Takeaways From BYU Football’s Loss At Arizona State

TEMPE, Ariz. – That was a wild BYU football game.

No. 14 BYU lost its second consecutive game in a 28-23 setback against No. 21 Arizona State.

Wild scene in Tempe after the final play of the game between #BYU and Arizona State. pic.twitter.com/8gyK9F3iir

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) November 24, 2024

Crazy scene to close out the game

There was a 15-minute delay after Sam Leavitt tossed a pass out of bounds on fourth down. Arizona State fans thought the clock had run out, so they stormed the field.

Little did they know the play was under review, and officials were looking to see if more time was left on the clock.

After a lengthy review, one second was put back on the clock. The grounds crew had to raise the goalposts again, and fans were asked to clear the field.

One second left pic.twitter.com/rm02J1UNq9

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 24, 2024

It was a tense situation. BYU administrators Brian Santiago and Tom Holmoe stressed to security that they should create a path for the BYU coaches and players to exit the field safely when the game eventually ended.

Somehow, the field was cleared, and the final Hail Mary play was called. Retzlaff tossed a deep ball to Chase Roberts that was ruled an incompletion.

Immediately after the play ended, fans stormed the field and circled around Chase Roberts.

Roberts was guided by Tom Holmoe, support staff, to the locker room to avoid any extracurriculars.

BYU’s offense showed life in the second half

BYU had only scored two offensive touchdowns through the first ten quarters of November. In the second half against Arizona State, BYU equaled that total on two drives in the third quarter.

They added a third touchdown in the second half when Keelan Marion scored on a one-yard jet sweep.

BYU’s offense looked lifeless after the halftime break, with only three points.

Jake Retzlaff was 7-10 for 119 yards and a touchdown pass in the third quarter. This raises questions about where this offense was in the first half and last week against Kansas.

BYU center Connor Pay said the offense made halftime adjustments that worked against the Sun Devils, but he didn’t divulge what those adjustments were to create the success.

There are no moral victories this late in the season, but it was promising that BYU’s offense came to life to close out this game.

Another year with a two-game losing streak

It’s the fourth consecutive year that BYU has dropped at least two consecutive games in a season. Last year, they dropped five consecutive games. The year before, they dropped four in a row. Then in 2021, after climbing to No. 10 in the Top 25 rankings, they dropped games against Boise State and Baylor.

It’s a similar story this year.

After reaching No. 6 in the College Football Playoff Top 25, BYU dropped an unexpected game to Kansas, and that adversity turned into a second loss in Tempe.

BYU football had no answer for ASU RB Cam Skattebo

Item number one on the scouting report for BYU’s defense was to stop Cam Skattebo.

That message wasn’t clear enough as the star ball carrier ran wild on BYU’s defense.

Skattebo’s first carry of the game was a tone-setter for the afternoon, with a 16-yard run on the heels of BYU’s offense coming up short on fourth down.

The senior ball carrier didn’t receive the preseason hype like other Big 12 running backs Ollie Gordon, RJ Harvey, DJ Giddens. Still, as the season heads into the final week, he’s one of the best running backs this league and the nation offers.

Skattebo finished with 148 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries.

Miles Hall is going to be a good player for BYU at LB

Redshirt freshman Miles Hall will be a good player for BYU football in the future. He was thrown in a tough spot after Harrison Taggart left the game in the first half for an undisclosed reason.

Hall earned significant action against Kansas, and he was thrown into action against ASU on Saturday.

During the third quarter, you saw Hall’s pass-rush ability on the opening defensive series. He appeared to have a sack on Sam Leavitt on 3rd & 4 until Marque Collins was called for a defensive holding penalty.

Hall is in the same mold as Isaiah Glasker, a former wide receiver and safety in high school, who is growing into his body at linebacker. He will be one to watch for BYU in the future.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.

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