2024-25 Honors/Awards

Conference Player of the Week History

Big 12 Release

NCFAA Announcement

Tempe – Sun Devil Football running back Cam Skattebo and linebacker Caleb McCullough are receiving national recognition following their incredible performances on Friday night.

In Arizona State’s 27-19 win over No. 16 Utah, Skattebo and McCullough were sensational in snapping Utah’s four-game winning streak in the series dating back to 2019. Skattebo led the charge offensively while McCullough stepped up defensively to move the Sun Devils to 5-1 on the season. Thanks to their efforts, Skattebo and McCullough have earned several prominent national distinctions.

Caleb McCullough was named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player while Cam Skattebo received Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week honors for the second time this season. Sun Devils earned two of the possible 13 NCFAA’s weekly national honors. The duo also swept offensive and defensive conference player of the week in the Big 12. McCullough is the first Sun Devil to win defensive player of the week in the new league. Skattebo receives his second straight offensive player of the week recognition and third overall. No other Big 12 player has won a weekly award more than once and Skattebo leads the way with three selections. In the Kenny Dillingham era, a Sun Devil has won a conference player of the week award nine times. This is the third time under Dillingham that at least two players from Arizona State accomplished the feat in the same week. ASU is also the first Big 12 school to have four players win a conference player of the week award this season.

Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player – Caleb McCullough
Sun Devil linebacker Caleb McCullough put together one of the most productive and impactful defensive performances in program history. He finished with a career-high 12 tackles, secured a pair of crucial interceptions, while adding 1.5 tackles for loss in Arizona State’s 27-19 victory over No. 16 Utah. McCullough was all over the field, helping ASU secure its first official win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 6 Oregon on Nov. 23, 2019. For his efforts, McCullough earned the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week honor for games played the weekend of Oct. 12, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week – Caleb McCullough
The Big 12 Conference announced tha Caleb McCullough was their selection for Defensive Player of the Week. McCulough becomes the first Sun Devil to win a the defensive player of the week conference award in Arizona State’s new league. From 1983-2023, Sun Devils won a total of 150 Pac-10/12 Player of the Week Honors. Click here for a full list of recipients.

Door to Door Devil
– Patience paid off for redshirt senior linebacker Caleb McCullough, who is one of the celebrated “Door to Door” Devils that have spent their entire career at ASU.
– He is 3 games played away from appearing in 40 games in his career, all in an ASU uniform (currently at 37).

Ball Hawk
– The Sun Devil defense picked off Utah quarterback Cameron Rising three times, matching his career high. Two of those were courtesy of McCullough, as he became the first Sun Devil to record two interceptions in a game since Darien Butler had two against Southern Utah in the 2021 season opener.
– It was the most for an ASU player against a Power Five opponent since Jack Jones had two against Arizona in the 2019 regular season finale.
– The two interceptions couldn’t have come at a better time, as they both ended promising Utes’ drives.
– The first pick came at the goal line on a 1st and 10 play from the ASU 19 in the second quarter, with Utah threatening in the red zone.
– The second pick sealed the ASU victory, as he put an end to any potential Utah comeback attempt with an interception with 1:44 left in the game.
– On the ensuing drive, the ASU offense earned the one first down they needed to be able to kneel out the game and put the finishing touches on the victory.

Keeping Rising Down
– Utah quarterback Cam Rising now has 17 interceptions in his career (on over 750 career passes), of which the Sun Devils are responsible for six of them (35.3 percent).
– ASU’s three interceptions were its most in a game since it had three against Stanford on Oct. 8, 2021.

Third Down Adjustments
– The Sun Devils struggled to stop Utah on third down all night, as the Utes were 7-for-12 through three quarters.
– McCullough and ASU’s defense made the necessary adjustments in the fourth quarter, holding the Utes to 0-for-3 on third down and 0-1 on fourth.

Report Card
– Because of his efforts, McCullough was the highest graded defender in the Big 12 (91.6) and third-highest graded defender nationally (and the highest graded linebacker) for Week 7.
– It was the 34th-best single game grade by any defensive player through the first eight weeks of the season and the 9th best among linebackers.
– His 91.9 grade on 24 coverage snaps was the highest among any FBS player in Week 7.

Rare Company
– McCullough is one of just three FBS players this season to record two interceptions and double-digit tackles in a game (Oklahoma State’s Trey Rucker vs. Utah in Week 4 and Miami (OH)’s Corban Hondru against Toledo in Week 6).
– He recorded 12 tackles on just 49 defensive snaps, one of just two FBS players nationally to record double digit tackles with less than 50 snaps (Bowling Green’s Charles Rosser).

Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week – Cam Skattebo
The Doak Walker Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s premier running back, created a weekly honor to recognize ball carriers throughout the season. Cam Skattebo has been named the Doak Walker Award National Running Back of the Week, the second time this season he has received the distinction. Only two players in the nation have earned the award twice; Skattebo and Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty. Skattebo was also on the Doak Walker Award Preseason Watch List and looks to become Arizona State’s first finalist for the award. Eno Benjamin was a semifinalist back in 2018.
Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week – Cam Skattebo
The Big 12 Conference announced that Cam Skattebo was their selection for Offensive Player of the Week. Skattebo becomes the first Sun Devil to win a weekly conference award in Arizona State’s new league. From 1983-2023, Sun Devils won a total of 150 Pac-10/12 Player of the Week Honors. Click here for a full list of recipients.

Yes He Cam
– Sun Devil running back Cam Skattebo delivered yet another special performance in an Arizona State victory.
– The workhorse was simply dominant against a physical Utah defense, helping ASU knock off the No. 16-ranked Utes in Tempe on Friday.
– Skattebo helped the Sun Devils officially improve to 5-1 for the first time since 2019 by rushing for 158 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.
– Skattebo’s 158 rushing yards were the most allowed by Utah since UCLA’s Zach Charbonnet had 198 on Oct. 8, 2022.
– Skattebo added four receptions for 41 yards, contributing in all facets of the game.

Emerging as Elite
– It was the third time this season Skattebo has rushed for over 150 yards and the second consecutive game (182 last week).
– He now has 16 games in his career with over 100 rushing yards and six in his time at ASU.
– In three of the possible six weeks that he has played, Skattebo’s single-game rushing output is among the Top-10 totals in the entire FBS.
– His 158 yards were the ninth-most of any rusher overall and fifth-most at the power four level in week seven after finishing with the second-most yards last week.

Fourth Quarter Takeover
– Skattebo entered the game fourth nationally with 200 rushing yards in the fourth quarter of games, first in fourth quarter runs over 10 yards (7), and tops in fourth quarter first downs (11) along with two touchdowns.
– He added 62 yards on Friday with two more first downs and one more rush over ten yards, which was his 47-yard scamper for his second touchdown of the night.
– ASU entered the game 15 nationally with eight scores in the final five minutes of either the first or second half, adding another on Skattebo’s 47-yard clincher in the fourth quarter with 2:41 remaining.

Explosive Plays
– Coming into the game, Skattebo’s average touchdown run in games at ASU was 4.9 yards (15 touchdowns) with a long of 17. His 50 and 47-yard touchdowns on Friday both surpassed his previous career long touchdown run of 43 yards against Utah Tech in 2022 while he was at Sacramento State.
– The 50-yard touchdown run is the longest by a Sun Devil since Rachaad White had a 50-yard touchdown on the ground against USC in 2021.

Make you Miss
– Skattebo entered the contest seventh in the country and tops in the Big 12 with 33 missed tackles forced on running plays and added nine more to that tally this evening – a mark that gives him 201 in his career (after entering the game fourth among active FBS AND FCS running backs with 192).
– 105 of Skattebo’s 158 rushing yards (66.5 percent) on Friday came after contact.
– He forced 12 total missed tackles on offense, third among all running backs in the country for the week. 11 of those came on running plays alone, the second most in the FBS.

Raising his Game
– Skattebo has now has accounted for 400 total yards on 53 touches, including 340 yards and three touchdowns on 47 carries over his past two games.
– Despite the heavy workload and operating on short week, Skattebo looked fresh and imposed his will, taking over the game in the fourth quarter.
– The performance is more impressive when you consider the Utes came into Tempe off a bye week. ASU ended Utah’s five-game winning streak following a bye week.
– The Sun Devils finished with 176 rushing yards for the game, the most Utah has allowed on the ground since Oct. 8, 2022 against UCLA.

Report Card
– PFF tabbed him as this weekend’s highest-graded RB (at least five carries) at the Power Four level. He was sixth overall among all FBS RBs regardless of the number of carries.
– . He was the highest-graded running back in the Big 12 for the Week (83.8) and the second-highest graded in the country (Louisiana Monroe’s Ahmad Hardy, 85.3).

Ground and Pound
– Skattebo ranks 10th among all active FBS AND FCS running backs in career rushing yards and now has 3,449 in his career. He now has nine games with 100+ all-purpose yards since arriving in Tempe prior to last year

Cam Skattebo Sun Devil 100-yard Rushing Tilts (6)
262 vs. Mississippi State, Sept. 7, 2024 (33 carries)
182 vs. Kansas, Oct. 5, 2024 (25 carries)/1TD)
158 vs. #16 Utah, Oct. 11, 2024 (22 carries/2 TD)
121 vs. Washington State, Oct. 28, 2023 (11 carries/1 TD)
111 vs. #6 USC, Sept. 23, 2023 (20 carries/1 TD)
108 vs. #15 Arizona, Nov. 25, 2023 (17 carries/1 TD)

Milestone Watch
– With his 41 receiving yards on Friday, running back Cam Skattebo went over 1,000 receiving yards in his career (currently at 1,031).
– After adding 199 all-purpose yards, Skattebo is now 15 yards away from reaching 4,500 all-purpose yards in the career (currently at 4,485).
– He also scored two more total touchdowns, meaning his is now only five total touchdowns shy of 40 for his career (currenty at 35).

Conference Players of the Week under Coach Dillingham (9)
Big 12 Era
2024 (5)
Caleb McCullough (D), Oct. 14
Cam Skattebo (O), Oct. 14
Sam Leavitt (Newcomer), Oct. 7
Cam Skattebo (Co-O), Oct. 7
Cam Skattebo (O), Sept. 9

PAC-12 Era
2023 (4)
Dashaun Mallory (DL), Nov. 13
Leif Fautanu (OL), Oct. 30
B.J. Green (DL), Oct. 30
Dario Longhetto, Oct. 30

The ASU Victory…
– Improved ASU to 5-1 for the first time – officially – since 2019 (ASU’s eight wins and 5-1 record in 2021 were vacated).
– Snapped Utah’s four-game winning streak in the series dating back to 2019 and gave ASU just its third win in the series since the 2015 campaign.
– Ended Utah’s five-game winning streak when the Utes were coming off a bye week.
– Gave ASU consecutive wins in conference games for the first time since 2020 (accounting for ASU’s eight vacated wins in 2021).
– Was ASU’s first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 6 Oregon on Nov. 23, 2019 (ASU’s 2022 victory over Washington and 2021 victory over UCLA were vacated).
– The Sun Devils move to 4-0 at home for the first time since 2021.

PFF Team of the Week
Pro Football Focus produced their national “team of the week” based on their grading system. Both linebacker Caleb McCullough and running back Cam Skattebo landed the recognition. Additionally, Prince Dorbah earned a spot on the Big 12 “team of the week” alongside McCullough and Skattebo.

Quotables Head Coach Kenny Dillingham on Caleb McCullough’s performance:
“First off, that was a guy that was here through all the mess. He was here when all the bad things were happening. He was here when we were 3-9 and then I had to show up and tell him to just stay. He’s one of the few people that stayed and for him to make that play is awesome. Kudos to him. I gave him a game ball. The defensive performance was unbelievable. The way they stepped up, specifically in the first half in the running game.”

Coach Dillingham on what people are saying about Cam Skattebo:
“People are fired up about him, how hard he plays and the plays he’s making. Specifically in the fourth quarter of games. Cam [Skattebo] knows I’m going to be his hardest critic and the person who is harder on him the almost  anybody, so I don’t really tell him all the good things people say, but people are saying a lot of good things. It’s a testament to him, how much work he’s put in to put his body in a position to go do what he’s doing. The people who think he’s flipping a switch right now and then 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 and physical build. He also changed his mindset. It’s a lot harder to change his mindset when you’ve been doing something at a high level like he had for so long, so it’s a testament to him. All the success is on him and he’s making unbelievable plays out there.”