came late in the third quarter when Tyson was tackled after a short gain and stayed down on the field. Trainers held Tyson’s left arm in place as he walked off and did not return to the game with a collarbone injury.

“That connection is unbelievable between those guys,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said of Leavitt and Tyson’s play this season. “We’ll see how he [feels]. We’ll find out in the morning [or] tonight for him.’

Shortly after, Leavitt finished his day on the first play of the fourth quarter with a 31-yard touchdown pass to senior wideout Xavier Guillory, who ran a slot fade to perfection in place of Tyson.

From there, both teams turned to their backups, and Dillingham rolled with Tucson native redshirt senior Trenton Bourguet at quarterback. Bourguet dropped back and threw his first pass to his brother, walk-on redshirt junior wide receiver Coben Bourguet, for a short gain.

“I think everybody here understands what Trenton means to the program,” Dillingham said. “So I think that was common sense. That dude’s done so much for this program, that family, so let’s give him an opportunity to go out and throw a catch to his brother. A completion in college football, brother-to-brother, is rare, and we’ve got that accomplished tonight. Him being from Tucson, having done that here, it’s a pretty special moment.”

On the next play, Bourguet threw a short swing pass to walk-on redshirt freshman wide receiver Derek Eusebio, who tight-roped along the sideline and scampered for a 64-yard score to put a bow on an incredible offensive day for the Sun Devils. ASU drained the rest of the clock and stormed out of Tucson with the Territorial Cup in a 49-7 win.

After squandering large halftime leads against Kansas State and BYU, Dillingham was pleased with his team’s ability to finish the game and the regular season on the right note.

“I think it’s just a testament to the guys saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to come out and we’re going to finish this thing, this game,’” Dillingham told reporters postgame.  “[Arizona] came out and scored, ironically, and then our guys battled back and finished. I thought the second half was pretty good, especially getting some other guys in there. We still, I thought, had success on some of those moments.”

Junior defensive lineman Jacob Rich Kongaika, who transferred to Tempe from Arizona, planted Sparky’s pitchfork on the Arizona midfield logo, which sparked some pushing and shoving postgame. But after the dust settled, the Sun Devils claimed their first 10-win season since 2014 in Dillingham’s second season leading his alma mater.

“I just know we’ll be in it, but I’m excited for what’s next and what can become in this program,” Dillingham said about being in the Big 12 Championship. “Like I said, this is year two. We were built to continue to get better, and hopefully, that continues to happen, and we continue to get better. Are we better than I anticipated? Yeah, but hopefully we can continue to build and build and build and create something sustainable.”

In the preseason, the Sun Devils were picked to finish dead last in their premiere season in the Big 12. Now, Arizona State’s win and TCU’s 20-13 victory over Cincinnati will send the Sun Devils to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas next Saturday against No. 18 Iowa State at 10 a.m. MST. The Cyclones snuck into the conference title game with a win over No. 24 Kansas State and some help from No. 19 BYU’s win over Houston. The winner will likely receive a bid to the College Football Playoff.

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