By Jacob Seliga
Lead Writer
After last Friday night’s victory over then No. 16 Utah, it appeared as if Arizona State was rolling on its path to reaching bowl eligibility, needing only one more victory to secure it for the first time since the 2021 season.
However, Kenny Dillingham told reporters earlier in the week that in order to secure that goal, the Sun Devils would have to do it on the road at Cincinnati without quarterback Sam Leavitt who suffered broken ribs amongst other injuries against the Utes.
With Leavitt out, the Sun Devils had to turn to former Georgia Tech and Nebraska quarterback Jeff Sims who led a lackadaisical Arizona State offense to 24-14 defeat at the hands of the Bearcats on Saturday afternoon.
Non existent rushing attack
From the moment that Leavitt was announced as out, the clear game plan was going to be establishing the running game behind Cam Skattebo and using Sims’ rushing ability to control the clock and sustain drives to keep the Bearcats offense that has been one of the better units in the Big 12 off the field.
The opening drive of the game saw the Sun Devils do just that as Sims used a pass to Skattebo and a long run by Kyson Brown to set up Arizona State with a touchdown to open the game.
Although the Sun Devils attempted to get multiple running backs going including DeCarlos Brooks alongside Brown and Skattebo, the Bearcats front seven led by linebackers Jonathan Thompson, Jared Bartlett and Antwan Peek Jr controlled the game by filling games and taking away short passes in the flat which Arizona State thrived on early.
Not so ”special” teams
Once again, the special teams unit of the Sun Devils had a subpar week as late in the fourth quarter needing a field goal to cut the ten point deficit to seven, kicker Ian Hershey pushed a kick wide to the left that never had a chance that allowed Cincinnati to take over and mostly run out the clock before missing another field goal attempt later in the quarter that ended the game.
Extra points have also been an issue as Hershey and Carson Kieffer have both missed one and have combined to miss six field goals this year going 3-9 on kicks of 30 or more yards. This subpar performance continues a trend that started last season where the punting game of Arizona State was one of the worst units in all of college football.
At a certain point, it isn’t personnel, it’s coaching, and Charlie Ragle will have to figure out a way to make the Sun Devils a threat in the kicking game before teams sell out to force Arizona State into “no man’s land” on the offensive side of the ball.
Rushing defense takes a step back
For only the second time this year, Arizona State looked lost at times on the defensive side of the ball.
Entering today, the Sun Devils ranked inside the top 20 nationally in rushing yards allowed per game and yards allowed per carry, only conceding 103 yards, and 3.2 yards respectively in those two categories. Bearcat running back Corey Kiner alone had 102 yards as behind Kiner and Evan Pryor, Cincinnati rushed for 191 yards at exactly five yards per carry, both numbers are the highest the Sun Devils have conceded in either category in any game this season so far.
With Bearcat quarterback Brendan Sorsby a bit inconsistent at times during the game only throwing for 206 yards and an interception, the back half of the Sun Devils defense was able to play down and play the run but it still wasn’t enough, as although there would be specific plays by players such as defensive tackles CJ Fite and Justin Wodtly, for the most part the front seven of Arizona State’s defense could not get home or make a play leaving safeties and cornerbacks responsible to get a tackle and prevent a big run.
What’s Next?
The Sun Devils will now enter their final bye week of the regular season at 5-2 with a tough five game stretch in November to close the regular season out. Arizona State will have to travel to Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Arizona with home contests against UCF and BYU sandwiched in between needing only one win to secure bowl eligibility.
The big question will be whether or not Leavitt will be available off the bye week against Oklahoma State as that would be three weeks since the injury occurred which is exactly in the middle of the two-to-four week timeline that coach Dillingham initially gave earlier in the week.
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