(Photo via Spencer Barnes/WCSN)
Even after Arizona State Football showed signs of improvement in its 42-28 defeat to then-No. 5 USC a week ago, many set lofty prospects for first-year head coach Kenny Dillingham to lead his team to victory at California on Saturday.
Perhaps these reservations were for good reason.
ASU’s second Pac-12 Conference matchup of 2023 marked its first time playing away from home, nonetheless going against a defensively-sound Golden Bears squad that has shown growth of its own in head coach Justin Wilcox’s seventh year at the helm. Despite being dismantled in a 59-32 loss to then-No. 8 Washington to open Pac-12 play, Cal put together an encouraging non-conference slate, taking care of North Texas and Idaho while holding Auburn to just two touchdowns in a four-point home loss.
A lack of a consistent face at quarterback only added to the challenge, as redshirt junior Trenton Bourguet was named ASU’s third starting quarterback in five games this season after freshman Jaden Rashada and redshirt sophomore Drew Pyne both went down with injuries.
The Sun Devils (1-4, 0-2 Pac-12) found themselves in a position to win for much of Saturday’s game in Berkeley, albeit never leading. Instead, Cal (3-2, 1-1 Pac-12) took advantage of ASU’s shaky play across the board, favorable field position and costly penalties to escape with a narrow 24-21 victory.
Here are five takeaways from ASU’s second conference loss of the year.
ASU keeps it close in first road game
After getting into a groove with four straight night games under the lights of Mountain America Stadium, ASU had to prepare for a noon kickoff in a new setting — representing somewhat uncharted waters for the Sun Devils. For Dillingham, the biggest key to success in this new scenario was limiting distractions and solely focusing on football, a sentiment he’s preached since ASU announced its self-imposed bowl ban days before the season opener.
It seems that the Sun Devils were up to that task, as they traded blows with Cal all afternoon and didn’t ever seem out of the game. ASU outgained the Golden Bears 430 yards to 326 while putting together multiple sustained drives, an improvement over the last two games after early-season struggles to stay on the field.
While ASU still has to visit other Pac-12 stadiums notorious for their hostile environments — Washington’s Husky Stadium and Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium — this year, there is reason for optimism moving forward after keeping things competitive throughout its first road test of the season.
Bourguet displays toughness in season debut
Things quickly turned dire for the Sun Devils when Bourguet took a hard hit as he threw on his own 13-yard line, leaving him slow to get up with over 12 minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
Sure, Bourguet’s pass was intercepted by junior defensive back Matthew Littlejohn and returned for 19 yards on the play, giving Cal’s offense a short field and a glorious opportunity to punch it in and take a 24-13 lead — one it capitalized on just four plays later. But more importantly, it appeared ASU had lost another quarterback due to injury, the last thing an already-banged-up offense needed.
On the visitors’ next drive three minutes later, however, Bourguet returned to his spot under center and had seemingly no trouble moving the ball downfield.
Aided by a 52-yard kickoff return from junior wideout Elijhah Badger, the Tucson native capped off a four-play, 48-yard drive that saw him complete both of his passing attempts with a three-yard rushing touchdown. On the ensuing two-point attempt, Bourguet found the aforementioned Badger in the back of the end zone, bringing ASU back within three points of the Golden Bears.
While the redshirt junior signal caller was far from perfect and threw a couple of additional near-interceptions, he finished the day going 26-for-41 with 344 yards in the air — the most ASU has logged in a single game this entire season.
Bourguet is no stranger to playing quarterback against Pac-12 competition, as he played in seven games — starting five — last season in place of injured redshirt junior quarterback Emory Jones, throwing for 1,490 yards, 11 touchdowns and six picks.
Defense struggles to stop the run
Throughout ASU’s current four-game losing streak, its defense has been a major bright spot, keeping contests competitive even when the offense appeared lost.
The Sun Devils’ defense impressed in some areas on Saturday, logging eight tackles for loss and three pass breakups, but couldn’t contain Cal’s run-first attack, conceding 196 rushing yards and over four per carry.
Sophomore running back Jaydn Ott was at the forefront of the Golden Bears’ ground game, accounting for 165 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. Ott had no trouble finding gaps and picking up chunk plays, logging four rushes of over ten yards. While two of these explosive runs didn’t amount to points — both coming on third and long situations on the Golden Bears’ side of the field that failed to move the sticks — they highlight a second straight game where ASU was burned on the ground.
Last weekend in Tempe, USC also found success in the rushing game, accumulating 213 yards and two touchdowns. Similar to Cal, the Trojans’ lead back did most of the damage with junior MarShawn Lloyd averaging 11 yards on 14 carries.
Of course, USC’s success is more reflective of its elite offense, but ASU’s run defense will be something to monitor down the stretch, especially with some of the best rushing attacks in the Pac-12 (Oregon, Oregon State and UCLA) remaining on the schedule.
Skattebo does it all on offense once again
A week ago against USC, Dillingham called ASU’s offensive plays for the first time this season and certainly left his mark, instantly taking on an aggressive mindset and running several trick plays, especially on third and fourth downs. Junior running back Cam Skattebo was heavily leaned on in the approach, tallying 190 all-purpose yards and taking several direct snaps that kept the Trojans’ defense guessing all night long.
And throughout Saturday’s game in Berkeley, Dillingham utilized his athletic running back in very similar fashion.
Skattebo logged 157 all-purpose yards and was a dependable target for Bourguet, catching four passes for a game-high 98 receiving yards. Cal’s defense greatly limited the Sun Devils’ rushing attack — allowing just 68 yards — but Skattebo still made his presence felt. On second-and-goal with time winding down in the first quarter, the Rio Linda, CA native took a direct snap and punched in a two-yard score to tie the game at seven.
Over halfway into the next quarter, ASU faced a fourth-and-1 on its 34-yard line and elected to try its luck instead of sending out the punt unit. Skattebo took another direct snap and faked the handoff to Bourguet before lofting the ball to his quarterback 18 yards downfield for a first-down completion. This isn’t the first time Dillingham has used his quarterback as a receiver, as ASU successfully ran a similar trick play in the second quarter of last weekend’s game.
With a lack of depth up front and an aggressive play caller in Dillingham, Skattebo will likely continue to be a centerpiece of the Sun Devils’ offensive scheme going forward.
Uncharacteristic lack of discipline
While drawing a large number of penalties was an ongoing issue for ASU in previous years, it seems that Dillingham has made playing clean football a priority. Going into Berkeley, the Sun Devils were the Pac-12’s least penalized team with just 19 penalties for 186 yards over four contests. The same discipline wasn’t on display against the Golden Bears.
ASU took five penalties for 35 yards, but the two most detrimental infractions came in the second half, both nullifying big plays for the visitors.
Nearly six minutes into the third quarter and trailing 17-7, the Sun Devils began a seven-play, 71-yard drive from deep in their own territory. Facing a fourth down on Cal’s one-yard line, Badger took a pitch from Skattebo into the end zone, seemingly cutting the deficit to three points.
However, there were twelve offensive players on the field for the play, leading to the touchdown being overturned and ASU settling for three points.
Fast-forward to the waning stages of the fourth with the Sun Devils trailing by three, and Cal elected to go for it on fourth down in the red zone. A stop would have given ASU’s offense just over three minutes to march down the field and attempt to send the game into overtime.
The Golden Bears’ redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Jackson V faced immediate pressure and sent a deep ball intended for junior receiver Jeremiah Hunter. Jackson’s pass was underthrown and didn’t give the wideout much of a chance to catch it, but redshirt junior defensive back Ed Woods made contact with Hunter and was flagged for pass interference, giving the Golden Bears a fresh set of downs.
Cal didn’t score on the drive but managed to burn ASU’s three timeouts and an additional 30 seconds off the clock, giving the Sun Devils little margin for error on their final drive of the day.
Despite staying disciplined for the majority of the young season, it will be essential for ASU to avoid shooting itself in the foot during its tough remaining conference schedule.
