The Arizona State Sun Devils beat the Oklahoma State Cowboys, 42-21, in Big 12 action in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday.
Arizona State (6-2, 3-2 in Big 12) remained on the periphery of the Big 12 Championship game race with the victory, combined with losses by undefeated Iowa State and one-loss Kansas State, in league action.
Oklahoma State (3-6, 0-6) needs to end the season with three wins to go to a bowl game. The Cowboys haven’t missed a bowl game since 2005.
Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo passed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season as he gained 153 yards on the ground and 121 yards in the air, scoring three combined touchdowns. Quarterback Sam Leavitt returned from injury and threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns. Jordyn Tyson caught eight passes for 81 yards and a touchdown.
Oklahoma State back Ollie Gordon II had another rough game, rushing for 25 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Alan Bowman threw for 175 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling caught five passes for 77 yards.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Suspended Animation
The game was suspended due to bad weather in the Stillwater area after the first half ended. The game time was moved up to 2:30 p.m. central to try and avoid it. Didn’t work.
The interesting part was that the game announcers were talking about the possibility of the game being considered “official,” per Big 12 rules. So, what is that rule? Research mode!
So, first here’s the NCAA rule, which is Rule 3-3-3-c (someone got outline happy). The competing teams can choose to resume the game at a later date, terminate the game with a final score or forfeit the game.
This being a conference game, no one wants that. With ASU up 21-14 at the time, OSU DEFINITELY didn’t want that.
But the thought was in the air. Per Arizona Sports, ASU athletic director Graham Rossini told listeners during the pregame show that calling it at half was a contingency plan. Big 12 by-laws do allow it (even as I was unable to find said by-laws).
Chris Karpman at Sun Devil Source managed to find the by-law (forgive me for looking for the 2024 version and not the 2023 version).
Anyway, after a 2:39 delay, the Sun Devils and Cowboys got back to it.
Skatte-back
One of the best parts of this Big 12 season has been watching the conference discover running back Cam Skattebo. This includes me because I didn’t know who he was until that huge game against Mississippi State.
When the senior is gobbling up yards, the Sun Devils are gobbling up wins. But Saturday was extra-special as he had more than 100 yards rushing and receiving. He was the first Sun Devil to do that since Demario Richard in 2015.
Two of those catches led to scores. There was, of course, the 36-yard touchdown pass he caught on a screen route to start the fourth quarter.
But that sliding catch in the third quarter, with quarterback Sam Leavitt scrambling to his non-throwing side, helped set up Kyson Brown’s 7-yard touchdown run.
I covered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a while and his running style reminds me of Mike Alstott. He’s not quite as big as the Bucs legend, but that upright running style and the way he bounces off defenders (or defenders bounce off him) means NFL scouts will take a long look at him this offseason.
The contrast against Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II couldn’t have been more glaring. Here was last year’s Doak Walker winner rushing for just 25 yards. He has just two 100-yard rushing games and, to me, it’s an indictment of OSU’s offensive scheme. I think Cowboys offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn is too easily chased off by stacked boxes and doesn’t give his offensive line enough chances to move the point of attack. I saw it in person against Kansas State and I saw it again tonight.
It’s inexcusable for Gordon to get the ball just 11 times in the backfield and once in the pass game. I can’t wait to hear what NFL scouts say Gordon tells them about his final season with the Cowboys.
Related: Oklahoma State Football: It’s Time to be Done With Dunn
ASU’s Turnaround
Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham is just in his second season helming the program. Last year, after winning just three games, one could be forgiven for not giving the Sun Devils much of a chance this season.
But, he’s engineered on of the best one-season turnarounds you’re going to see this year, no matter what happens from here. The Sun Devils are going to a bowl game for the first time since the 2021 season and have erased the stink from how the Herm Edwards-Ray Anderson era ended in Tempe.
This, naturally, will jack up the expectations in Year 3. It also means that programs looking for similar results will start sniffing around the youngest coach in FBS (Dillingham is just 34).
The good news for ASU is that Dillingham is a Phoenix native, went to Arizona State and left a great job as Oregon’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach to take over the Sun Devils. It’s one of those situations where you can say he has his dream job and not have to worry about someone poaching him.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
