Welcome to the College Football Playoff in the state of Arizona.
15. In their first year in the conference, the Sun Devils won the Big 12 outright with a 45-19 victory over Iowa State. ASU scored 35 straight points in the second and third quarters to turn the game into a rout thanks to three straight Iowa State turnovers.
Each of Arizona State’s three touchdowns in the third quarter came on a turnover. Abu Sama fumbled on the first drive of the second half and ASU capitalized on a TD pass from Sam Leavitt to Xavier Guillory. On ISU’s first play of the next drive, Rocco Becht’s pass attempt bounced off the offensive lineman’s helmet and into the arms of defensive back Keith Abney II.
Three plays later, Leavitt found Guillory again in the end zone.
Cam Skattebo — who else? — then provided an exclamation point after Sam’s second fumble of the quarter when he scored on a 33-yard catch-and-run that gave Arizona State a 35-point lead.
Skattebo ran all over Iowa State with 16 carries for 170 yards and three total touchdowns. He opened the game with a 28-yard run and also had a 53-yard carry against an Iowa State defense that has struggled against the run all season.
It’s a remarkable turnaround for the Sun Devils (11-2) in Kenny Dillingham’s second season. The former Oregon offensive coordinator was hired in Tempe in the wake of Herm Edwards’ rocky tenure. The former NFL coach was three games into his fifth season at the school as ASU finished 3-9 in 2022. Edwards and current Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce have also been the subject of an NCAA investigation into an improper recruiting plan during the covid-19 pandemic.
ASU self-imposed a bowl ban in 2023 due to the investigation and received four years of probation in April. Earlier this fall, Pierce received an eight-year prison sentence from the NCAA for his role.
The Sun Devils finished 3-9 in 2023 and were the only team Colorado beat in the Pac-12 a season ago. That led to ASU being picked last in the Big 12 preseason media poll.
Instead, Arizona State has now won six straight since losing at Cincinnati on Oct. 19. And three of the last four wins came over teams that were ranked at the time. ASU put itself in prime position to reach the Big 12 title game with a win at Kansas State in Week 12 and then beat BYU by five in a lopsided Week 13 upset.
Skattebo is also a fringe Heisman candidate. He now has 263 carries for 1,568 yards and 19 rushing TDs while adding 37 catches for 508 yards and three receiving scores. Colorado’s Travis Hunter is the prohibitive favorite and Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty will undoubtedly be second behind Hunter. But Skattebo has a phenomenal case for third place behind the other two stars.
Where will ASU be deployed?
The Sun Devils were the tentative No. 12 seed in the 12-team bracket heading into conference championship weekend, as they were ranked outside the top 12.
It’s hard to see ASU being ranked No. 12 after what happened on Saturday.
There’s little chance the committee could look that favorably on a win, moving ASU ahead of Boise State, which was tentatively ranked No. 4 at No. 10 in the committee’s rankings. But Boise State beat No. 20 UNLV by 14 on Friday night to win the Mountain West title and is one loss behind Arizona State.
That stands to reason that the committee won’t ding Boise State for a two-point win in a game that led 21-0 at halftime, but Dillingham campaigned for a bye after the game. He noted that Leavitt did not play in ASU’s loss to Cincinnati.
“We’re 11-1 with our quarterback, we should be treated like an 11-1 team,” Dillingham said after the game.
But it should also elevate Arizona State to the last seed. If SMU beats Clemson Saturday night in the ACC title game and secures a first-round bye, Arizona State could be No. 10 or so on Sunday. That would still put the Sun Devils on the road in the first round, but they would avoid a trip to the top two ranked teams.
If Clemson wins, Arizona State should be no lower than No. 4 in the group as the Tigers have three losses.