Cam Skattebo's huge game should vault him into Heisman Trophy contention
Cam Skattebo is not human. Just ask Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham.
"Nobody can be Skatt, from a human perspective or a player perspective," Dillingham said after Arizona State's weather-delayed 42-21 Big 12 road victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday.
Skattebo, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound senior running back who spent his first two seasons destroying Big Sky linebackers at Sacramento State, put together one of the most impressive performances of the 2024 college football season in ASU's bowl-clinching win.
And he sat out the last 12 minutes of the game.
Skattebo racked up 274 yards from scrimmage and scored three touchdowns. On the ground he carried the ball 23 times for 153 yards and scored on a one-yard touchdown run. Through the air he caught 4 passes for 121 yards and scored twice — a 50-yard catch-and-run down the right sideline in the second quarter and a 36-yard catch-and-run down the left sideline to start the fourth quarter.
SKATTEBOOOOOO
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 3, 2024
Cam Skattebo is just a problem out there for @ASUFootball 🔱🔥 pic.twitter.com/UdBqb3RjuZ
Skattebo also unofficially forced 10 missed tackles and racked up 82 yards after contact. Perhaps the most impressive stat from Saturday's performance: Skattebo is one of just 15 FBS running backs since 1996 to rush for over 150 yards and have over 100 receiving yards in a single game.
He's arguably the most complete running back in college football — and he has been doing it all season for the 6-2 Sun Devils.
Skattebo is fourth in the nation in all-purpose yards with 1,405 and seventh in the nation in rushing yards with 1,001. Among Power 4 running backs he's the leading receiver with 27 reception for 404 yards. He has four 150-plus yard rushing performances this season, and two 100-plus yard receiving performances.
With four games to play, Skattebo should be in the thick of the Heisman Trophy conversation. The Heisman is given to a player "whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity" and who "epitomizes great ability combined with diligence, performance, and hard work."
Playing for a winning team and putting up record-breaking numbers are also significant factors.
Skattebo checks all of the boxes.
He is the unquestioned leader of an Arizona State team that is now bowl eligible one season after finishing 3-9. The Sun Devils were picked to finish last in the Big 12 and the oddsmakers projected a win total of 4.5.
Arizona State (6-2, 3-2) is getting better every week, and they have a legitimate shot at a berth in the Big 12 championship game. They're the most surprising team in the country — and Skattebo is at the center of it.
“People who think [Skattebo's] flipping the switch right now and going out and playing well, you didn’t see the work that he put in and the time and the commitment that he made to not only change his body, change his physical ability, but also change his mindset," Dillingham said earlier this season.
Arizona State was so far off everyone's radar to start the season that Skattebo is still not showing up among the oddsmakers' Heisman Trophy favorites. But the national media is starting to take notice.
My Heisman top 6
— Brandon Walker (@BFW) November 3, 2024
1 Cam Ward, Miami
2 Travis Hunter, Colorado
3 Ashton Jeanty, Boise St
4 Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
5 Kaleb Johnson, Iowa
6 Cam Skattebo, Arizona St
With Jeanty being just really good and not otherworldly, think it’s between Ward and Hunter.
If Skattebo continues to post eye-popping numbers — and the Sun Devils continue to win — the Heisman voters will have no choice but to invite him to New York.
More Arizona State & Big 12 Analysis
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.