The Arizona State Sun Devils hosted the Southern Utah Thunderbirds in a Week 1 college football game on Thursday, Aug. 31, which lasted into the early hours of Friday morning due to a lingering dust and lightning storm.
The Sun Devils defeated Southern Utah 24-21 after the weather delay of two hours and 45 minutes.
Rio Linda’s Cameron Skattebo had the first score of the game and the first score of the season for the Sun Devils when he punched a 6-yard run into the end zone with 9:06 to play in the 1st quarter.
Cam had 17 carries and a touchdown for ASU. He also had the most touches in the game with 71 rushing yards and 50 receiving yards.
ASU held a 21-7 lead at the half, but was outscored in the second half 14-3 after the Sun Devils’ offense couldn’t get going after the delay at the half.
The Thunderbirds pulled within 24-21 on a blocked punt return for a touchdown with 7:48 left in the game.
Freshman QB Jaden Rashada was 18-for-31 in the game for 236 yards and two touchdowns. He spread the ball around with six different players catching a pass 11 yards or more, including Skattebo who had a key 26-yard gain on third-and-5 on a pass to extend ASU’s drive and seal the win in the 4th quarter.
ASU finished with 371 total yards.
“We didn’t quite bring it until the last drive of the game. We were trying to stay positive and guys were getting frustrated with a lot of penalties. When you play a team like that, no disrespect to them, but you don’t expect the game to be 24-21. It’s like that with two minutes left in the game and people start getting frustrated and nervous and a little anxious.”
Cameron Skattebo postgame interview
