Arizona State football keeps BYU in game with aggressive 4th-down decisions

Arizona State football was not shy when it came to going for it on fourth down Saturday in its 28-23 win over No. 14 BYU.

Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham gave his offense a crack at five fourth-down attempts, and every single attempt carried its own significance.

Rather than settle for three points in the first quarter, Dillingham trusted his quarterback Sam Leavitt to pick up a fourth-and-1 at the Cougar 20-yard line. A successful conversion led to the second of three Cam Skattebo rushing touchdowns.

Possessing the ball to begin the second half, ASU got nothing out of a nearly seven-minute drive following a failed fourth-and-goal play on BYU’s 4-yard line. An end zone trip would have really put the game out of reach but a field goal would have still pushed the lead to 24-3.

But that safety cushion was of no concern to Dillingham.

“When you start to go to those aggressive fourth-down calls, it’s really just time of the game, field position and score,” Dillingham said postgame. “If (BYU) gets three, they’re down 15, who cares. You’re still in the driver’s seat.

“You score a touchdown, now you take a four-possession lead as opposed to kicking a field goal. Taking a 21-point lead, they still have to get three touchdowns. So, you changed nothing of what they had to accomplish, and you gave them the ball on the 25 (yard line) instead of the 4. So, the risk versus reward there.”

The decision-making, despite the obvious confidence, almost cost the Sun Devils the game in the end.

Clinging to the eventual five-point lead, ASU faced a fourth-and-1 at the BYU 11-yard line. A touchdown would ice the win and a field goal would force the Cougars to add a two-point conversion if they found the end zone with under three minutes remaining.

Leavitt was stuffed on a quarterback keeper and BYU not only had the ball with 2:34 on the clock but could conceivably steal the game with a touchdown.

Jake Retzlaff led BYU down to Arizona State’s 39-yard line in only 80 seconds. Sophomore defensive back Javan Robinson acted as a savior by intercepting an off-target pass from Retzlaff.

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After Robinson returned the pick all the way to BYU’s 7-yard line, the Sun Devils were tasked with spending the final 63 seconds. Skattebo forced the opposition to call their second timeout on a 4-yard run but back-to-back plays of Leavitt moving backwards left a fourth-down decision with seven ticks left to decide it all.

Rather than take a chance with a punt, Dillingham had Leavitt heave one more pass. Every ASU fan in Mountain American Stadium thought the game was over, but official review confirmed there was one second still to play.

ASU’s defense retook the field and stopped BYU receiver Chase Roberts four yards from breaking the Sun Devil faithful’s heart on a Hail Mary.

Through 11 games, ASU has converted 10 of 19 fourth downs.

The high-conversion rate (52.6%) is one thing, but the increasing number of attempts is no surprise for a team that has battled its kicking game all season. After a 24-14 loss to Cincinnati — the Sun Devils last defeat — Dillingham called for any registered ASU student to come out for kicking tryouts. Following Ian Hershey’s 7 for 12 start, Parker Lewis and Carston Kieffer have combined for a 1-for-3 mark.

Clearly, ASU has not won nine games by settling for three points.

The Sun Devils will travel to Tucson for the Territorial Cup against Arizona on Nov. 30 at 1:30 p.m. Watch the TV broadcast on FOX and listen live on 98.7 FM.

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