STILLWATER, OK (AZFamily) -- Justin Wodtly stood atop the ramp leading to field. He’d been ejected from the game hours earlier, but the questionable call and a lengthy weather delay did nothing to damper his spirits.

As his teammates walked by, he gave them enthusiastic high fives as he delivered a simple message.

“We’re going bowling!”

Powered by a dominant second half, Arizona State beat Oklahoma State 42-21 to secure its sixth win of the season, making them bowl eligible for the first time since 2021. The Sun Devils—picked dead last in the preseason Big 12 media poll—will be busy in December.

“You’d be lying if you said it didn’t feel good," said ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham. “We never talk about stuff like this, but when you reach a milestone because of putting in the work every day, you got to cherish it.”

The second half performance was more impressive due to the 2-hour, 38-minute weather delay at halftime. On Friday, the game had been moved up three-and-a-half hours from it‘s scheduled start time due to the threat of severe weather, but even the early start couldn‘t escape the storms. And the Cowboys couldn’t escape the second-half onslaught from the Sun Devils.

Buoyed by the return of starting quarterback Sam Leavitt, who threw three touchdowns, the ASU offense gained 529 yards, 274 of which came from running back Cam Skattebo. Defensively, ASU shut out the Cowboys in the second half until a late score when the game was already out of reach.

While ASU has already far surpassed the meager external expectations, the program’s growth in its rebuilding effort continues to be impressive. Even with a postseason spot locked up, the Sun Devils are not content with four games remaining in the regular season.

“Just bigger dreams and aspirations from now on,” Leavitt said.

The Activation

The Game Flow

After missing the loss against Cincinnati two weeks ago due to a rib injury, Leavitt picked right up where he left off. He connected with Jordyn Tyson for 12 yards on a third-and-8 before Skattebo reeled off a 29-yard run. Soon after, Leavitt found Tyson over the middle for a 22-yard score and an early 7-0 lead.

“(Oklahoma State) was playing a lot of four and Cover 1 and bringing the safeties down,” Leavitt said. “We had some RPOs that we hit, the first one to JT.”

Oklahoma State managed a pair of first downs, but their drive was stopped near midfield. Taking over at their own 13, the Sun Devils marched downfield, keyed by a 29-yard screen to tight end Chamon Metayer. However, a third-down dropped pass by Tyson forced ASU into a 47-yard field goal try that was missed by Parker Lewis.

The Cowboys didn’t hold onto the ball for long, as Alan Bowman was soon intercepted by ASU cornerback Javan Robinson. It was a costly turnover for the Sun Devils, as defensive lineman Justin Wodtly was ejected from the game after the play for allegedly spitting on another player. The ensuing drive was also a failure for the Sun Devils, capped by a third-down sack of Leavitt that resulted in a loss of 17 and a punt from their own endzone.

The Cowboys took advantage of the good field position. A nice fade ball connection from Bowman to De’Zhaun Stribling picked up 36 yards to the ASU 4-yard line. Three stops by the Sun Devil defense set up a fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line, and OSU was able to tie the game on a pass from Bowman to Brennan Presley.

ASU then put together a good response. On a third-and-9, Leavitt scrambled through multiple defenders to get eight yards to midfield.

“I’ve coach some athletic quarterbacks in my career between Bo (Nix) and Jordan (Travis), and that was one of the most impressive plays I’ve seen,” Dillingham said. “Breaking three tackles, and he didn’t get us a first down, but he got us to a situation to go for a fourth down.”

That run made Dillingham’s choice to go for it clear. On the next play, Leavitt found a wide open Skattebo in the flat, and the senior running back took it the distance for the go-ahead touchdown.

“Skat is Skat. No one can be Skat from a human perspective or a player perspective. That’s a good thing,” Dillingham said.

Bowman answered back quickly, firing off a series of completions to get inside the ASU 10, including a 6-yard gain on a fourth-and-5. Ollie Gordon tied the game on a three-yard run.

The Sun Devils provided an impressive answer to end the half. Highlighted by a well-thrown fade ball to Jake Smith for 30 yards, ASU drove down the field, gaining yards and chewing up the clock. Skattebo ran it in for the go-ahead score with just seconds left in the half.

As the teams went to the locker room, play was suspended due to severe weather in the area. The delay would last two hours and 38 minutes before the game resumed.

The half opened with the teams trading punts, and after ASU forced a second Cowboy punt, the Sun Devil offense got on track. With some hard runs by Skattebo and Kyson Brown to move the chains, Leavitt later had an impressive scramble to buy time and find Skattebo for a 24-yard gain to the OSU 7-yard line.

“(Leavitt) balled out,” Dillingham said.

On the next play, Brown powered it in to give ASU a 28-14 lead.

“Finished some runs like a 200-pound back should,” said Dillingham of Brown. “That was the part I was most impressed with.”

The lead continued to build early in the fourth quarter. Skattebo’s hard running moved the ball into OSU territory, and he then caught a short pass from Leavitt and cut upfield for a 36-yard touchdown to make it 35-14.

“Dude’s a killer,” said Leavitt of his star running back.

With time running out, the Cowboys had to gamble on their next drive and went for it on a fourth-and-5 from their own 30. However, Bowman was stopped a yard short, giving the ball back to ASU.

“The second half, we really turned it up,” said ASU safety Myles Rowser. “We didn’t come out here for nothing.”

Following a similar script, ASU rode the legs of Skattebo to the goal line, where Brown again punched it in to seal the victory.

“I feel like we did a really good job in the second half, especially after the delay,” Leavitt said. “It was a little bit of a worry to come out and not have the same juice, but we did, so super proud of the guys for that.”

In garbage time, with the starters for both teams on the bench, Oklahoma State‘s Sesi Vailahi scored on an 11-yard run to bring the game to it’s final 42-21 mark.

The Critical Moment

Hurry up and wait.

Last year, the Sun Devils faced a similar situation in the season opener, having a storm blow in at halftime and delay the game for several hours. In that game, ASU came out sluggish and barely held on to beat Southern Utah.

There would no such letdown this time.

With the duration unknown, the players relaxed. Some napped. Food was delivered to the locker room.

Dillingham knew his team was player-led, so he and the other coaches left them alone for an hour-and-a-half to review film and make second-half adjustments. He could overhear the laughter and camaraderie.

“ I don’t have enough funny things to say," Dillingham joked after the game.

Leavitt and the quarterbacks worked with offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo, watching the plays from the first half.

But ultimately, the team remained dialed in, knowing that hard work, and a significant goal, was ahead.

“No matter what time we went out there, we knew we had to stay focused when we went out there,” Rowser said.

The Offense

42 points. 529 yards. 13 explosive plays. 10 third-down conversions.

It was a banner night for the Sun Devil offense.

“We focused more on one play at a time,” Dillingham said. “We focused on us. Let’s just go play our game.”

The success was keyed by the backfield duo of Leavitt and Skattebo, and their combined competitive fire sparked the entire team.

“They’re both ultra competitors,” Dillingham said. “They both yell at each other the whole game. Literally. They’re back there having dissertations sometimes when they’re in the backfield. Like, what are you talking about? Skat’s saying, ‘Hand it to me.’ Sam’s saying, ‘I’m throwing it.’ They’re so competitive, that’s what you want.”

That dynamic set the tone for the game.

Leavitt set a career-high with 304 yards passing while completing 20 of 29 throws, including three touchdowns. His steady hand, and nimble feet, led to ASU converting 10 of 16 third downs (and both of its fourth-down chances), a tremendous improvement in an area that had hurt the team in recent week.

“I feel like we did a good job, just overall communication with the O-line,” Leavitt said of the third-down success. “Talking through all the looks we’d have throughout the week.

Fans may be running short of adjectives to describe Skattebo‘s play. He rushed for 153 yards and caught four passes for 121 yards, scoring three combined touchdowns. He also surpassed 1,000 rushing yards on the season, and he could threaten the school’s single-season record down the stretch.

While Skattebo’s brilliance has been a season-long trend, the emergence of Brown was a welcome sight.

“We all know (Brown’s) fast and can make some explosive plays, but he’s also big,” Dillingham said. “Sometimes bigger, faster guys don’t finish runs. They want to be elusive. The fact that he lowered his shoulder and finished some runs was awesome to see, especially from a young guy, and especially from a kid who works the way he works. You want to see guys who put in the work like that succeed.”

Tyson again was Leavitt’s go-to target, hauling in eight passes for 81 yards and the opening touchdown. Metayer tied a career-high with five catches for 53 yards. Along with Skattebo, this has become the targeted trio in the passing game, and getting more players involved is needed.

Even with the success, Leavitt feels the best is yet to come.

“Everybody getting more confident in the plays,” Leavitt said. “Just being impactful when you get the opportunity. We’re really young in this offense, so there’s a lot of growth to have.”

The Defense

ASU came within four minutes of consecutive second-half shutouts. That will get the job done most nights.

Overall, it was a solid showing for the Devils' defense, limiting OSU to 270 yards, including 58 in the second half before the final garbage-time touchdown drive.

“We have a team that’s aggressive,” said Dillingham. “They love hitting. They love the game of football. They played it again. They played with that edge again.”

Like on the offensive side of the ball, third downs made the difference for ASU’s defense. Oklahoma State converted just three of 11 chances.

“On defense, I think we did a really good job mixing up the calls,” Dillingham said of the third downs. “I think (defensive coordinator Brian Ward) had a good plan. The guys executed the plan. We didn’t have many max pressures, we just played some coverage this week. That was a good mix-up from a self-scout perspective that we wanted to show. We wanted to show we can show some max looks and play some base defense behind it.”

“During practice, third downs have been a real big sequence for us,” Rowser said. “We’ve been really doing our one-eleventh and keeping them in front of us.”

The success began upfront in limiting the Cowboys’ run game. ASU held Ollie Gordon, the reigning Doak Walker Award winner, to just 25 yards on 11 carries, with OSU gaining just 83 yards overall.

The pass rush remains a concern with no sacks registered and two quarterback hurries. But the stout run defense and good coverage by the secondary proved to be a tandem OSU couldn’t overcome.

The Top 3

Here are three Sun Devil players who stood out against Oklahoma State.

RB Cam Skattebo: He’ll likely earn his fourth Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week award this season.

QB Sam Leavitt : It’s like he never left.

RB Kyson Brown: Dillingham was true to his word to get the sophomore more involved, and it paid off handsomely.

The Question: How far can they go?

They weren’t even supposed to be here. Yet, here we are.

The Sun Devils are 6-2 and going bowling. Even the most optimistic ASU fans would have been pushing it to think that could happen this soon.

How did it happen so quickly? Bringing in the right players and letting them lead.

“They have changed the culture of this program in 22 months. The Leadership Council, the guys who chose to be here, they took a program, and they completely flipped it from where it was,” said Dillingham. “It has nothing to do with the staff. It has nothing to do with the coaches. It has to do with the guys in that locker room. They’ve done such an unbelievable job with the work ethic, with the mindset, with the belief.”

That approach is now providing tangible successes.

“The belief comes with the work and the sacrifice,” Dillingham said. “When you invest that much and you care, it just means a little bit more. I think we have the right guys. I think we have guys that just want to win and that just like each other. When you have that combination you’re going to have more positive moments like this.”

But this positive moment, significant in the grand scheme a it may be, is not the end. There are four more games to go in the regular season, plus now, a bowl game in December. But...can this overachieving bunch overachieve again? Could they make a run at a berth in the Big 12 championship game?

They’re just a game out of second place in the conference, and the current lone undefeated team is coming to Tempe on Nov. 23. As the season has shown, the Big 12 is wide open.

Things could get interesting down the homestretch.

The Next Step

ASU returns home for their second-ever matchup against UCF. The Knights have struggled in their second season as a Big 12 member, dropping five straight games heading into the weekend after opening the year 3-0. But UCF rebounded with a dominant 56-12 home win over Arizona on Saturday afternoon.

Next Saturday’s game will kickoff at 5 p.m. Arizona time, and Dillingham made it clear what he feels his players deserve.

“They’ve earned the right to take the field with a sold out crowd.”

The Extra Points