Cam Skattebo Touched Forever
Arizona State’s star running back and the transcendence of defeat
In the lead-up to Arizona State’s Peach Bowl matchup against Texas in the College Football Playoff, Cam Skattebo called his shot. “Nobody respects the fact that I’m the best running back in the country,” he said in December. “I’m going to stand on that.”
He had his reasons. Before Wednesday, he’d rushed for 1,568 yards with 19 touchdowns and caught 37 passes for 506 yards and three more scores. Skattebo speaks loudly and carries a stick the size of a wild boar. The club rates highly on the Janka scale, real Bamm-Bamm shit. He whittled it out of premium Australian Buloke, wrapped it in double-sided duct tape, and dipped the barrel in shards of glass. There are spikes and nails at the end. He named it Hell. Skattebo runs in a cloud of rage, full of malice and venom. Ire in a red mist emanates from his helmet like a trail of blood.
This is a man with primo horsepower and a degradation streak. A back like an anthropomorphized Ram 2500. Someone who wants to torment and debase a defense. He runs with remarkable balance, his shoulders square to the line. Searches for contact like a long lost love someone has stolen from him. He doesn’t mind going around you if he has to, but he prefers to go through you. Hear the train whistle blow. Feel the rails rumble. Get off the track or get a cowcatcher to the dome.
Skattebo carried the Sun Devils to an 11-2 record and Big 12 title this season, a year after the team finished 3-9 and one game out of last place in the Pac-12 (may it rest in peace, in the dark, behaving erratically, doing the weirdest shit possible). And in his playoff quarterfinal showdown against Texas, the self-proclaimed best running back in the country set about following through on his claim. Guy went full Stringer. He put out the word that he’s back up, and on the first day of the new year resolved to make himself a problem.
Heading into the fourth quarter Wednesday, Skattebo had already had a full day: He’d amassed more than 100 yards of total offense, “vomited profusely,” and gotten an IV. Then he went berserk. Have you seen a bull boom from the chute and really let loose? Bucking and stomping and carrying on, a physical marvel with pain and entertainment on the brain? This is a bad, bad man.
With his Sun Devils trailing 24-8 and less than seven minutes left, Skattebo Marino’d a halfback pass for a 42-yard touchdown on fourth down to make it a one-score game.
On the next offensive drive, he caught a 62-yard bomb to get Arizona State into striking distance, then ran for a score and two-point conversion to tie the game.
There was a moment late in the contest when Skattebo had more yards from scrimmage than Texas’s whole roster by his own damn self. He had ESPN play-by-play gem Joe Tess reaching a higher plane of existence, his banging baritone full of worship and awe. Skattebo’s play demanded a moniker worthy of its greatness: “Ram Bam Skattebo.” “Baby Alstott.” “Cambo Slice.” “The Calves of Wonders.”
The numbers speak for themselves: 143 rushing yards, 99 receiving yards, 42 passing yards, and three total touchdowns. For those keeping track at home, that’s 284 yards against one of the best defensive lines in the country. And again, his calves looked great. Pretty nice little Wednesday, the eventual 39-31 overtime loss that eliminated Arizona State from national title contention notwithstanding. It was one of the most electric individual performances in the history of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the playoff, and college football itself.
The ancient Greeks distinguished between standard time, called chronos, and deep time, called kairos. Chronos was quantitative time that could be measured by clocks and calendars, phases of the moon. Kairos was qualitative time, often spiritual—a time in which the conditions existed for something transcendent. Even if Texas goes on to raise the trophy, the 2025 Peach Bowl will always be remembered more for the Skattebo show than for the Longhorns’ W. Performances like his are why people care about sports at all.
For a brief moment, he rubbed shoulders with the immortals. With the whole of the football world watching, Cam Skattebo touched forever.
