ASU falls behind early, can’t rally back in 30-22 loss to Texas Tech

LUBBOCK, TX (AZFamily) -- Winning on the road in the Big 12 is hard enough on its own. It’s nearly impossible for a team when they continually shoot themselves in the foot.

Arizona State’s mistakes began with the opening kickoff and continued throughout the first quarter. Those miscues sunk the Sun Devils into an early hole from which they never recovered in a 30-22 loss to Texas Tech.

“We got our butt kicked early, and we responded poorly,” said ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham.

A week after rallying from an early two-score deficit to win at Texas State, ASU fell behind 14-0 midway through the first quarter on Saturday afternoon. While adjustments were made, they never drew closer than a one-score deficit and dropped their first-ever Big 12 game.

“We just made mistakes. A lot of them,” said ASU running back Cam Skattebo. “We didn’t play our brand of football.”

For much of the first three games, all wins, ASU had rose up in the key moments. On Saturday in their Big 12 opener, they committed penalties, allowed third-down conversions, and failed to execute plays.

“You’re not going to win many games if you play like that,” Dillingham said. “And unfortunately, that’s our first game since I’ve been here that I can say that we were undisciplined.”

The looks in the mirror on Sunday morning will be tough.

The Activation

“Everything is my fault, because I bring (the players) here.” - Kenny Dillingham on the team’s uncharacteristic errors

The Game Flow

It was an inauspicious start to ASU’s Big 12 Conference history.

Parker Lewis’ opening kickoff was squibbed out of bounds, drawing a flag that gave Texas Tech the ball at their 35. Taking advantage of the good field position, quarterback Behren Morton connected twice with Caleb Douglas for two sizeable gains to get deep into ASU territory. After a pair of Tahj Brooks runs to the 5-yard line, Morton found tight end Johncarlos Miller for a 2-yard touchdown.

“We knew there was a chance that they might tempo us,” ASU safety Xavion Alford said. “We prepared for it. The first drive of the game can go many ways. You’re trying to get a feel for the game.”

Things continued to spiral for the Sun Devils on the ensuing drive. After taking a sack on second down, quarterback Sam Leavitt overthrew Chamon Metayer and the pass was intercepted by C.J. Baskerville.

Aided by a holding penalty, Texas Tech was soon backed up into a third-and-21, but a facemask call on Justin Wodtly extended the Red Raiders’ drive. Three plays later, Morton had his second touchdown of the day on a screen pass to Douglas.

“We came out slowly,” ASU linebacker Keyshaun Elliott said. “Credit to them, they ran some good things. They executed. They made the big plays they needed to.”

On the next drive, and in an early 14-0 hole, Dillingham opted to go for it on a fourth-and-1 from the ASU 26. Leavitt’s deep pass to Metayer was incomplete, but a defensive pass interference penalty bailed out the Devils. Two more defensive holding penalties extended the drive. Facing another fourth-and-1 at the Texas Tech 14, Cam Skattebo was stopped short, turning the ball over on downs.

“We should convert fourth-and-1s,” Dillingham said. “Statistically, you should convert fourth-and-1s, especially when the opposing team is moving the ball.”

The Sun Devil defense was finally able to get a stop, forcing a quick three-and-out by Texas Tech. Aided by a personal foul after the third down play that further backed up the Red Raiders, ASU was able to get good field position, starting their drive at the Red Raider 48.

However, the Sun Devils were not able to take full advantage of the start. Outside of another Red Raider personal foul, the drive fizzled, forcing ASU to settle for a 35-yard field goal by Ian Hershey.

The Sun Devil defense appeared to get another quick stop after Myles Rowser got a third down sack of Morton, but he was flagged for taunting, which gave Texas Tech a first down. While the drive would ultimately end in a punt, the penalty cost the Sun Devils field position, as the kick was downed at the ASU 2-yard line.

“Unacceptable by us,” Dillingham said of the penalties. “It’s all my fault. We got to get that stuff cleaned up. At the end of the day, it’s our job, it’s our responsibility to get them to act, to get them to play, to get them to do their job.”

The teams would trade punts before ASU took possession late in the half. Leavitt showed nice poise hanging in the pocket before firing a downfield throw to Jordyn Tyson for a gain of 27. He would later find Guillory while on a scramble to get to the Texas Tech 15. Leavitt would cap the drive with a 1-yard sneak into the endzone.

After being bottled up after their hot start, Texas Tech was able to get going just before halftime. A 32-yard run by Brooks got the drive off to a promising start, but ASU’s defense was ultimately able to force a field goal to send the game into halftime with Texas Tech leading 17-10.

It was the worst half of football for the Devils all season, yet they were still just down a single score.

“We played a bad first half, and we’re still in it,” Dillingham said.

ASU had a chance to open the second half with a game-tying score, but a deep ball from Leavitt to a wide open Jake Smith fell incomplete as Smith got turned around while tracking the ball.

“I thought it was a good throw,” Dillingham said. “We were just off. The sun got in (Smith’s) eyes, the sun angle he said, and he lost it. He’s free down the sideline. We catch that ball and go score, it’s a tie game. The whole momentum is different.”

Texas Tech came out sharp and quickly moved down the field, and capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run by tight end—and former Sun Devil—Jalin Conyers.

Again down two scores, ASU gambled with another fourth-and-1 from its own 48-yard line, but Leavitt opted to keep it on an run-pass option and was stopped just short, turning the ball over on downs.

“They dominated the line of scrimmage,” Dillingham said. “Absolutely dominated it. They had a good plan, and they dominated it.”

The Sun Devil defense was able to force a punt, thanks to a key third-down pass breakup by Keith Abney. ASU then put the ball in Skattebo’s hands, and he delivered. First, he took a screen pass 66 yards to the Texas Tech 4-yard line, and on the next play, he pounded it in for the score. However, the extra point was blocked, making it a 24-16 Red Raider lead.

Texas Tech made sure that any Sun Devil momentum was short lived. Converting a pair of third downs, they worked their way into ASU territory and added a 40-yard Reese Burkhardt field goal to make it 27-16 early in the fourth quarter.

A quick three-and-out by the Sun Devil offense gave the ball right back to Texas Tech. Over an 11-play drive that drained nearly six valuable minutes off the clock, the Red Raiders added another field goal to get back to a 14-point lead.

“We battled until the end,” said Dillingham. “And there was a little bit of frustration out there. Every time we tried to get back, they got to a two-score lead again. We just couldn’t close out the gap all game. Our guys stayed in it and fought, and we just couldn’t close it.”

Taking over with just under seven minutes left, Leavitt worked the Sun Devils into Texas Tech territory, but another turnover on downs ended the threat.

ASU got the ball back after forcing a quick three-and-out—at the cost of their remaining timeouts—and with Texas Tech playing prevent, the Sun Devils were able to cap the drive with a Skattebo touchdown run.

The two-point conversion attempt, and the ensuing onside kick try, both failed, and Morton took three knees in victory formation to seal the Red Raiders’ win.

The Critical Moment

It was there for the taking.

Jake Smith had broken free, and the ball was well thrown. But the Texas sun got into his eyes and disrupted his tracking. He fell to the turf and the pass was incomplete.

Instead of an easy touchdown to tie the game early in the third quarter, ASU had to punt it away. Texas Tech would find the endzone on the next drive.

A 14-point swing.

“The big plays, the third downs, and the big opportunities, we didn’t hit,” Dillingham said. “You’re not going to win games in this league not hitting big plays when the opportunity is there.”

The Offense

For the second straight week, ASU’s run game failed to get going.

Dillingham gave a technical breakdown of the issues after the game.

“Played an odd (man) front,” he said. “Weak overhang. They mirrored, shadow blocked late. ‘Backers jumped behind the zone. We weren’t pressing runs hard enough. When you’re a wide zone team and you don’t press runs, you don’t get the double team to the ‘backer. And when you don’t get the double team to the ‘backer, they were able to fold back on all of our runs, and it happened over, and over, and over again. They won some pressure reps from that perspective. We just weren’t as in sync. Wide zone teams are very, very in sync, the O-line and the running back. Right now, we’re not completely in sync like we were in Weeks 1 and 2.”

The Devils were held to a season low 94 total rushing yards, with Skattebo leading the way with 60 and two scores. After dominating the trenches in the first two weeks, ASU’s offensive line has struggled to get the same push and open the consistent running lanes of late.

Last week, with the run game bottled up, Leavitt was able to make plays through the air to key the comeback. The redshirt freshman has shown great poise and made mostly solid decisions through his first three career starts, but on Saturday, he had his share of freshman moments that included holding the ball too long, missing open receivers, and being a bit too run-happy.

“Last week, he scrambled to throw. This week, he scrambled to run,” Dillingham said. “That’s part of the maturing process. He’s got to see the different looks. The odd with the weak dropback spooked him a couple of times, which is new. He’s never seen that. We’ve never shown it other than practice this week. We haven’t faced a team that has done it.”

Despite gaining a respectable 376 total yards, ASU converted just five of 13 third downs, with many being squandered due to mistakes. Those failings also led to ASU’s defense playing 83 total snaps, compared to 68 for the Red Raider defense.

“He missed a couple throws that we know he can make,” Dillingham said. “And he made a couple throws that we got to make for him. Imagine if we catch the deep ball to start the second drive and it goes for 70.”

Despite the rough game, the team still believes in their young signal-caller.

“We get that kid’s head cleared of these last four games, no matter wins or losses, and we start fresh after the bye week,” Skattebo said. “He’s a ballplayer. He can make plays. He knows how to play football. He’s one of the smartest guys on the team. I love the way the kid plays the game. We took a couple of chances that didn’t go our way. We got to get him to know that it’s alright, and there’s more games to play. One loss is not a big deal.”

One growing area of concern is the pass catchers. While Skattebo led the way with six catches and 116 yards, the wide receivers again struggled to make their mark as a group. Xavier Guillory had six catches for 74 yards, but fellow starters Jordyn Tyson and Melquan Stovall had just two each. Tyson, coming off a 120-yard showing last week, had just 33 yards.

The downfield passing game has flashed, albeit infrequently, over these four games, hinting at some dynamic plays. With the Big 12 slate of tough defenses coming after the bye, Leavitt and company will need to connect on those throws to bring needed balance to the offense.

The Defense

ASU had been the team to get off to fast starts so far this season. But on Saturday, they miscued their way into a 14-point hole, with the usually-stout defense’s issues particularly glaring.

“Those first eight minutes of the game were uncharacteristic of us,” Dillingham said.

After the early onslaught, ASU did perform better defensively with some adjustments.

“We forced them to run the ball,” Dillingham said. “That’s a RPO team. They do a good job on offense because everything has got to be good hat counts based on box counts. We were trying to force them to run the ball, and I think we did that.”

But perhaps the most damning deficiency on the day was the inability to consistently get off the field on third downs.

“I can’t think of a ball completed over 15 yards in the football game, but they were so efficient on early downs, and they were so good on third downs, that that style of football moved the ball,” said Dillingham. “We either have to be able to stop them from being efficient on first and second downs to get them in third-and-longs, or we got to win on third down.”

Texas Tech converted eight of 17 third down chances on the day, helping them to a nearly 10-minute edge in time of possession and wearing down the Devils’ defense over 83 plays.

“We couldn’t put together drives on offense, and when you can’t put together drives, you get tired,” said Dillingham. “They started leaning on us with their big bodies late. When we were heavy boxes, they were throwing one-on-one RPOs to the perimeter, and they were winning.”

The overall numbers were solid: 334 yards allowed, just 4.0 yards per play allowed. They help to illustrate that this is a defense capable to keeping a team in a game and helping them win.

However, it also shows that a bad eight minutes can ruin everything.

“Our guys are going to fight, but sometimes, it doesn’t go your way,” Dillingham said. “Sometimes, you can fight, and it’s not good enough. Today, we weren’t good enough. Work doesn’t mean you’re going to win. That doesn’t equate to wins. It equates to, usually, playing good football. But today, we played uncharacteristic of our game in the first specifically, eight, nine minutes of the game.”

The Top 3

Here are three Sun Devil players who stood out against Texas Tech.

RB Cam Skattebo: Another workhorse showing with 177 yards from scrimmage.

DB Myles Rowser: He had the dumb penalty, but otherwise had a strong game with nine tackles, a sack, three pass breakups, and two quarterback hurries.

DB Xavion Alford: The heart and soul of the Sun Devil defense had nine tackles.

Xavion Alford making sure to shake every one of his teammates’ hands as they come off. pic.twitter.com/nMHvnTdtjr
— Brad Denny (@BDenny29) September 21, 2024

The Question: What have we learned so far?

At Big 12 Media Day in July, ASU was picked to finish 16th—dead last—in the preseason media poll. With their 3-0 start, they already matched the program’s win total in both 2022 and 2023. But two of the wins, Wyoming and Mississippi State, were against teams that appear to be quite bad this season. After a gritty comeback win over Texas State, ASU drops their Big 12 opener.

So what do we have here?

“If we’re being real with ourselves, to say we’d be at 3-1 at this point, a lot of people would be fired up,” Dillingham said. “Not me, because I have a higher standard for our guys. But we’re not in a bad spot.”

ASU has shown they are an improved team. The defense has been good with potential to be better with the return of some key players from injury. The offense has a productive workhorse back in Skattebo and a young quarterback with high upside in Leavitt.

But perhaps the most encouraging elements are the intangibles. This is a team that has shown resilience, the fire and will to battle back. The hard lessons of overcoming adversity have earned them a win already, and should serve them well moving forward.

“We’re not as emotional on the sidelines. We were not as up-and-down. We respond to situations better,” Dillingham said. “We can fight back. Last year, I thought we couldn’t. When we got off the rails, that thing was going in the ocean. There was no way to stop it. This year, our guys can navigate it back.”

There are major questions. Can the offensive line improve? Will the passing game get on track? Are the specialists going to be reliable? Will the depth hold up?

But in the grand scheme, this is a program that is very much in the midst of a rebuilding effort, and with what we’ve seen so far, they appear ahead of schedule. Most of the roster is able to come back next season. This season was about taking several steps forward and positioning the Sun Devils to compete in 2025 and beyond.

With the 3-1 start, those expectations could, and perhaps should, change to now include a bowl game. But the larger picture should not be lost in the immediate sting of a loss.

Saturday’s disappointment will hurt, but if the proper lessons are learned, it could help propel the Sun Devils forward sooner rather than later.

But the hard part is waiting two weeks.

“It means we lost twice,” Dillingham lamented. “It means you don’t get to avenge it for two weeks. It means even more miserable for two weeks than I normally am for one week. That’s how everybody should feel. Everybody should feel absolutely miserable for two straight weeks. Then we line it back up. We have a home game. Let’s have a sellout crowd. Let’s get back on and let’s be 4-1.”

The Next Step

And on the fourth week, they rested. The Sun Devils will head into the first of two bye weeks this season before returning to action on Oct. 5 when they host the Kansas Jayhawks.