Cal Football: 5 Questions for Arizona State Beat Writer

Devils Digest editor Hod Rabino discusses ASU's strong game against USC, the Sun Devils quarterback situation and the impact of new coach Kenny Dillingham

Arizona State is 1-3 but is coming off a strong performance against USC in a 42-28 loss, so we contacted Hod Rabino of Devils Digest to answer five questions about Arizona State, which plays Cal in Berkeley on Saturday afternoon.

We provide a written excerpt from each of his answers, but the full responses are in the videos.

--1. Arizona State played USC close for most of the game in a 42-28 loss one week after losing to Fresno State 29-0. Was that USC game a sign that the Sun Devils have made a significant improvement, and how so?

“Kenny Dillingham decided to take the play-calling reins away from Beau Baldwin, obviously an offensive coordinator folks in Berkeley are very familiar with,” Rabino said in the video atop this story, “and you really saw almost a brand-new offense. Surely there was a lot of smoke and mirrors and trickery. If anyone wants to Google the name Cam Skateebo, the running back from Arizona State. He did everything on that night but employ the really impressive drone show that took place at halftime. That was definitely an illustration that the bag of tricks of Kenny Dillingham is pretty deep. Very curious to see what he’s going to pull out of that bag for the Cal game. Nevertheless, it really re-energized the offense, rejuvenated on that side of the ball. That’s why they came pretty close to pulling off an upset.”

Against USC, Skattebo rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown and a two-point conversion, was 2-for-3 for 42 yards in passing, caught four passes for 79 yards and a touchdown and punted once for 53 yards.

Skattebo says PEEK-A-BOO! TOUCHDOWN @ASUFootball 🫣 🔥 pic.twitter.com/245GG04DkG

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 24, 2023

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--2. Arizona State has been shuffling its starting quarterbacks because of injuries. What is the Sun Devils’ quarterback situation for this week’s game against Cal?

Freshman Jaden Rashada started the first two games before suffering an injury that will sideline him most of the season. Trenton Bourguet started the third game and got hurt, and Drew Pyne started the game against USC, was sacked eight times, and got injured. So Bourguet is back at the starter against Cal.

“This is not an unfamiliar stage for Bourguet,” said Rabino. “He start six games [actually five] for Arizona State last season. He is a quarterback I think is going to fit much better with what Arizona State has at its disposal. It’s a really shaky offensive line . . . When it comes to pass-blocking, they’re really not up to par in that department . . . It’s good to have a Trenton Bourguet, who is known to be a high-IQ quarterback, a quarterback that gets rid of the ball pretty quickly, so I’m really curious to see how that dynamic is going to work for Arizona State, but I think It’s going to work better than it did against USC.”

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--3. What impact has first-year head coach Kenny Dillingham had on the program?

“I know some people locally and nationally really raised an eyebrow when ASU hired a then-32, now 33-year-old head coach, the youngest one at the Power 5 level,” Rabino said, “but he’s exactly the shot in the arm that Arizona State needed. Kenny Dillingham is an alumnus, he grew up here in the Valley of the Sun, he was a member of the staff all the way back in 2013, 2014 under then-head coach Todd Graham so he not only grew up a Sun Devil fan but also familiar with the program. . . . I think you see a very creative and innovative mind, some call him the quarterback whisperer, you see what he did with Bo Nix. . . . He’s really someone who’s hitting all the right buttons, not only when it comes to the offense, but when it comes to the team as a whole.

“He knows how to walk that fine line of really keeping his team in check, but at the same time being that energizer bunny, being that absolute motivator, somebody who really says all the right things, does the right things, really trying to galvanize this fan base that’s been pretty scarred from the Herm Edwards era and the ongoing NCAA investigation.”

Rabino noted that in the USC game Dillingham revived an offense that had been virtually dead the previous week against Fresno State.

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--4. What effect did the news that Arizona State would not be eligible for the postseason have on the team?

Rabino said Herm Edwards wanted to resign in the spring of 2022 because of what was happening to the program, but athletic director Ray Anderson, who has been Edwards’ agent, did not accept it.

“I don’t think that the poor play we saw in the first three weeks from Arizona State is because of that self-imposed postseason-ban hangover, which by the way was announced less than a week before the season opener,” Rabino said.

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--5. Who are Arizona State’s best players, and why is each effective?

On offense Rabino mentioned running back Cam Skattebo (whom he called “an absolutely weapon), wide receiver Elijah Badger and tight end Jalin Conyers.

“On defense it definitely starts with the best pass-rusher on the team, B.J. Green,” Rabino said of Green, who came from Georgia as a walk-on. Rabino also mentioned linebacker Tre Brown, nickel back Jordan Clark and cornerback Ro Torrence.

Cover photo of Cameron Skattebo by Rob Schumacher, The Republic, USA TODAY NETWORK

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