(Tempe, AZ) The Sun Devils (8-2), welcomed the Brigham Young Cougars (9-1) to Mountain America Stadium for an elimination game leading to the Big XII Conference Championship Game.
Both teams were not expected to challenge for the conference title, but here we are and each squad was eager to win out with a chance of making the College Football Playoffs.
Neither team had any substantial injury issues, so the game was expected to be close as the Devils were favored by a field goal.
ASU won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half.
First Quarter
The Cougars took the ball to midfield, but the Arizona State defense stiffened and took the ball over on downs.
On their first possession, Sam Leavitt methodically moved the ball with Cam Skattebo doing the bulk of the work. It culminated in a 10 play 54 yard drive with Skattebo taking it in from the 3 yard line.
Devils on the board first 7-0 at the 6:41 mark of the opening quarter.
BYU’s next possession was more successful in moving the ball and was aided by a roughing the passer penalty. Then, a pass tipped by Kyan McDonald led to Jordan Crook picking off the deflection.
Photo – 602 Sports Talk
Second Quarter
First play of the quarter, Leavitt also had a pickoff via the tipped pass by BYU’s John Nelson and caught by Tanner Wall.
The Cougars after an initial first down, went three and out punting it back to ASU.
On the following possession from their own 5 yard line, Leavitt threw a 54 yard completion to Jordyn Tyson and into Cougar territory.
BYU’s defense forced a fourth and one, so Leavitt on a quick snap dove right over his left guard to pick up the first down at the Cougar 18 yard line.
Once again, Skattebo doing what he does, rushed off tackle into the end zone for a 14-7 lead. The 12 play 95 yard drive was the longest drive of the season for the Sun Devils.
An onside kick took BYU totally by surprise and the Sun Devil kick team recovered. It was the first successful onside kick in seven years for ASU.
With a renewed energy, Leavitt drove the offense to the Cougar 23 yard line just prior to the two minute timeout.
On the following play, Skattebo hit the line off tackle and broke away to score and a 21-0 Sun Devil lead.
Now with little time left till the half, Cougar quarterback Retzlaff hurried his offense down the field in time to boot a 49 yard field goal to put BYU on the board 21-3 at the half.
Photo – Sun Devil Athletics
Halftime
Arizona State lead 208-114 in total yards, with 112 yards coming on the ground. BYU only managed 8 first downs and 25 yards rushing.
Third Quater
ASU got the ball first in the third quarter. The offense picked up where they had left off in the first half. At the 4 yards line, facing a fourth and goal, Leavitt gunned a pass to a wide open Tyson that sailed high instead of going for a short field. The ball went back to the Cougars.
BYU after the turnover on downs, had a renewed momentum driving the down to score on a Keegan Marion 10 yards run, but the try for two points failed after a pass interference penalty on the first attempt.
Arizona State led 21-9 with 2:49 left in the third quarter.
Now it was the Sun Devils turn off of their special team’s momentum. Leavitt found a wide open Xavier Guillory for a 61 yard touchdown reception and ASU extended their lead. The entire drive was 2 plays for 75 yards.
BYU not to be detoured, went right at the Sun Devil defense, scoring on a 21 yard touchdown reception by Jojo Phillips. This time, the 2 point conversion was good on a pass to the back of the end zone to Darius Lassiter to end the quarter and a 28-17 Arizona State lead.
Photo – Olivia English
Fourth Quarter
ASU went to the ground attack to use clock and shorten the game, but managed only 25 yards as the Cougar defense stopped them and forced a punt.
The Cougars went back to a hurry up offense and had success in driving the ball down to the ASU 1 yard line with help of a suspect pass interference penalty on the previous play. Marion scampered in to score. Trying to get within a field goal, the BYU 2 point try failed again. The Cougars were now back in the game only trailing 28-23 and 8:44 left on the clock.
Now the pressure was all on the Sun Devils to regain their juju and put points on the board. On a crucial 4th down and less than 1 yard, Leavitt out of the shotgun instead of being under center was dropped short of the line to gain and the ball went back to BYU with less than three minutes left in the game.
BYU had everything going their way on the drive when Retzlaff almost threw an interception that would have ended the game, but getting a second chance continued their assault. Five plays later however Retzlaff did throw a pick to Javan Robinson who returned it 64 yards to give them a first and goal at the BYU 4 yard line.
This is where things got weird. Coach Dillingham instead of trying to make it a two score game, put Leavitt in the shotgun formation and he ran backwards for three plays losing a total of 45 yards to set up at a 4th down with seven with 7 seconds left. After scrambling, Leavitt threw the ball high into the air, but an intentional grounding call gave BYU the ball at the their own 49 yard line with one second left and time for a final play. With the crowd rushing the field prior to the play review, it took 18 minutes to get them off the playing field.
Photo – Sun Devil Athletics
With one play and 1 second on the clock, BYU still had one opportunity to pull a rabbit out of their hat. Arizona State put six players at or near the end zone and Retzlaff’s pass was short and was knocked down to seal the victory.
Wrap Up
This was a tale of two halves. ASU dominated the play the entire first half leading 21-3. Cam Skattebo ran for 84 yards as the Sun Devils nearly shut out BYU in the first half. A last second field goal gave them their only points.
The Devils gave Retzlaff fits in the first two quarters with constant defensive pressure and one pick.
Brigham Young Coach Kalani Sitake made key adjustments at the half and neutralized the Sun Devil pass rush. Retzlaff threw for 208 yards of his 297 yards in the second half where the Cougars spread out the ASU secondary and made big gains possible.
Cam Skattebo finished with 147 yards on 28 carries and three touchdowns. Jordyn Tyson had 125 yards on 9 catches.
The time of possession weighed heavy in the victory as the Sun Devils had the ball over 10 minutes more than BYU.
The game came down to the power of wills and Arizona State had just enough to hold off a fierce Cougar team.
Not only are the Devils 9-2 and in a four way tie for the conference lead. but Arizona State finished an undefeated home slate, the first time since 2004.
A sold out Mountain America Stadium attendance was 55,400.
Up Next
ASU will finish up their season Saturday the 30th down in Tucson with the annual Territorial Cup Game against arch rival Arizona. Game time is 1:30 p.m. on FOX.
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