Kicking, screaming, and fighting to the bitter end, he wasn’t going down easy. And neither were his teammates. 

The drive before, Skattebo had thrown a 42-yard touchdown pass - as a running back - to bring the game within a score. Skattebo’s resurgent second half had brought This Arizona State team, picked last in the Big 12 preseason media poll, back into a pitched battle no one thought they’d ever find themselves in. Down 14 points at halftime against a Texas side that had spent four weeks as the AP No.1 team in the country was just another chance for ASU to keep proving people wrong.

Texas closed as a two-touchdown favorite on Wednesday, and through 30 minutes of football, very little had been shown to quell those doubts in ASU. In a season filled with disbelief in the validity of a program, its final game left little for external credence.

“I bet you nobody in this room thought we were going even to be close when we went down 17-3 in that first quarter,” Skattebo said, “So we believed in ourselves.”

In the end, it took two overtime periods for the Longhorns to finally put down the never-say-die Devils. After surrendering a touchdown on 4th & 13 and on the opening play of the second extra session, an interception by senior safety Andrew Mkuba secured passage for UT to the semi-finals, and ended ASU’s improbable playoff run in heart-wrenching fashion. As a sea of white and burnt orange stormed the field in elation, an equal wave of distraught crashed through the maroon and gold on the opposite sideline as heads hung down and tears flooded the faces of every player and coach from Tempe. 

It was a game akin to the epic story of David and Goliath. Except this time, Goliath won, but he left more wounded than any spectator could’ve anticipated. Seeing the favorite bleed, however, did little to lessen the pain of defeat for the underdogs.

“There are no moral victories when the season ends,” ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said, his face stricken with the tears of unfulfilled hopes. “There's no such thing. This should hurt and be painful. The locker room is dreadful right now, and it should be. If it wasn't, something would be wrong.” 

At the outset, the expected Texas beatdown of Arizona State looked like it would come to fruition. ASU held 12 minutes of possession in the first quarter, but Texas only needed two to outscore them. After an over-seven-minute opening possession by ASU procured three points, Longhorns junior quarterback Quinn Ewers took the field for the first time from his own 23. Seconds later, Texas junior receiver Matthew Golden Jr. was sprinting through acres of space across midfield for a 54-yard completion on his team's first play from scrimmage. Seconds later, Ewers uncorked a 32-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver DeAndre Moore Jr.

Two plays in, and Texas was up, despite a scoring drive from ASU taking significantly more time. A three-and-out by ASU followed, and the Sun Devils had to punt. The Longhorns’ senior punt returner, Silas Bolden, left defenders in the dust, bolting nearly untouched through the center of the field for a 75-yard return touchdown. In a span of one minute and 31 seconds of game time, Texas let by two scores, and had appeared to bury the Big 12 champions. 

Emphasis on appeared.

“[Texas] was one of the best teams in the country, if not the best team in the country we faced today,” Dillingham said. “We started off not so great, and the way the

guys battled back is remarkable.”

What followed was a simple reality check offered to the team at halftime. Down 17-3, redshirt sophomore Xavion Alford - one of the team captains - sparked his squad into action with an impassioned speech. 

“(Alford said) ‘30 minutes left, it’s do or die,” Graduate ASU guard Ben Coleman. “‘This is it. There is no next game. There is no tomorrow. We can guarantee one thing in 30 minutes: if we don't perform, we'll go home.’ Xavian Alford shared that and it was echoed throughout everybody.” 

Alford’s touting and Skattebo’s physical expelling of his subpar 45-yard first half from his body would wind up rallying a comeback effort, led by the Heisman-caliber running back.

“I threw up (during the game),” Skattebo said. “ I was kind of feeling sloshy and then felt better after. I felt a lot better after throwing up. That's when it all started. I had a rough first half and I wasn't feeling too good. That second half, it was a different ballgame.”

After the halftime break, Arizona State had zero intentions of allowing its season to end in a blowout. Soon, it became a feeling not to allow its season to end on January 1.

ASU Senior defensive back Shamari Simmons forced a safety early in the third. On the next drive, a 33-yard Skattebo run left multiple hopeful tacklers in his wake and set up a field goal. Just as the Devils began to raise their pitchfork in rebellion, Texas junior quarterback Quinn Ewers scrambled in for a score early in the fourth to put the Longhorns up 24-8 and seemingly reassert the powerhouse's path past the Quarterfinal. 

The heroics of Skattebo down the stretch, along with some help from his defense and Texas special teams, set up an overtime period and tied at 24. Most of the second half, as most of the season was for ASU, was a story of herculean effort in the fce of doubt from the Sun Devil running back. 

The four-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week and eventual Peach Bowl Offensive MVP, Skattebo transferred to Arizona State from Sacramento State ahead of 2023 and was a Paul Hornung award - awarded to the nation’s most versatile player - finalist in his first year in 2023. Finishing fifth in Heisman voting in 2024, he’s been the pillar in the resurrection of Sun Devil football from two straight 3-9 campaigns to an 11-3 season ending in the school’s first-ever CFP appearance. 

“ASU has changed my life forever in a good way,” Skattebo said. “They've supported me through everything and put me in a position to be successful.”

Skattebo’s Sun Devil story looked like it would add a Cotton Bowl chapter deep into the first overtime. Having received the ball first and put it in the end zone, defenders stepped up to pin Texas into a 4th and 13 situation from the 28. One stop was all that was needed for Arizona State to pull one of the biggest upsets in recent college football memory. Instead, Ewers struck gold with Matthew Golden, who worked a double move route outside to shake off Alford and reel it in for a season-saving touchdown. 

ASU dialed up a cover zero blitz on the play, trying to either get to Ewers quickly or force a rushed and potentially inaccurate throw. This high-risk, high-reward play was contingent on sacking the quarterback quickly to avoid getting beat behind with softer coverage. The decision proved fatal. 

“To be honest, it's all on me,” Dillingham said. “We're in a cover zero look. Late in the play clock, I didn't have the ability to get out of it, and that's on me. So we left our guys isolated. I gotta go into that game with the ability to get out of that call. That's one of the many things that as I reflect I gotta be better because our guys played good enough to win. Our guys battled good enough to win, and this game is 100 percent on me.” 

One play later, Gunnar Helm hit paydirt for Texas. They added the two-point conversion, and one of the nation’s top defenses in turnovers got its first one of the day off of Sam Leavitt to strike the dagger in ASU’s heart.

Skattebo has exercised his eligibility and will declare for the NFL draft and notable roster turnover is expected moving forward for Arizona State. However, for the man who helped turn this program around, he’ll have his chase at redemption for years to come. 

It was announced the night before Wednesday's game that Dillingham was extended for five years with incentives that can raise the contract to ten. In late 2022 when the ASU alum was hired, he was the youngest head coach in the FBS. Now he’s locked in for the foreseeable future at a budding contender, and the intention from the football team and an entire school is to get back to these playoff moments.

“What we saw tonight, is building the brand of some of the football that reflects the university that we represent,” ASU athletic director Graham Rossini said. “There's innovation, there's an element of surprise, there's a resiliency, there's a grit, there's a respond factor that we saw tonight. This was a fan base that wanted something to believe in and a head coach who changed the tone of the program. Our commitment is making sure that we can use our resources in a way that this continues.”