Kenny Dillingham defends Cam Skattebo viral sideline moment vs. Texas

Cam Skattebo was Arizona State‘s heart and soul during the overtime loss to Texas in the Peach Bowl.

Trailing 17-3 in the second quarter, however, Skattebo became animated on the sideline. ESPN’s Taylor McGregor reported that he was “incredibly frustrated,” after a fourth down stop and that he threw his helmet to the ground after sitting down on the bench. He even walked away from his coaches and teammates for a moment after saying, “I’m done with this, we have a game to play.”

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Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham had no issue with his star player’s emotions amid the 14-point defecit.

“If him being competitive and passionate on the sideline is a negative, then I’m in the wrong sport,” Dillingham said after the 39-31 loss to the Longhorns. “The kid is competitive. The kid is passionate. And if that’s a negative, then I don’t know what a positive is because kids that care and have compassion and believe is the exact reason why we had a chance to win this football game.

“I love Cam, and we’re going to have a relationship forever.”

Of course, Skattebo did everything for Arizona State during the matchup. He threw a touchdown pass, rushed for two more scores and was the leading receiver for the Sun Devils during the College Football Playoff quarterfinal on New Year’s Day.

Helping the Sun Devils mount their improbable 16-point fourth quarter comeback, Skattebo did everything in his power to help his team come back. On the afternoon, he totaled 242 offensive yards and finished the day with 30 carries for 143 yards.

“Nobody in this room thought we were going to even be close when we went down 17-3 in that first quarter. We believed in ourselves,” Skattebo said. “We believed in what we had going and undeniable is what this team is about because like you said, heroic, too, heroic. Everybody on this team believes in each other and that’s what kept us close.”

Skattebo finished his senior season with 1,711 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns while helping Arizona State win 11 games for the first time since 1996, and just the second time since 1975.