A slew of penalties hold ASU down, leads to 24-16 loss against Houston

(Photo: Janes Reyes/ WCSN)

TEMPE – Saturday night’s scene at Mountain America Stadium was nearing pandemonium.

Referee Stephen Baron’s announcement late in the third quarter that ASU junior defensive back Keith Abney II had committed pass interference on Houston junior wide receiver Harvey Broussard pushed the crowd over the edge.

Arizona State’s rowdy student section flung yellow towels onto the playing surface, and when there were no more towels to throw, the angry masses moved on to launching their water bottles. All while chants of “ref, you suck” were belted out.

It didn’t help that UH was knocking on the door of making it a 24-0 game. Abney’s penalty – the ninth of the night for the Sun Devils – putting the Cougars on ASU’s 2-yard line. Three plays later, and after another penalty – this time it was on senior safety Myles Rowser for targeting, leading to his ejection from the game – UH managed to punch in its third touchdown of the game.

The height of despair was reached.

No. 24 ASU (5-3, 3-2 Big 12 Conference) managed to crawl back into the game in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t overcome the 12 penalties for 76 yards it collected, falling to UH (7-1, 4-1) 24-16, for its first loss at home in nearly two calendar years.

“It’s great to set an expectation to win every home game,” ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “You should have the expectation to win every home game. You’re not going to, but that should be the expectation. That’s the expectation I have, too. It was upsetting that we didn’t get it done for the fans tonight.”

The 12 penalties committed by the Sun Devils tied the mark they recorded in the season opener against Northern Arizona for the most the program has committed in a single game since Week 7 of the 2021 season, when they racked up 13 against Utah. While it’s hardly ever been this bad from a penalty standpoint, the games against UH and NAU aren’t isolated incidents.

ASU leads the Big 12 with 64 penalties over eight games – 38 more than Kansas State, which has the least with 26 – and is fifth in penalty yardage with 478. Even last year, when it won the Big 12 Championship and made the College Football Playoff, ASU was third in the conference in penalties.

The difference is that last year the Sun Devils averaged 6.4 penalties per game, whereas in 2025 they’re averaging eight. Penalties have come back to bite the Sun Devils time and time again, and Saturday, it cost them.

After committing six penalties across the first two quarters, halftime offered an opportunity to reset. The game was far from out of hand, with UH leading by just 10. A disciplined start to the final 30 minutes of game action could’ve shifted momentum toward ASU.

Instead, the Sun Devils earned their seventh penalty of the game when redshirt freshman tight end James Giggey was called for holding on the opening kickoff, resulting in ASU starting on the 10-yard line instead of the 29.

It was one of four penalties that were called against the special teams unit, with the other three being a fourth-quarter roughing the kicker call and two mistakes while blocking on punts.

“We have to play better all across the board,” Dillingham said. “We have to be better as a football team. We didn’t play well enough as a football team tonight. That (special teams) was one of the phases that didn’t play well enough, but all the phases have to play better.”

It wasn’t just special teams and defense that drew the ire of the officiating crew, however. The penalty party got started by redshirt senior Malik McClain early in the first quarter. The veteran was called for a block in the back on a short reception by redshirt senior tight end Chamon Metayer.

Arguably, the penalty that had the biggest impact on the game was also committed by the offense.

In the middle of the third quarter, with the score 17-0, the Sun Devils had a chance to start turning their fortunes around. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt found Metayer over the middle, and the 6-foot-4 tight end was able to bring the ball with him into the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown.

The crowd went ballistic; it seemed as if the tide was turning, but it wasn’t meant to be. An illegal shift nullified the touchdown and ASU couldn’t find its way back to the promised land for another quarter.

“It was a small detail switch and we recognized it halfway through,” Dillingham said. “It was an illegal motion. It didn’t have any effect on the play, but it was a penalty 100%. It was unfortunate. We can’t have it, and that’s on myself to not let those things happen because there’s easily 10 points in that game just off that play alone.”

The Sun Devils shooting themselves in the foot with penalties finally caught up to them. Even the friendly confines of home, where ASU won its previous 10 games, couldn’t shield it from a slew of mistakes.

Last season, penalties never really reached a point where they stopped the team from achieving its goals. 2025 appears to be a different story. With a tough conference schedule ahead, ASU will need to be on top of its game, and that starts with limiting mistakes.

If it can’t, Dillingham could have more wistful results like Saturday’s.

“It sucks,” Dillingham said. “We’ve really built a great environment here, and unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done tonight. We didn’t play well enough in the first half, first three quarters, really, of the football game. It’s unfortunate.”