Nearly fourteen years ago, one of football history's most iconic plays occurred. Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch ran through multiple New Orleans Saints defenders as he ran in for a 67-yard touchdown.
Now into the present, star senior running back Cam Skattebo wanted to make a Lynch-esque highlight of his own. He took a handoff to the right and made four defenders miss on his way to a 47-yard run.
Those are the types of runs Skattebo's had all season.
Lynch, in his time at the University of California, Berkeley, was trying to get himself into the Heisman conversation. While he ended up short, Skattebo finds himself in the same boat. A player who put his team on his back while they were 3-9 a season ago is now sitting at 11-2 competing in the College Football Playoffs. With so many major changes throughout the season, he hasn't changed one bit.
"He prepared the exact same way he always prepares," ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said. "He's so mature. He's grown up so much this year. You can see the speed there throughout the game, which he didn't have last year, but that's the work that he put in to get to that point."
Each year, four of the nation's top college football players get flown to New York City to be honored in the Heisman race and be there for the presentation. Just getting an invite is a substantial honor.
Colorado junior wide receiver and defensive back Travis Hunter and Boise State junior running back Ashton Jeanty are having historic seasons, and both are frontrunners for the Heisman.
Skattebo has felt a certain disrespect toward the type of year he is having. The five-time Big 12 offensive player of the week couldn't even get the conference's offensive player of the year award. Still, the numbers speak for themselves.
Skattebo is the first Big 12 player to have at least 1,500 rushing yards and 500 receiving — the first FBS player to do it since Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey finished second in Heisman voting that year.
Dillingham said he does think Skattebo should be in New York City for the ceremony.
"Want to turn on the tape?" Dillingham said. "I mean, he's really good. He's good enough to be there."
In the Big 12 championship, the biggest game of the year for the Sun Devils, one of their best receivers went down the week prior with an upper-body injury. 1,100 yards of offense gone. Now, on the season's biggest stage, it was a perfect opportunity for him to step up.
What did he do?
He carried the ball 16 times for 170 yards and caught it twice for 38, totaling three touchdowns on top of it all. The performance earned him the Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player honor.
Time and time again, Skattebo has shown the sheer skill and contact balance he possesses as a runner. He proclaimed himself the "best running back in the country" following the Big 12 Championship victory, and instantly, redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt, redshirt junior defensive back Xavion Alford and redshirt senior receiver Xavier Guillory responded with, "facts."
"He's the best player in the nation, flat-out," Leavitt said. "Most dominant player. You want to talk about the Heisman race, talk about the player most dominant in the game, he does it week in, week out against the best competition."
Still, the nation seems not to give him the respect he seeks, from being a 0-star recruit coming out of high school to having to go to an FCS school, Sacramento State, and now to ASU.
He's shown out in all stages and countless times has gotten the last laugh on those who didn't believe in him.
"I've been disrespected my whole life," Skattebo said. "I've always been the underdog. Nobody respects the fact that I'm the best running back in the country. I'm going to stand on that. If people want to disrespect that, I'm going to keep going and proving people wrong."
Guillory could see firsthand the type of player Skattebo has been for years. Being on the outside blocking for him most of the time, he has the best view on most of these Skattebo-type runs.
"I was at Idaho State when he was at Sac State," Guillory said. "We were in the same conference so I've seen this since 2021. The dude is crazy. I don't understand it. It's cool not to understand it. Like he said, we've got the best seat in the house, watching the dude run through people."
Even with the dominance, Skattebo still knows it takes a whole crew to steer the ship. His offensive line has been dominant this entire year in the run-blocking aspect of the game, which has helped him find holes to run through creating these long explosive runs.
When Skattebo received the Big 12 wrestling belt for getting the Most Outstanding Player honor, he had every single lineman signed his belt to ensure they knew they deserved the credit.
"My O-line, we wouldn't be in this position if we didn't have them," Skattebo said. "I don't know how many yards I have this season but they're the reason for it. Even being in the Heisman talk is awesome, and that's the reason, those guys up front."
Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Braccio and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at danielr1102@gmail.com and follow @daniel_rios72 on X.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on X.
Daniel is a senior studying sports journalism. This is his first semester with The State Press. He has also worked at WCSN, OC Riptide, 1550 Sports and AZPreps365.
