(Photo via Hailey Rogalski/WCSN)
This week at Arizona State football’s practices, the message was clear and constant — the offense was just small details away from securing a win.
It applied not only to the on-field performance but also off the field, as head coach Kenny Dillingham revealed that the offense’s bus wasn’t clean on its road trip back from Washington last week. Meanwhile, the defense’s bus was spotless, representative of its remarkable lockdown showing against the Huskies.
But the little details were finally manifested Saturday night against Washington State (4-4, 1-4 Pac-12), as ASU (2-6, 1-4 Pac-12) scored a season-high in points on its way to a 38-27 win over the Cougars. The outcome stood as the Sun Devils’ first win against a Power Five opponent this season and helped to avoid a seventh straight loss, which would have been the longest in program history.
“I really just think it’s a group of people that are sick and tired of not getting it done and being competitive,” Dillingham said. “They got it done tonight and they deserve it. And hopefully they learn from this. They learn [that] if you just do things right and do your one-eleventh and give extreme effort, a lot of good things are going to happen.”
At halftime, the contest looked to be a shootout with the Sun Devils ahead 24-21. Both squads had nearly identical times of possession and moved the ball downfield with ease. Washington State junior quarterback Cameron Ward — responsible for three total touchdowns — gashed a Sun Devil defense that had just shut down quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s lethal Washington offense.
Yet in the final 30 minutes, Ward’s heroics through the air and on the ground were kept in check. ASU limited the Cougars to only two field goals in the second half, while also collecting three sacks and 14 quarterback hurries for the game.
The Sun Devils didn’t make any major defensive adjustments at the break, but rather voiced a simple message to finish.
“This game was one of the biggest games where we wanted to put together a whole game,” graduate linebacker Tre Brown said. “So we went in, told them guys we need to finish and make sure we’re just doing our one-eleventh. One-play mentality, making sure that we’re executing on every single play, and then after that, the score shows.”
The Cougars had multiple chances in the fourth quarter to creep into the Sun Devils’ lead. On its first drive of the final frame, WSU reached ASU’s 10-yard line and were faced with a third-and-10 scenario. Junior defensive end B.J. Green then bursted up the middle on a blitz and sacked Ward for seven yards, forcing a field goal to cut the deficit down to nine.
The Cougars had one final comeback pursuit on its next and last drive. With a combination of short throws and a fast-paced tempo, Ward raced down into the red zone.
But the Sun Devils’ defense displayed their bend-don’t-break mentality once again at the 2-yard line, as Ward misfired on his throw to junior wide receiver Kyle Williams on fourth down. ASU took over and salted the game away from there.
While ASU’s defensive performance was far from perfect, Dillingham was pleased with its ability to answer the call when it had to.
“We won the situations,” Dillingham said. “We won third down in the second half, and then we won the low red zone battle. That’s winning the moments that matter, and that’s winning football.”
On offense, the Sun Devils leaned heavily on a refined rushing attack that surpassed its single- game total by halftime. Collectively, the unit rushed for 235 yards and scored all five of ASU’s touchdowns. It wasn’t just a ground-and-pound showing up the middle from redshirt junior running back DeCarlos Brooks — who found the end zone three times — and junior back Cam Skattebo. Both showed success with toss sweeps and outside runs, while redshirt junior wide receiver Elijhah Badger was featured on end arounds and jet sweeps.
Regardless of Dillingham’s lack of comfortability with the new-look ground attack, it was an adjustment he knew he had to make.
“Throwing the ball is fun, right?” Dillingham said. “It’s exciting, and it’s good. But at the end of the day, you have to be a physical football team. And teams that win championships play physical football and they can run the ball. So we were just trying to be creative to find an identity to run the ball, and if that meant get under center and run speed sweeps from cut splits and run toss sweeps … It’s not about what I’m comfortable with, it’s about what puts our players in the best position to be successful.”
Skattebo led the way with a single-game high 121 yards and a touchdown. The performance was highlighted by a 66-yard run that Skattebo broke loose down the near sideline, which served as the first rush of over 20 yards by any Sun Devil this season. He would later finish off the drive with his usual rugged mentality, pinballing off defenders for a 2-yard score.
For Dillingham, the collective team effort went back to his original challenge earlier in the week. He demanded that his group play with a more detail-oriented mindset, and the Sun Devils jokingly called him “angry Dilly” for his orders.
But ASU subsequently followed through on his request, on-the field and off. Dillingham said he only had four players listed for academic issues this week — an improvement from weeks past. In addition, the Sun Devils were nine minutes early for a pregame meal. Now, they hope it transitions into more results like Saturday night.
“I think we did a great job all week,” redshirt junior quarterback Trenton Bourguet said. “Whether it’s cleaning the locker room, picking up trash in the film room, making sure people are on time to all the meetings. It all starts with the little things and that’s really what makes great teams great.”
