(Tempe, AZ) Coming off one of the strangest games in recent history, ASU needed to come out with a complete game effort.
Last week in their home opener, the Sun Devils had a good first half considering it was the first game of the season. Then Mother Nature intervened with a nearly three hour weather delay mostly due to lightning.
When the game did resume, the players came out of the locker room and did not perform to the level they had in the opening half. You couldn’t blame the weather as both teams had to endure the same situation. Southern Utah looked like they wanted it more and Arizona State looked like they were already on Mill Ave ready to party. If it wasn’t for a fourth quarter field goal and their only points in the second half, they might have found themselves coming into this game 0-1.
Last week, the Cowboys were only up 13-7 in the fourth quarter before winning 27-13, hardly a convincing win over Central Arkansas.
Tonight, OSU came in as only a 2.5 point favorite as both teams have a lot to prove after lackluster performances in Week 1.
OSU had first crack at the ball to begin the game. After a twenty yard gain on the first play, the offense fizzled.
The Sun Devils didn’t fare any better as they went three and out.
The next drive paid off as Cam Skattebo ran it in for a touchdown from thirteen yards out and the new look Devils were on the board 7-0 with 4:28 left in the first quarter.
ASU kept the Cowboys without a first down the entire first quarter.
Oklahoma State got their offense in gear and drove down the field to start the second quarter. The no huddle offense was starting to click.
Ollie Gordon tied up the scored on a two yard run to tie it up 7-7 with just under twelve minutes left in the first half.
Photo – Sun Devil Athletics
After a Rashada ran for a first down, the next play saw a wide open Elijah Badger who caught the pass and scored from sixty five yards out to give the Devils back the lead 15-7 the 10:07 mark. After a dead ball offsides penalty against the Cowboys, the conversion play was rerun except ASU decided to go for two. Skattabo converted from one yard out.
Oklahoma State answered with a fifty two yard field goal by Alex Hale to cut the ASU lead 15-10.
That’s how the first half ended as both teams went quietly into the halftime locker room.
The Devils received the second half kickoff and drove to the Cowboy forty two before coming up short on a fourth and one. This was the second time they had turned the ball over on downs and given OSU a short field to work with and it burned them this time.
The Cowboys scored to take the lead on a three yard slant play. A false start on a two point conversion attempt forced Oklahoma State to kick the extra point and a 17-15 lead with 9:09 left in the third quarter.
Oklahoma State missed a forty nine yard field goal attempt wide left after getting the ball again off a failed fourth down play by the Sun Devils. The ASU defense came up with key stops when it counted.
Arizona State would start out their drives with success and then when it came to third and four or five yards to go, Rashada like in the first game couldn’t complete the touch pass. This may be a concern as the season progresses.
A breakaway run by Jaden Nixon for thirty four yards got the Cowboy offense rolling again after a slow start to the final quarter and the OSU was threatening at the doorstep of the end zone.
Photo – Arnie Casteñeda/602 Sports Talk
Back came the ASU defense with consecutive lost yardage plays and the Cowboys were forced to kick a field goal to make the score 20-15 with 7:11 left.
Once again, Dillingham chose to go for it on fourth down from his own thirty three with over six minutes left and again it failed giving the Cowboys another short field situation.
Every rule of conventional football was dismissed by the Sun Devil coaching staff making even the purist of pundits left to scratch their head.
Garret Rangel put the lid on this one by completing a sixteen yard touchdown pass to Brennan Presley to go up 27-15.
On their final drive, the Sun Devils competed a downfield pass for the first time in the quarter to Guillory for thirty four yards but the clock had struck twelve and the Devils were cooked.
The telling stat for ASU was they were 6-15 on third down attempts and more so, 1-5 o fourth down plays. That is one of the reasons why Oklahoma State won. The other is, the Devils have only scored three points in the second half through the first two games.
ASU with their lack of basic execution and poor play strategy by the coaching staff lost this game. To be shut out the entire second half by a team that couldn’t drive eighty yards to score and with mediocre defense took the gift that the Sun Devils gave them and headed back to Stillwater Oklahoma with the win.
Attendance was 42,569 on a very warm evening.
Up next, the Bulldogs of Fresno State come to town. Game time is 7:30 pm.
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