(Tempe, AZ) The Big XII era began for the Arizona State, one of the new additions from the “Four Corner” teams that joined the conference from the old PAC-12.
The Wyoming Cowboys who were no strangers to the State of Arizona, having won the last two Arizona Bowls down in Tucson.
Former Assistant Coach Jay Sawvel took the helm from long time coach Craig Bohl.
The Cowboys who are known for their stout defense and run heavy offense under Bohl. Sawvel figures to carry on that tradition.
First Quarter
With lighting around the East Valley, ASU created their own lightning inside the stadium with a Pick 6 on the Cowboys second play from scrimmage as Zyrus Fiaseu jumped the route and took it to the house from 29 yards out. Devils up quickly 7-0 after 41 seconds into the game.
Wyoming quarterback Evan Svoboda still stung by the first pick, threw his second interception to Keyshaun Elliott who returned it 18 yards and the Sun Devils couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season.
The Devils offense bogged down after a seven plays and 30 yards, settled for an Ian Hershey 29 yard field goal to up the lead to 10-0 at the 6:19 mark.
Arizona State’s defensive line looked fired up and in mid season form as they penetrated into the Cowboy backfield keeping their run game at bay.
On the last play of the quarter, Decarlos Brooks with hit the hole at full stride from 8 yards out finishing a ten play drive for 72 yards and ASU scored three times in the first quarter to lead 17-0.
The Devils showed they could strike quickly and the offense could score on a sustained drive. Arizona State’s defense was firing off the ball and played very physical football.
Wyoming could only muster 2 first downs and 37 total yards in the quarter.
Second Quarter
Now it was the Sun Devils special teams turn to shine as Melquan Stovall returned the Wyoming punt eighteen yards coupled with an illegal horse collar tackle that added another 15 yards to the play. ASU, other than the long drive that ended the first quarter has had great field position and a short field to work with,
Cam Skattebo ran it in from 3 yards out and ASU was rolling 24-0.
The Cowboys still having their issues on offense and trying to figure out this Sun Devil defense continued their three and out pattern.
Devils took full advantage and drove 53 yards with a Hershey 24 yard field goal for a 27-0 lead that they took into the locker room.
Halftime
The Cowboys offensive slumber continued as they only managed one first down in the second quarter for a total of 3 for the first half. Subsequently, ASU had 16 first downs and 241 total yards to 53 yards for the Cowboys.
The Sun Devils never punted in the first half and had four out of five drives reach the Red Zone.
Third Quarter
Devils come out in the third quarter just as they started the game. A nine play 75 yard drive capped off by a Leavitt 29 yard pass to tight end Chamon Metayer and a lot of the Wyoming faithful headed for the exits. Devils up 34-0 with just under ten minutes still left in the third quarter.
With just under seven minutes left in the quarter, Arizona State had their first punt of the game.
The Cowboys got lazy from the 23 yard line and threw a backwards pass that fell to the turf. The Wyoming players gave up on the play. ASU aggressively played through and Justin Wodtly picked up the ball and scored and a 41-0 lead.
Wyoming continued to play into the hands of the Sun Devil defense and another three and out.
Arizona State still firing on all cylinders saw Kyson Brown take a dump off pass from Leavitt then turned on the jets to ramble 68 yards to pay dirt and this ugly game got uglier 48-0.
At the 1:33 mark, the Cowboys finally got a first down, their first of the second half which ended up being their only positive stat of the quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Could the Sun Devil defense hold the Cowboys to under 2 yards per play? At the end of three quarters, they were at 1.4 yards a play.
Backup signal caller Jeff Sims entered the game as Coach Dillingham took his starters out at the beginning of the final quarter.
As expected, ASU went to the run to use clock and give the backups an entire quarter of game time action which should pay dividends down the line.
Sims picked up where Leavitt left off and took the team down the field, albeit more methodically. Finally the Cowboy defense stopped the drive and a 43 yard sailed wide by backup kicker Carston Keiffer and the score remained 48-0 with 5:54 left in the c0ntest.
Wyoming finally got a sustained drive in the final two minutes. A pass interference call in the end zone helped out putting the ball at the 10 yard line.
The Cowboys were intent on getting the goose egg of the scoreboard. An Anderson pass into the right flat to Chris Durr Jr. got them on the board from the three yard line and prevented the shutout with two seconds left. Nine plays for 74 yards was all Wyoming had to show on this night.
Final Score ASU 48 Wyoming 7.
Looking at the big picture, one must ask, “is ASU that good, or is Wyoming that bad. One game into the season will certainly not answer that question. The defense held Wyoming to 2.3 yards per play.
The one thing we do know is the Sun Devils are very much improved over last season on both sides of the ball.
Coach Dillingham and his staff have been forming a cohesive unit and it showed tonight.
Up next is a date with the Mississippi State Bulldogs from the Southeast Conference. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at the Stadium.
Tonight’s attendance was 48,108.
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