Early penalties, missed opportunities hurt ASU in first Big-12 loss

(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)

One thing that has been clear since Kenny Dillingham took over the Arizona State football program is that the second-year head coach clearly prioritizes discipline. Penalties are one of the easiest ways for a team to lose control of a game, and the Sun Devils were coming off back-to-back years of finishing in the top four in their conference in total penalties, including leading the Pac-12 in 2021.

However, in Dillingham’s first year, the Sun Devils’ total penalties plummeted to 11th in the Pac-12, finishing 2023 with just 68 penalties. Through three games in 2024, the Sun Devils have struggled with penalties at times but have been able to fight through those mistakes.

That all changed on Saturday as ASU’s (3-1, 0-1 Big-12) debut in the Big-12 was spoiled by eight penalties, most of which were particularly untimely, resulting in a 30-22 loss to Texas Tech (3-1, 1-0 Big-12).

“You’re not going to win many games if you play football like that,” Dillingham said about the penalties. “Unfortunately, that’s, I think, our first game since I’ve been here that I can say we were undisciplined, and we gotta get that fixed.”

Right off the bat after the Red Raiders elected to receive the kick, graduate kicker Parker Lewis hooked his opening kickoff out of bounds, giving the vaunted Texas Tech offense a good field position to begin its first drive. With no time off the clock, penalties were already affecting ASU.

Texas Tech clearly possessed one of the country’s best offenses through three games, scoring 134 points, the second-most in the Big 12. On their first drive against the Sun Devils, the Red Raiders marched down the field for a 10-play, 65-yard drive that resulted in a quick seven points. Junior quarterback Behren Morton completed multiple passes for 15+ yards on the drive before hitting junior tight end Johncarlos Miller II on a quick out route to put the Red Raiders up, 7-0.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt threw a pick on the next drive, and just like that, the Sun Devils were down seven points and losing the field position battle in a major way.

“We kick a ball out of bounds to start the game,” Dillingham said. “Then we get a penalty… another 15-yard penalty. We just lost 30 yards of field position. We throw a pick on the first drive. There’s another 35 yards of field position, so we lost 65 yards of field position in two possessions of the game on the road. You’re not going to win many games.”

Still, even with the penalties and the interception, ASU’s defense recovered enough after the turnover to put the Red Raiders in a difficult 3rd-and-21 situation. Texas Tech admitted defeat on the drive and handed it off, preparing the punt team on the sideline. Still, redshirt junior defensive tackle Justin Wodtly tackled Brooks by the face mask, gifting the Red Raiders a new set of downs.

Three plays later, senior wide receiver Josh Kelly caught a screen on third down and weaved through ASU defenders to put his team up 14-0 halfway through the first quarter.

Through their first two drives, the Red Raiders wasted no time getting up to the line and starting the next play. The quick, high-tempo offense appeared to catch the Sun Devil defense off guard, putting ASU quickly on its heels in hostile territory.

“We knew that it was a chance they might tempo it, so we kind of prepared for it,” redshirt junior defensive back Xavion Alford said. “Obviously, the first drive of the game could go many ways. Trying to get the feel for the game, it could go either way and I feel like we started to adjust to it pretty well.”

After those first two drives, the Sun Devil defense seemed to finally settle down, but by that point, it might have been too late. ASU couldn’t close the gap for the remainder of the game.

The Sun Devils cut the lead to four after Leavitt had one of his most composed drives of the season. The Michigan State transfer hit redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jordan Tyson for a 27-yard gain before following that up with a 19-yard completion to redshirt senior wide receiver Xavier Guillory. He eventually tush pushed his way into the end zone for ASU’s first touchdown of the game.

However, with just over a minute left on the clock, the Red Raiders marched down the field, converting multiple third downs another way to kicking a field goal to put themselves up a touchdown heading into the break. The Sun Devils couldn’t score coming out of the half after Leavitt failed to connect with a wide-open redshirt senior wide receiver, Jake Smith.

The Red Raiders took the ball on their first possession of the half, marched down the field, and let old friend and senior tight end Jalin Conyers run it in to push the score to 24-10 and re-establish their 14-point lead.

“They countered every time that we were on the brink of closing that gap and tying the football game, and that’s a testament to them,” Dillingham said.

Senior running back Cameron Skattebo was once again ASU’s strongest offensive player. The versatility that made him a Paul Hornung finalist last season was again displayed as he amassed 177 all-purpose yards.

66 of Skattebo’s 117 receiving yards came on a crazy play that saw the Rio Linda, California native tiptoe down the sideline while simultaneously bulldozing his way through a tackle all the way down to the three-yard line. He later punched it into the end zone for the first of two touchdowns on the day. The second came in garbage time with under two minutes to play, and the Sun Devils were down two scores.

“When we get guys on the same page, it’s going to be dangerous,” Skatteo said. “Those first two weeks, we were on the same page. 100% that Mississippi State game we all were on the same page the whole game, and we were rolling. Today, we kind of had some miscommunications, and we just gotta talk. We gotta stay on each other’s side and play for each other.”

It was a hostile introduction to Big-12 play for ASU. Dillingham attributed the Sun Devils’ slow start partly to the energy of the stadium, with tortillas flying all over the place. However, through four weeks of the season, if you had to ask Dillingham if he would take a 3-1 record heading into the bye week, I bet you he would say yes.

The Sun Devils took the first three weeks to go from learning how to lose to learning how to win. Now, with two weeks to stew on its first loss of the new campaign, ASU will now turn its attention to learning how not just to win but how to win in the Big-12.

“We got our butts kicked early, and then we responded poorly in that area of the field,” Dillingham said. “Then we calmed them down, and then we got better on defense. We put together a drive on offense. But I would say that is it. That was our first real loud crowd, road game, 60,000 fans, and we didn’t handle it well, specifically early.”