As dusk approaches on the first full Saturday of college football, the Cowboys will be looking to make a splash to end the night with one of the final kickoffs of the day against the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe. This Cowboys’ team, in its first game of the Jay Sawvel era, will have its hands full with this new-look Sun Devil team that added thirty different transfers from across the nation in hopes to rebuild after a 3-9 season last year.
The Cowboys began prepping for the Sun Devils last Thursday and despite there being little film on a seemingly much improved Sun Devil team, head coach Jay Sawvel had a few things about Arizona State to point out.
The first thing Sawvel pointed out was the Sun Devils’ ground game, headlined by Cam Skattebo, who returns to Tempe after rushing for 783 yards with nine touchdowns off 164 carries last season. Skattebo’s best game last year came against Washington State, where he torched the Cougars with 121 yards on the ground and was able to rip off a 66 yard run in the process.
“Cameron Skattebo is a great running back, so I think we ought to start there first and foremost,” Sawvel said Thursday during a press conference. “Defensively, let’s start there because that guy runs over a lot of people.”
Not only will the Pokes be preparing for Skattebo in the backfield, but also for Sam Leavitt, who was named the starting quarterback for the Sun Devils just last week. The Cowboys are already somewhat familiar with the redshirt freshman after he spent his first year at Michigan State, where he studied under current Cowboy offensive coordinator Jay Johnson.
“We’ve talked to coach Johnson about strengths [of Sam Leavitt] and those types of things,” Sawvel said. “But he had him as a [true] freshman, a guy develops, a guy improves. He’s going to improve as a player.”
Offensively, both teams will be showing flashes of a similar offense under their offensive coordinators. The Cowboys will be looking to play a little more up-tempo compared to years prior, which saw the Pokes typically grind out offensive possessions and tire out opposing defenses.
“We’re just continuing to hit on the fast paced offense, just mastering it,” Evan Svoboda, starting quarterback for the Cowboys said.
Marcus Arroyo, who was the head coach of UNLV from 2020-22, serves as the offensive coordinator for the Sun Devils where he brings along a fast paced pro style offense, similar to what the Cowboys will be running this fall.
However, it’s on the defensive side of the ball where we see these two teams differentiate the most. In fact, it may ultimately be up to which defense plays better this Saturday to decide who wins out.
The Sun Devils’ featured a mediocre defense last season, one that ranked 92nd amongst all FBS teams in the nation last year. However, that ranking from a year ago means little to nothing this season as the Sun Devils have completely revamped their defense with transfers and even returned their leading tackler from a year ago in Shamari Simmons, who Sawvel noted could give the Pokes fits from the safety position.
“Shamari Simmons is an extremely good player, very physical, very fast, is very impactful in a number of different ways,” Sawvel said.
There aren’t too many strangers on the defense for the Cowboys this year, as they return a veteran group on that side of the ball. The Cowboys will see eight starters return on their defense, seven of which all play in different spots and four of which were all-conference a season ago. Those all-conference returners include Jordan Bertagnole, Sabastian Harsh, Shae Suiaunoa and Wyett Ekeler.
“I think we have solid depth at linebacker and I think we have really good depth at defensive end,” Sawvel said of his defense. “I think we’re solid at defensive tackle. I think our depth at corner is still coming [and] at safety, same kind of thing.”
At the end of the day, the Cowboys will still have to play the tough, hard-nosed football they’ve always been known for if they want to come away with a win at Mountain America Stadium, where a capacity of up to 53,599 will be anxiously waiting to see a reformed Sun Devil squad.
Kickoff is set for 8:30 MST in Tempe where the Cowboys will be equally as anxious to play spoiler for the newly inducted Big 12 team.
