ARLINGTON, Texas – No. 16 Iowa State suffered a 45-19 defeat to No. 15 Arizona State, marking its second loss in the Big 12 Championship. The team’s lack of offensive strategy, coupled with the strong performance of the Sun Devils’ top offensive players, contributed to Iowa State’s downfall. 

The Cyclones fell behind early in the first quarter, which ultimately set the tone for their defeat.

Cam Skattebo deems an obstacle early on

Arizona State senior running back Cam Skattebo had a strong offensive performance, deeming a problematic start for the Cyclones.

After a previous three-yard rushing touchdown by the Sun Devils’ quarterback Sam Leavitt, Skattebo continued the scoring pattern as he went for a three-yard rushing touchdown, marking his first touchdown of the game to give Arizona State a 17-10 lead.

In the process of rushing the ball down the field before the successful touchdown, Skattebo rushed 42 yards and underwent five Cyclone defenders before being tackled.

“Credit to him, that’s why I feel Skattebo was an all-conference player,” defensive lineman J.R. Singleton said. “We have been practicing tackling all week and we had to get possession of the ball and we failed a lot of times today.”

“He just has a low center of gravity, but I feel like when he gets his engine going it’s hard to stop him so that’s why coach emphasized getting vertical this week so we can stop him in the backfield and not get him going,” defensive back Myles Purchase said. “When he does get going you got to get populations on guard, it’s really hard to tackle him one-on-one.”

Skattebo was unstoppable against Iowa State’s defense as he found success with three touchdowns, along with a team-high 170 rushing yards and a comfortable 38 receiving yards.

“He is a really good football player, all respect to him,” Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell said. “When you witness a great football player like that you just have to have a great appreciation for him. He is an A player and he played an A game today.”

Before going into halftime, at the 27-second marker, Skattebo increased the Sun Devils lead to 24-10 due to a two-yard rushing touchdown.

The Sun Devils’ big plays gave them a lead

Arizona State’s strengths came from its big passing plays, having a total of 359 yards due to substantial plays, 182 coming from the passing end and 177 rushing yards gained.

The first big passing play was achieved during the first quarter, as Leavitt threw a deep pass for a 22-yard completion to wide receiver Melquan Stovall, receiving a first down before going out of bounds.

The passing yardage only grew, as Leavitt and Stovall were put in the same position during the sixth minute of the first quarter. Leavitt’s throw to Stovall rained for 63 yards, marking a first down before being tackled by Iowa State defensive back Ta’Shawn James. 

Transitioning into the third quarter, the Sun Devils scored three touchdowns, two of which were from Leavitt’s ability to throw deep passes to the favorable left-field position.

Around the seventh-minute mark in the third quarter, Leavitt threw a deep pass to wide receiver Xavier Guillory for the Sun Devils’ fifth touchdown. Quickly following, Leavitt threw a completed pass to Skattebo marking a 33-yard touchdown pass, which gave Arizona State a 35-point lead moving into the fourth quarter.

Leavitt ended the game with three touchdowns, 219 passing yards and 33 rushing yards.

“He made the play, hats off to [Leavitt]. What you see in the videotape is a really talented competitor and he was certainly that today,” Campbell said. “Some of those plays in the first half, you’re talking a totally different football game if you win those moments, then they were able to do it and really grab that momentum.” 

Iowa State’s loss of possession grants success for the Sun Devils

Iowa State’s offense struggled throughout the game, however, the downfall happened in the third quarter when the Cyclones missed tackles and presented three turnovers.

“We thought that was going to be the key for the football game, the ability to take care of the football and our inability to do that in the third quarter was just paralyzing,” Campbell said. 

The three turnovers came from two fumbles, which were recovered by defensive linemen Jeff Clark and Justin Wodtly. Between the two fumble recoveries, Sun Devils’ defensive back Javan Robinson caught an interception. 

“It does not get much more deflating than that,” Campbell said. “The thing we prided ourselves on is our ability to take care of the football, our ability to create takeaways.” 

The three turnovers presented in the third quarter granted Arizona State to take over the game fully, by out-scoring the Cyclones 21-0 in the 15 minutes.

“When the turnovers happened, we are a brotherhood and the defense was out there and it was on us to put a stop on it and we didn’t,” Singleton said. “There are no fingers to point, it’s a team effort. A team is what got us here and we lost as a team.”