TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona State Sun Devils gathered at midfield, a huge mass of maroon and gold, celebrating Saturday’s 49-7 win against rival Arizona at Arizona Stadium. Suddenly, Cam Skattebo broke from the pack, lifted the Territorial Cup in his right hand and charged toward the stands where Arizona State fans waited.
Skattebo had just rushed for 177 yards and three touchdowns, lifting No. 16 Arizona State to its 10th win and a berth in the Big 12 Championship Game, an unlikely story for both the blue-collar running back and the program he represents.
Heisman Trophy ballots will be mailed out Monday. Like his team, Skattebo started the season as an incredible long shot. Skattebo, like his team, has also shown that he belongs.
“He has to be one of the best backs in all of Power 4 football,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said outside the locker room. “How are there a lot of players that have more impact than him and what he’s done for this program, being picked last to potentially play in the conference championship?”
Travis Hunter, a two-time star from Colorado, is the favorite for this season’s Heisman, given to college football’s top player. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, Miami quarterback Cam Ward and Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel are strong contenders. The top four finalists will travel to New York for the Heisman ceremony on December 14.
Skattebo has never been to the Big Apple. Did it cross his mind?
“I never thought I would be (in this position),” he said.
Does he think he deserves to go?
“Potentially,” Skattebo said. ‘We still have more work to do. But yes.”
Man of the hour. pic.twitter.com/rSfIoUAH8v
— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) December 1, 2024
As Skattebo held aloft the Territorial Cup, the oldest rivalry trophy in sports, his teammates gathered around him in the corner of Arizona Stadium. Dillingham told the officials to get the players into the locker room already to return to the field. Once they did, Dillingham and the Sun Devils sang the school fight song. After the last word, they took the party inside.
Skattebo stayed on the field.
He looked across the entire field and saw Arizona State fans lined up all the way from one end zone to the other. Skattebo started going downstairs, signing autographs, posing for photos and living in the moment. In the locker room, his coaches and teammates celebrated. Skattebo wasn’t worried.
“I see those guys every day,” he said. “We’ll have fun later.”
Elite players in college football are highly regarded in the sport. Hunter was a five-star student in high school and the best player in his class. Jeanty was a four-star running back. Skattebo came out of California’s Rio Linda High School and barely registered, a running back who played as a linebacker.
Skattebo signed with Sacramento State, the only school to offer him a full scholarship. After two seasons, he transferred to Arizona State. In his first season with the Sun Devils, he rushed for 783 yards and nine touchdowns behind a broken line. This season, slimmed down and determined, he was among the nation’s most improved players, the only defender entering Saturday with more than 1,000 rushing yards and more than 350 receiving yards.
“It’s funny because those of us who have watched him grow up — and I talked to his brother about it last week as well — it looks exactly the same,” Jack Garceau, Skattebo’s high school coach, said by phone during Saturday’s game . “This was already the case in high school. This way at Sac State. And now this is what it looks like at ASU. Nothing has changed. He just got better and better and better.”
At the stands, Skattebo grabbed a maroon hat and scribbled “Skatt” in black ink. He shuffled to the left, hit fives and stopped next to a blond-haired boy who asked him to autograph his maroon jersey. Skattebo moved the boy aside so he could use his shoulder for support. A security guard informed colleagues that Skattebo was still on the field. A photographer told the running back that his family was waiting not far down the line.
Arizona State became bowl eligible after a Nov. 2 win at Oklahoma State. After that game, Dillingham said the Sun Devils (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) were playing with house money. Quarterback Sam Leavitt said that was when he first thought about the expanded College Football Playoff.
“Why not us?” he thought.
Arizona State hasn’t lost since, winners of five in a row, each win bigger than the last, the most memorable march this program has seen since the Sun Devils went 11-1 in the 1996 season. Leavitt has developed faster than expected. The offensive line has remained healthy. The defense made plays.
“They still surprise me,” Dillingham said. “It’s just a unique, crazy group of misfits who somehow came together and are creating things that are special.”
Skattebo was the engine. Earlier on ESPN’s “College GameDay,” Nick Saban called him his favorite player in college football.
“This guy is tough,” the former Alabama coach said. “Difficult. I just love a great competitor. He is all that.”
Skattebo picked up a cell phone. He stretched it out as far as his right arm could extend, made sure the fans were in the frame behind him and smiled. He posed among nine cheerleaders from the state of Arizona. Twenty minutes after the game, Skattebo hugged his family. After a brief conversation, he turned and ran to the locker room. Fans serenaded him along the way.
“Skatt for Heis man!”
“Skatt for Heis man!”
(Photo of Cam Skattebo (left) and Kenny Dillingham: Christopher Hook/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)