“Kudos to them, they played really well,” ASU Head Coach Dillingham said. “They whooped our butt in the first half, no other way to say it.”

The Sun Devils started off hot, with a 6-play, 66-yard touchdown drive on their first possession, ending with a two-yard Cameron Skattebo touchdown. However, Arizona State struggled to move the ball for the remainder of the first half. ASU gained 82 yards on 23 plays for the rest of the half and did not convert on a third or fourth down.

“When you don't convert third downs or convert the fourth downs, you get stalled out,” Coach Dillingham said.

However, The Sun Devils did turn it around in the second half offensively, gaining 223 total yards on four drives. However, Arizona State could only score on one of those four drives. 

ASU’s kicker Ian Hershey missed two field goals (48, 41) that could have put the Sun Devils in a better position to win the game. 

“You hope that you can make a kick, but our kicking game is atrocious,” Coach Dillingham said. “If you can kick and you’re at Arizona State, email me. We’re going to have kicking tryouts on Monday.”

Coach Dillingham said the snaps and holds were good on the kicks, and he did not know exactly what the problem was with the kicking game. 

Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby played well, throwing for over 200 yards and scoring two rushing touchdowns. However, defensive back Keith Abney forced a turnover for Arizona State with his first interception of the season.

“I don’t think it had anything to do with the time change, we just didn’t come out here and play our brand of football,” Abney said. 

Jeff Sims made his first start for the Sun Devils due to Sam Leavitt missing this game with a fractured rib.

“I think he did good. We had just one turnover,” ASU center Leif Fautanu said. “I think he played confident. I trusted him just as much as I do Sam (Leavitt). Regardless of who we put back there from the quarterback standpoint, they’re going to ball out.”

Sims passed for 155 yards and completed just over 50 percent of his passes. Sims and Skattebo combined for 31 rushing attempts and 128 yards total.

Cameron Skattebo moved up to top-35 in all-time rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and total scrimmage yards for the Sun Devils.

Arizona State has a bye week next week but will return with a five-week gauntlet to end the season. Four of their final five opponents were ranked at some point this season, and two are currently ranked (KSU, BYU). However, ASU is focused on health and recovery during this bye week.

“Everybody’s got bumps and bruises,” Coach Dillingham said We just got to get our bodies fresh, get our bodies ready to roll for this last five-game run.”