Legend has it Stillwater, Oklahoma got its name from calm waters. On Saturday, such conditions were anything but the case for the Sun Devils' game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
ASU entered halftime with a 21-14 lead, expecting to be back in action in less than 20 minutes. Then came the rain. Fans emptied Boone Pickens Stadium as a two-hour and 38-minute delay ensued.
Momentum could've easily shifted for ASU after the long break but the opposite occurred. The Sun Devils came out even better, outscoring the Cowboys 21-7 after halftime, en route to a 42-21 victory. ASU clinched bowl eligibility for the first time since 2021 with the win.
The key to the second-half onslaught? Food, relaxation and laughter.
"I wish I could say I did something magical," said head coach Kenny Dillingham. "I didn't talk to the guys for an hour and a half. We just got away from them and said relax, lay down, take a nap, do what you gotta do."
The Sun Devils' offense was impressive in the win, totaling a season-high 529 yards. The unit gained 26 first downs and went 10-for-16 on third down without committing a turnover.
Senior running back Cam Skattebo was the main man on offense. He rushed for 153 yards and a touchdown on the ground and added 121 yards and two touchdowns through the air. Skattebo has already surpassed 1,000 rushing yards with four games left this season.
"The dude is a killer, and he's going to do that at the next level too," said redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt. "He's a hell of a player. Can't say much more than that."
In his return from injury, Leavitt completed 20 of his 29 passes for 304 yards and three touchdowns while making highlight plays with his legs.
One such play came on a third and eight in the second quarter. Leavitt broke a tackle and dodged potential sacks for a seven-yard gain. On the next play, he threw a 50-yard touchdown to Skattebo on a now manageable fourth-and-one.
"He balled out," Dillingham said. "(He had) one of the craziest little scrambles. I've coached some athletic quarterbacks in my career, between Bo (Nix) and Jordan (Travis), and that was one of the most impressive plays I've seen."
The ASU defense also put together an impressive performance. No Oklahoma State running back gained more than 25 yards on the ground and no receiver reached the 80-yard receiving mark.
After throwing for 151 yards in the first half, Cowboys redshirt senior quarterback Alan Bowman had only 24 passing yards in the second half.
"I feel like we didn't really start slow," said Junior defensive back Myles Rowser. "There were just a couple of things we needed to really work on, just individually. But second half, we really turned it up."
Much of the success can be credited to defensive coordinator Brian Ward, who drew up a schematic curveball this week. Instead of constantly blitzing, Ward rushed four defenders and played more coverage than he typically brings.
"We did a really good job mixing up calls," Dillingham said. "We didn't have many max pressures, we just played some coverage this week. That was a good mix-up from a self-scout perspective."
ASU was predicted to finish last in the Big 12 and is now going bowling with a 6-2 record. Dillingham said that his team is "playing with house money" for the remainder of the season.
"I told the guys in the locker room, they have changed the culture of this program in 22 months," Dillingham said. "They took a program and they completely flipped it from where it was, and it has nothing to do with the staff, it has nothing to do with the coaches."
Edited by Jack Barron, Sophia Braccio 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.
