ASU football looked to clinch bowl eligibility with a win on Saturday, but ultimately fell 24-14 against Cincinnati in a close game on the road.
One key factor in the loss was the Sun Devil's kicking game. Redshirt sophomore Ian Hershey missed two field goals in the fourth quarter, one from 48 yards out, the other from 41 yards out. The ASU kicking game is 7 for 13 when it comes to field goals this season and has struggled in many ways — kicks have been blocked due to low height and have been missed from both long-range and chip-shot distances.
"Our kicking game is atrocious, so if you can kick, and you're at Arizona State, email me," head coach Kenny Dillingham said. "We are going to have kicking tryouts on Monday, so bring it on ... I'm dead serious."
The special teams weren't solely responsible for the loss on Saturday. After a commanding 6-play, 66-yard touchdown drive to start things off, the Sun Devil offense was stifled for much of the game. The group finished the first half with a -0.50 EPA per play mark, which ranked in the 0th percentile for offensive success.
Filling in for injured redshirt freshman Sam Leavitt, senior backup quarterback Jeff Sims threw for 155 yards and completed only 52.2% of his passes. Senior running back Cam Skattebo also had a quiet day by his standards, rushing for 75 yards on 17 carries with a fumble.
"I think we just got out-physicalled," redshirt senior offensive lineman Leif Fautanu said. "We started fast, but we just got to continue to maintain that intensity throughout the game. That's kind of what we lost, especially when we had adverse situations."
Meanwhile, the Bearcats' offense thrived early on. The unit scored 24 straight points in the first half and led a balanced attack all day. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brendan Sorsby threw for 206 yards on 31 passing attempts, while the run game accounted for 191 rushing yards on 38 carries.
"We just didn't come out here and play our brand of football," sophomore defensive back Keith Abney II said. "They ran the ball a lot and stopped the run. We have to go back to square one, like Leif said, and start playing our brand of football no matter what the environment is."
Yet, by the end of the third quarter and into the early fourth quarter, it appeared ASU still had a chance for a comeback win. The Sun Devil's offense scored its second touchdown of the day on a drive sparked by several highlight runs from Skattebo.
Sun Devil defense then made a goal-line stand with 9:10 to go in the fourth. Within a few plays the Sun Devils offense was back in scoring position.
Then came the first missed field goal.
The Sun Devil's defense forced its second straight stop, shutting out the Bearcats for the entirety of the second half. The ASU offense still had one last chance at a comeback in Cincinnati.
Then came the second missed field goal.
Hershey sliced the kick left of the uprights with 27 seconds left. The Bearcats subsequently took a kneel down and iced the game. ASU is now 5-2 on the season.
"We're going to put it out on our social. We're going to have a kicking tryout on Monday," Dillingham said. "We got to find somebody that can make a field goal."
Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Ramirez and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at jwkartso@asu.edu and follow @kartsonis3 on X.
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Jack is a sophomore studying sports journalism. This is his second semester with The State Press. He has also worked at other student journalism organizations.
