Sun Devils have to hustle to keep up with Skattebo

Arizona State's uniquely bullish running back has led his team to a 5-1 record in its first Big 12 season.

Cam Skattebo, Arizona State

There’s an oven, and then there’s hell, and then there’s Phoenix. The authorities aren’t kidding when they warn people not to fall on August sidewalks, because serious burns can result. The grass can get hot, too, but Cameron Skattebo solved that during Arizona State’s  practices and September games. As coach Kenny Dillingham observed, “He hasn’t touched the ground on this turf by choice in this camp, not once. That’s pretty impressive for a running back.”

Very impressive, since it really isn’t a long trip from Skattebo’s helmet to the ground. He’s 5-foot-11 and, thanks to Dillingham’s demands to gain speed by losing weight, about 215. Had he been a little taller he might have come to ASU earlier, and gotten caught up in the muck that usually surrounds Sun Devil football. Instead, Skattebo got to Tempe after three years at Sacramento State, the Big Sky champ and FBS power that was the only four-year school that offered him a grant, and that’s only because Skattebo had led Rio Linda, in Sacramento, to a California 5-A championship.

It’s a good story on paper. It’s better when you see Skattebo run through, under and around his pursuers, some of which aren’t so keen on trying to round up this porcupine on wheels. Skattebo is the second-leading rusher in the Big 12 and ranks fifth in the nation, with 773 yards so far, and his 133 carries are the most of anyone. He has rushed for eight touchdowns, caught 19 passes, and is joining his teammates in maybe, just maybe, putting an alarm clock in the ear of the sleepiest giant in college football.

The Sun Devils are 5-1, losing only at Texas Tech by eight points. They are 2-1 in their first year of Big 12 play. Now, four of their games have been in the fiery furnace of Sun Devil Stadium, and they have road games upcoming, at Cincinnati Saturday and then Oklahoma State. Later, they go to Kansas State. But they’ve already beaten preseason favorite Utah, 27-19, and Skattebo had touchdown runs of 50 and 47 yards. Three times already, he’s been the league’s Offensive Player of the Week. Maybe he should have gone to Colorado, since he most resembles an electrified boulder.

Arizona State hasn’t been a Top 20 team in the final AP poll since 2014. It has lost eight of its past 11 bowl games. Dillingham was 32 when ASU hired him away from Oregon, where he was the offensive coordinator, but he also went to ASU and knows that winning is a little more complicated than putting a stadium in the sunshine, next to a big city and adjacent to Mill Street, one of the great university playpens in America. Dillingham has spent the past two years renovating his roster, with transfers and recruits, and the effort and speed is not hard to discern.

Dillingham has no trouble giving Skattebo the ball, but he also puts him on kickoff teams, just so Skattebo can be the punisher as well as the punishee. Note: He does plenty of punishing with the ball, too.

His dad Leonard coached Cam’s youth teams in Sacramento, but Cam spent the year playing all sports. Leonard also introduced him to cryotherapy, in which he uses cold energy to repair sprains and strains. But everyone made sure not to cure Skattebo’s bruised feelings, since he rode them so relentlessly. Skattebo particularly enjoyed Arizona State’s win over UCLA last year, since DeShaun Foster, then the Bruins’ offensive backfield coach but now the head man, told Skattebo point-blank he was too slow.

“He basically told me, ‘Your son’s playing the wrong position, he’s a white kid, he shouldn’t be playing running back,’’’ Leonard told Cronkite Sports. “I said, have you watched the film? And he said, yeah, but he’s not going to be able to play here.’’’

Cam passed and ran for touchdowns as Arizona State won at UCLA, 17-7. But UCLA was merely the latest doubter, and Skattebo has proven he can take offense to anyone for anything. This season he mocked Mississippi State for playing only three defensive linemen up front. “You can’t come in here and put five guys in the box and expect to stop six,” he said, after his 262 yards in 33 carries had established his point in a 30-23 win.

Even though most of Skattebo’s work has come late on Saturday nights, word is getting around. Most people know that the last syllable of his Norwegian-based surname is pronounced “boo.” At the Burrito Express in Tempe, there’s a dish in his honor called the “Boo-rito.”

Skattebo’s story also serves as a message to those who lament the ungoverned world of college football today. When coach Troy Taylor left Sacramento State for Stanford, Skattebo was able to transfer to ASU without missing any time. He’s making money. Nobody seems to know how much, but the On3.com website has a formula that indicates what the players should get, and it gives Skattebo an NIL valuation of $310,000. 

The No. 1 problem in college football, for lo these many years, was the naked exploitation of the players. The world of NIL and collectives is changing that. They are finally able to consume pieces of the pie that they baked themselves. If it means that fans can’t keep up with their whereabouts, or can’t get attached to the short-timers, that’s unfortunate but not really important. Jayden Daniels was a transfer who won the Heisman Trophy and so was Joe Burrow and so was Caleb Williams. Dillon Gabriel of Oregon and Cam Ward of Miami have a shot at it this year. At no other time has it been as good to be a prominent college football player, and the payouts might even keep some of them around longer.

And the money is pretty good. Skattebo’s valuation ranks 33rd among FBS running backs. It would be fine with Dillingham if someone reminds Skattebo of that, preferably on a Saturday, shortly before the kickoff team goes in..