ASU’s Cam Skattebo leads heroic comeback, Texas pulls out win in instant classic

Arizona State football managed a heroic fourth quarter comeback and came one play short of reaching the College Football Playoff semifinal, but Texas pulled out the Peach Bowl win 39-31 in a double-overtime classic on Wednesday.

ASU running back Cam Skattebo unloaded the quiver on a touchdown pass, caught a 62-yard shot from Sam Leavitt, scored from the two-yard line and punched the ball in for a two-point conversion to bring ASU back from down 16 points in the second half of the fourth quarter.

ASU trailed Texas 24-8 with seven minutes left in the game, at which point ASU counted on its Heisman hopeful to step up in the brightest moment.

Texas had its chance to overcome Skattebo’s dominance with a 38-yard field goal at the end of regulation, but kicker Bert Auburn clanked the attempt off the upright to send the game to overtime.

In overtime, Skattebo followed a 16-yard Leavitt scramble — that fired up legend Jake Plummer on the sideline — with a go-ahead three-yard touchdown run with the assist from guard Kyle Scott.

ASU was one play away from a trip to the Cotton Bowl. Texas had its back to the wall but tied the game on fourth-and-13 with a 28-yard touchdown pass by Quinn Ewers to Matthew Golden.

The Longhorns quickly returned to the end zone on a pass to Gunnar Helm to open the second overtime, and they converted the mandatory two-point conversion.

Leavitt was intercepted on ASU’s next drive, as the Sun Devils found themselves on the wrong end of an epic football game, by far the most dramatic and compelling of the CFP.

“Now, there are no moral victories when the season ends. There’s no such thing,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “This should hurt and be painful. The locker room is dreadful right now, and it should be. If it wasn’t, something would be wrong. But at the same token, now that this is over, I really am going to challenge our guys to reflect on where it all started, because it really is remarkable. I won’t be able to sleep for a while. But I will reflect immediately, because it’s an incredible season.”

ASU turned around from 3-9 to 11-2 entering Wednesday game in which the team proved it belonged with the biggest names in college football.

” Crazy season … We just have a different level of passion and something that I’ve never been a part of,” Leavitt said.

YOU KNOW WHO IT IS… and credit Kyle Scott with the assist 🤣@CFAPeachBowl | #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/UPNPEYfSVL

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) January 1, 2025

Cam Skattebo, the quarterback

On fourth-and-two, Skattebo completed a 42-yard touchdown pass to receiver Malik McClain after a pitch from Leavitt. Skattebo rolled out to the 50-yard yard and threw a bomb nearly 40 yards down the field. McClain beat a pair of defenders to the end zone to cut the deficit to 24-14. ASU converted the two-point conversion to make it an eight-point game with 6:40 to play.

CAM SKATTEBO WITH THE 42-YARD TD PASS ON FOURTH DOWN 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/CksEs2NL4K

— ESPN (@espn) January 1, 2025

Throwing TD passes is not new for ASU’s do-it-all running back, as Skattebo delivered a dime to beat UCLA last season.

ASU got the ball right back on a Javan Robinson interception after Ewers attempted to go deep.

Cam Skattebo, the receiver

The very next play involved a deep ball from Leavitt to Skattebo that gained 62 yards plus an additional nine yards for a facemask. Skattebo gave a mean mug to the crowd after his helmet was ripped off.

“You give him the ball, crazy things happen,” Dillingham said.

CAM SKATTEBO IS FEELING IT‼️ pic.twitter.com/8apa3WMJKe

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 1, 2025

Cam Skattebo, the running back

Three plays later, Skattebo pushed into the end zone to set up ASU for a game-tying two-point conversation attempt. The first try fell incomplete but a Texas holding call presented ASU the chance to drive Skattebo in from the 1-yard line on the following snap.

“I bet you nobody in this room thought we were going to even be close when we went down 17-3,” Skattebo said. “So we believed in ourselves. We believed in what we had going, and undeniable is what this team is about. … Everybody on this team believes in each other and that’s what kept us close.”

Skattebo had more total yards (passing, rushing and receiving) with 257 than Texas’ offense (250) by the two-minute timeout.

He broke ASU’s single-season rushing record in the third quarter, beating out Eno Benjamin’s 1,642 mark from 2018. Benjamin was on the sideline rooting Skattebo on.

Skattebo had been battling in the second half, puking on the sideline and coming back into the game after receiving fluids. Despite looking flush at time, Skattebo kept getting back out there and saving his best for crunch time.

“I drank too much water too fast and I was kind of feeling sloshy, and then felt better after,” Skattebo said.

He finished the game with 143 rushing yards, 99 receiving yards and 42 passing yards. Leavitt competed 24 of 46 throws for 222 yards and added 60 rushing yards.

Special teams and red zone woes put ASU in a hole, as the Sun Devils trailed 17-3 at halftime. Skattebo showed frustration on the sidelines during the first half, as Texas successfully limited his early impact.

The Sun Devil defense stepped up to open the second half with a three-and-out and a safety, but the offense struggled to find pay dirt. Ewers scrambled for a touchdown to take a 23-8 lead, but Texas elected to kick the PAT instead of a two-point conversion to potentially take a three-possession lead.

Missed targeting call

A reason Texas had an opportunity to win the game on a field goal came from a controversial non-call for potential targeting against Texas. ASU’s Melquan Stovall took a shot over the middle that led to a review, but targeting was not called.

No targeting on Texas here 👀 pic.twitter.com/3BkmiD73MM

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) January 1, 2025

ASU ended up having to punt the ball back to Texas, who marched down the field before missing the kick. Auburn missed two kicks in the fourth quarter.

Fourth-down woes for ASU

Fourth downs became an Achilles heel for the Sun Devils, who failed to come out with positive outcomes on three separate instances in the middle two quarters.

Leavitt was sacked on a fourth-and-10 inside Texas territory, a Carston Kieffer 36-yard field goal was blocked and Skattebo was stonewalled for no gain on a fourth-and-goal rush from the 2-yard line.

“We moved the ball pretty effectively actually, and we just needed to convert in the red zone,” Leavitt said. “I take accountability for a lot of stuff that happened. … That’s one thing I’m going to carry over into next year.”

Each of the drives ending with a turnover on downs lasted at least nine plays, meaning ASU was failing to pay off strung out offensive efforts.

Texas, meanwhile, had a scoring opportunity on each drive that made it to ASU territory.

ASU outgained Texas 510-375 and ran 37 more plays.

Season-ending loss comes hours after ASU coach Kenny Dillingham gets new deal

Though the season’s run has come to an end, ASU knows the coach who led the eight-win turnaround will be around for the long haul.

The new contract Dillingham received just over 12 hours in advance of the Peach Bowl added five years to the current deal, with the potential to reach 10 years based on performance incentives, Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reported.

Many of the players at the top of the depth chart have already committed to return for next season, as well.

CFP outlook after Texas advances

The Longhorns await the winner of the Rose Bowl between Oregon and Ohio State.

On the other side of the bracket, Penn State advanced after knocking off Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. The Nittany Lions will have to wait until Thursday to know its opponent, as the Sugar Bowl between Notre Dame and Georgia was postponed due to a tragedy that killed 15 people in New Orleans.