Cameron Skattebo does it all for Arizona State's offense against USC
Arizona State running back Cameron Skattebo hadn’t punted the ball since his senior year of high school, but when head coach Kenny Dillingham needed him to line up on fourth-and-5, he was ready.
Until he wasn’t.
Skattebo took matters into his own hands and then turned an accident into a 25-yard connection to Elijhah Badger for a much-needed jolt to ASU’s middling offense.
“I’m going to be in trouble tomorrow. The throw on the fake punt was not supposed to happen,” Skattebo said. “But me and (Badger) were kind of in connection in the middle of the play. It wasn’t planned before, but I started yelling Badger’s name and he looked over. I know he’s got my back.”
And if he followed through with the punt, his last went for around 70 yards.
But instead, the legend of Skattebo continues to grow for the Sun Devils. The Sacramento State transfer has quickly become the most targeted player on offense, especially with several injuries to the running backs group.
Wrecking through defenses has been his bread and butter, but he added more to his game against USC. He did everything on offense with 111 rushing yards, 79 receiving yards, and 42 passing yards, all making 232 yards of total offense. His two touchdowns led ASU as well.
The fearlessness from Skattebo was exactly what Dillingham has been searching for in his team following a shutout from Fresno State last week. ASU’s offense struggled much like last week, but Dillingham found ways to refresh the offense.
Quarterback Drew Pyne struggled in the first half, but helped on a play where Skattebo pitched back a 17-yard pass to him. The plays from Skattebo were unexpected and led to scoring drives that made the game closer than USC expected.
“We tried to attack. You have to play this game attacking if you want to beat teams like that,” Dillingham said. “If you want to beat offensive coaches like Lincoln Riley and offensive quarterbacks like Caleb Williams. You have to attack and you can’t play the game scared.”
ASU still had its limits in the second half, but Skattebo delivered a late scare at 8:05 in the third quarter when he avoided two tackles and bounced back twice for a 52-yard touchdown run.
ASU was behind 35-28 in a game that once looked completely out of reach, but was made closer by Skattebo’s efforts.
“I like to do everything. I believe I can do everything,” Skattebo said. “When they put me in those situations, I believe I am going to excel at them. I’m put in the right position with the right guys around me. I’m going to keep playing hard and trust in what coach has got for us.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cameron Skattebo does it all for Arizona State's offense vs. USC
