(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)
TEMPE — During a TV timeout with four minutes remaining in Saturday night’s contest, the crowd in Sun Devil Stadium was treated to a spectacle. A kid likely no older than eleven years old sporting a maroon Nike shirt that matched the maroon of the home Arizona State football was putting on a show. He was masterfully playing with a yo-yo on the big screen for the majority of the allotted three minutes.
The crowd erupted in delight at the free talent show they witnessed. The kid was likely just repeating what he had seen from the home team for the entirety of the game to that point. He saw a team toying with their opponent and manipulating a game to their will, all while charming the crowd in the process
The Sun Devils (1-0) made their intent known from the outset of Saturday night’s opening night 48-7 demolition of Wyoming (0-1). On just the second play from scrimmage — and in front of the student section — Cowboys junior quarterback Evan Svoboda looked down what he thought was an open tight end from his own 29-yard line.
But ASU redshirt junior linebacker Zyrus Fiaseu saw the same open tight end first.
Moments later, the former San Diego State transfer was sprinting through the back of the end zone toward his fellow classmates with an intercepted football in his hands. 41 seconds into the new season and a team that won just three games last year had already ignited a fanbase and stamped themselves on the scoreboard.
“Seeing everybody hype,” Fiaseu said, “just the start of the season, it’s amazing.”
The student section was particularly raucous on Saturday to welcome its team into the new year. ASU sprinted out to a 27-0 halftime lead, a monumental feat considering the team scored 27 or more points in an entire game only twice the season before. By halftime, ASU fans likely felt satisfied with the team’s work to that point considering many didn’t return after the break.
“The student section tonight was absolutely incredible,” ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “We got to figure out how to keep them in the second half. But that was an unbelievable turnout.”
The Sun Devils made a statement of intent early in this game with the pick on their first defensive drive. They then proceeded to do nothing but prove what they had shown capable of on that opening series pick-six: they dominated the Cowboys for the duration of the contest.
Three ASU takeaways and two defensive touchdowns headlined a defensive masterpiece put on by a revamped ASU group that finished ranked 127th of 130 teams in the nation last year in takeaways.
Midway through the third quarter, a muffed backward pass by Wyoming near their own end zone resulted in more ASU points off of a fumble return touchdown by redshirt junior defensive end Justin Wodtly. It was an emphasis in the off-season that Dillingham made sure everyone understood was vital to be improved.
“Every single day,” Dillingham said. “We start our team meeting and the only two things I show are effort plays and takeaways. I don’t show anything else. I don’t show somebody making a superstar catch, I don’t show a superstar juke move. It’s those two things over and over.”
ASU junior linebacker Keyshaun Elliott got himself an interception on Wyoming’s second drive of the game to punctuate the point his coaches had driven home all summer.
“Shouout to the coaches,” Elliott said. “(It’s a) testimony to our work done in the offseason, we both had interceptions just like that in practice. It shows up.”
Elliott didn’t score himself on his interception but did give the Sun Devil offense their first drive of the game starting in the opposition territory. It was the ASU faithful’s first look at its new starting quarterback, redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt. He was more than comfortable getting things started with the support of his playmaking defense.
“It takes all the pressure off me,” Leavitt said “Watch my guys go to work and create momentum in the stadium. Just let me go out there and play and have fun.”
Leavitt likely enjoyed his night posting a career-high 258 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He also added 47 yards on the ground. The balance was evidence of his propensity to manage his playmaking ability in an efficient means.
“If you’re athletic, you get out there running and then fall down,” Dillingham said. “What I was proud of was he took that and he applied it to the game. We talk about it all the time, ‘On first and second down we don’t need you to be a superstar. We need you to manage the game. It’s third downs when you extend the play and use your legs.’ So couldn’t be more proud of how he executed the plan.”
Leavitt wasn’t the only playmaker showing out in the season opener. He had to lean on the talents of the danger men on the ASU offense.
Senior running back Cameron Skattebo punched in a direct snap early in the second quarter to put his team up 24-0. Redshirt junior tight end Chamon Metayer received a pass off a Leavitt scramble early in the third and took it in 25 yards for a score. Sophomore running back Kyson Brown broke a screen pass loose for a 68-yard touchdown late in that same quarter for the last ASU points of the night.
“I didn’t do anything special tonight,” Leavitt said. “Just got the ball to my playmakers and let them make the play and we had great results.”
ASU played puppet master against Wyoming, toying with their opposition all night — much like a yo-yo — and finding whatever they wanted en route to a notable week 1 win. While Wyoming is a respectable Mountain West program coming off a nine-win season, the Sun Devils’ next opponent will pose a stiffer task. Mississippi State of the SEC comes to Tempe posing a particular puzzle ASU has never solved. The fans will need to play a key role.
“We’ve never won an SEC game in Arizona State history,” Dillingham said. “We need a sold-out crowd with the biggest student section that there’s ever been.”
Saturday night may have offered a sneak peek into the level of play possible for this year’s edition of ASU football. It also just might have given a warning to others that the Sun Devil faithful will show up in droves behind their team moving forward.
“It was pretty dope,” Fiaseu said. “Got a chance to see what we could really make this and hopefully more people start showing up and we get this thing really rocking.”
