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Arizona State Sun Devils

Arizona State’s Incredible Team Effort Leads Them to Upset Win at UCLA 17-7

This was easily Kenny Dillingham’s best game of his career as a head coach. He orchestrated some of the most insane drives you will ever see. It was almost like he played Madden in Arizona State’s 17-7 win over UCLA. It was the first time UCLA had lost at home this season.

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The Defense had four red zone stops this game and held UCLA’s potent offense scoreless through 3 quarters. Also, Kenny Dillingham was having Trenton Bourguet, TE Jalin Conyers, and RB Cam Skattebo take snaps at QB throughout the game, and it worked to perfection. He completely outcoached legend Chip Kelly and confused the UCLA Defense. He was implementing formations you would never even dream of and was using them consistently. Here is a look at a formation he used constantly in the first half:

Brian Ward also deserves a ton of credit. He allowed yards but truly did not break. Ward watched his defense completely shut down UCLA whenever they got past the 50. He took advantage of a QB who had never played in a college football game and never let him get comfortable.

First Quarter

Arizona State started the game with a weird three-and-out that included a 56-yard pass negated by a penalty. Once UCLA got the ball, they started Collin Schlee at QB but didn’t give him a chance to throw, except for one screen pass. UCLA got multiple first downs but eventually got stalled after a big-time Elijah O’Neill sack and was forced to punt.

Arizona State got the ball with 7 minutes to go and held it for six minutes, but despite some promising plays, getting into the Red Zone, Bourguet threw an interception in the end zone to Kenny Churchwell III, and the excellent drive was over. The quarter ended with a 20-yard QB keeper to bring UCLA near Arizona State territory. The score is currently 0-0 in the battle of the 3rd-string QBs.

Second Quarter

The second quarter started with this promising drive by the Bruins. They marched to ASU 26 before Anthony Adkins fumbled and returned the ball to the Sun Devils. The fumble was forced by Caleb McCullough and recovered by Shamari Simmons, who had a fantastic game.

This was the most promising drive of the game so far for the Sun Devils offense. They got the ball after that fumble, and Kenny Dillingham started throwing out all the stops. He had Arizona State in formations you would only see in trick plays, but he had them doing it on every stop to preserve O-lineman. It was an absolute masterclass of a drive-by Dillingham and Bourguet, who led the Sun Devils down to the UCLA 11 before settling for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

UCLA had their best drive of the first half here as well. They used a 38-yard run from Keegan Jones and Collin Schlee’s best pass of the day to get all the way down inside the ASU 5 and a first down. What happened then? 2-yard run, 1-yard run, 1-yard run, and a major wall to end the drive there on the one-yard line.

ASU would go three and out on three Bourguet deep balls, which, for some reason, Kenny Dillingham was trying to take shots a lot early in the game, which caused many of the quick drives early.

UCLA would get the ball at the ASU 18 and immediately throw a nine-yard completion to get inside the ten and bring up second and 1. What happened next? Run for no gain, Run for no gain, Run for no gain. ASU ball. It was an absolute red zone masterclass by Brian Ward’s defense in the second quarter. Three straight trips brought up no points for the Bruins.

ASU would immediately go three and out again after two screen passes went backward.

UCLA would get the ball inside ASU territory at the ASU 48 and quickly throw an 11-yard completion to get to the  ASU 37. However, two straight incompletions brought up 3rd down. Brian Ward brought pressure. Tate Romney sacked Schlee for 9 yards to get them out of any field goal territory, which would send the game to half with ASU up 3-0.

Third Quarter

The third quarter started very quietly. The first three drives went a combined 30 yards, and no team got past the 50. However, it was the fourth drive that changed the game.

Arizona State got the ball on their one-yard line. Cam Skattebo was easily able to get 11 yards on the first two plays to give them some room and a first down. From there, it was a combination of quick passes and short runs to get the ball to ASU 44. Trenton Bourguet threw a great pass to Elijhah Badger for 17 yards, where he broke multiple tackles. Then ASU got a quick pass to Troy Omeire for 7 yards, and a 7-yard Skattebo run to get this to the 25 of UCLA. Bourguet threw two incompletions, and Dillingham did the unthinkable. On third down, he lined Skattebo up at QB, and instead of running a wildcat run, he let Skatt throw one. It was a dime 25 yards down the field for an Elijah Badger Touchdown. It was perfect, and ASU led 10-0.

The next UCLA drive started incredibly strong as UCLA was able to use two big chunk plays to get to the ASU 45, but an Illegal Forward Pass caused them to lose a down, and the quarter ended.

Fourth Quarter

The Fourth quarter started with UCLA facing 3rd and six from the ASU 41. They went to Ryan Cragun, who got a four-yard run and brought up 4th and two. They ran the ball to Carson Steele, the same running back who got stuffed on the goal line four times earlier in this game. So, I’m guessing you can guess what happened. He only got one yard, and ASU forced another turnover on downs.

After a quick three and out, UCLA got the ball back on their own 41, but finally, ASU’s defense cracked. Logan Loya got two 15+ yard passes from Schlee on back-to-back plays to score UCLA’s first touchdown and bring this game to 10-7 with 9:47 to go in the game.

So, what does Kenny Dillingham do? He orchestrates a 12-play drive that takes up 6:40 seconds of clock, includes two bad UCLA penalties and a fourth down conversion, and was punctuated by a 17-yard Cam Skattebo TD run to put the dagger in UCLA. 17-7 ASU.

Arizona State would force a four and out and then kneel the rest of the clock for ASU’s 3rd win of the season, and in my opinion, most impressive.

Final Thoughts

The entire team showed up tonight. Kenny Dillingham had the best coaching performance of his career and showed why he is an offensive genius. Brian Ward showed why he got a nice contact extension as his defense. He held UCLA to 300 yards but completely set up a wall in the red zone.

Trenton Bourguet finished with 149 yards passing. Cam Skattebo had 61 rushing yards, and Elijhah Badger had 116 receiving yards.

ASU is now 3-7, while UCLA, ranked as highly as 19 before last week, has dropped to 6-4. Arizona State can’t enjoy this one too much. They have #6 Oregon at home this next weekend. UCLA has the crosstown showdown vs USC next week.

Arizona State with the Defensive Performance of the Season holds UCLA Scoreless at Half

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