Sun Devils achieve bowl eligibility in decisive 24-19 road victory over Iowa State

(Photo: Courtesy Sun Devil Athletics)

It’s said that a true gauge into someone or something’s character doesn’t come until they find themselves at their lowest point.

Arizona State football headed to Ames, Iowa with its back against the wall as dominoes kept falling one by one. A crushing home loss to Houston the week prior that greatly hampered the team’s aspirations of competing for a conference title was further compounded when it became official that redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt wouldn’t take another snap for the rest of the season due to a foot injury.

With their postseason aspirations on the brink, their star signal caller out of commission, and redshirt junior wide receiver Jordyn Tyson unable to play for a second straight game, the odds seemed to be stacked against the Sun Devils for the Big 12 Championship game rematch.

Somehow, someway, ASU (6-3, 4-2 Big 12) ended up scratching and clawing its way to a 24-19 road win over Iowa State (5-4, 2-4 Big 12) to clinch bowl eligibility for a second consecutive year.

“No excuse for who’s in, who’s not in; nobody cares,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “Do you accomplish a task or do you not? Our guys accomplished the task today and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

For the second time this season, senior quarterback Jeff Sims took over starting duties for ASU. On one hand, roughly 87% of Sun Devils’ net offensive yards came solely from the backup signal caller.

Offensive Coordinator Marcus Arroyo’s play calling took full advantage of Sims’ dual-threat capabilities, leading to 29 rushing attempts for 228 yards and two touchdowns on top of 177 yards and a touchdown through the air.

His stat line on the ground resulted in him setting the record for most rushing yards by a ASU quarterback in a single game; a milestone that hadn’t been touched since 1978 when Mark Malone rushed for 178 yards.

“It’s the first time in his entire career that he’s been in the same system for two years, and he had a week of practice,” Dillingham said. “He’s a good football player.”

At the same time, Sims’ three turnovers left ASU in a precarious position until the very end. Despite losing the turnover battle three-to-one, the deciding factor of the contest came down to whether or not the Cyclones could capitalize on the Sun Devils’ mistakes.

Outside of turning a fumble by Sims into a 17-yard passing touchdown with one minute left in the first half, Iowa State failed to take advantage. An interception on the very next ASU drive became a missed 55-yard field goal while another fumble midway through the fourth quarter could only be turned into a six-play drive for a punt.

However, Dillingham put the blame on his own shoulders for passing the ball with less than twenty seconds left before halftime and refused to let a few errors color his perception of Sims’ gutsy performance.

“He controlled the perimeter, he made all the plays,” Dillingham. “His interception was on me, not him at the end of the first half.”

The same up-and-down philosophy could be applied to the Sun Devils’ offense as a whole. In terms of the good, receiving threats like junior wide receiver Jalen Moss and senior tight end Chamon Metayer took advantage of having more targets per usual.

Moss, who entered the game with four receptions for 41 yards on the season, had the most targets of any player for ASU with seven which became three catches for 52 yards.

Metayer on the other hand hauled in six receptions for a season-high 68 yards and the team’s lone passing touchdown in the second quarter that saw the Sun Devils take the lead for the first time.

What prevented the offense from hitting second-gear was penalties and situational gambles not paying off.

ASU racked up 11 penalties for 119 by the final whistle; two of which took two separate touchdown plays off the board to force a field goal on the team’s second drive.

With nine minutes left to go in the game, the Sun Devils had possession at the Cyclones’ 18-yard line up 24-19. ASU faced a 4th & 3 situation, and instead of kicking a field goal to go up by eight, Dillingham went for the conversion on a passing play to Raleek Brown that was swatted away near the line of scrimmage.

“I still like the call,” Dillingham said. “I mean it was close, it was right there. They made a great play batting it down, but if you score in that scenario, you almost seal the deal as opposed to going up if you make the kick.”

When it was needed most, ASU’s defense came through with one of its best performances on the season.

Despite giving up a touchdown both passing and rushing to quarterback and preseason Davey O’Brien watch list member Rocco Becht in the first half, the unit held him to a 50% completion percentage and just 186 passing yards. Only four of Iowa State’s 15 drives resulted in points scored; seven of which ended in punts with five in the second half alone.

The play-making ability of the defense came through on the Cyclones’ final drive. One of junior defensive back Keith Abney II’s three total tackles was bringing a receiver down in bounds when Iowa State had no timeouts. With the clock down to 20 seconds, the rushed play that came next ended on the arm of redshirt senior defensive lineman Justin Wodtly who knocked the ball out of the air to set up an eventual turnover on downs.

No matter the style or fashion, a much-needed victory still gets added to ASU’s win column as the team heads into its second bye week. Dillingham has already stated that he intends to give every player the week off due to injury concerns in hopes of recharging the Sun Devils’ batteries in time for a crucial three-game stretch where one wrong move could end any hopes of winning the Big 12.

“We’re not playing for second place,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “Nobody does that. That’s a loser mentality. We’re going to do whatever we can every week, whatever the best plan is to win that football game. Then you survive, you advance, and you try to win another one.”