Cam Skattebo: 'I threw up' en route to MVP performance against ...

ATLANTA — Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo proved he’s an NFL-caliber running back with 143 yards rushing and 99 yards receiving against Texas in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Wednesday.

Not that there should have been any doubts at this point. But just to make sure, Skattebo left it all on the field, literally.

“I threw up,” Skattebo said immediately after ASU’s 39-31 double-overtime loss. “I drank too much water too fast, and I was kind of feeling sloshy. Then I felt better after.”

It turned out to be a turning point for the Sun Devils.

“Puke and rally!” ASU coach Kenny Dillingham said.

Texas had been dominating early on, and it looked like Las Vegas oddsmakers had it right in picking the Longhorns to win by double digits. It was 17-3 at halftime, and ASU was lucky to be that close. 

Then came the “Skattebo spew.”

No?

“Cam’s chunks”?

Yeah, that’s gross.

Let’s just say Skattebo gave it all he had.

“I felt a lot better after throwing up, you know?” Skattebo said. “And 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.”

Skattebo isn’t the only athlete to get hyped up by giving it the ol’ heave ho. Bill Russell. Sabrina Ionescu. Josh Allen.

So, don’t be surprised if Skattebo makes this a ritual once he reaches the NFL.  

His rise this season has been as remarkable as ASU’s.

Coming into the season, Skattebo was a tweener, a fringe guy, a dude an NFL general manager might take a chance on in the late rounds of the NFL draft.

Starting his college career, he wasn’t even that. Skattebo started at Sacramento State, the only school to offer him a scholarship.

But as ASU started winning and defying predictions of a last-place finish in the Big 12, Skattebo started racking up the yards and climbing the Heisman rankings.

By the time he went for 208 total yards and three touchdowns in the Big 12 title game, it was clear that he was one of the best backs in the nation.

And by the end of the Peach Bowl, he was a hero, becoming the first player to win offensive MVP in a losing effort in 26 years.  

Look for him one day in the Peach Bowl Hall of Fame.

Look for him one day in the ASU Hall of Fame after breaking Eno Benjamin’s single-season rushing record in the third quarter on a 32-yard run that saw him break two or three tackles for every yard he gained. Everybody but Steve Sarkisian and a couple of Longhorns fans took a shot at him on that play.

Skattebo also broke Woody Green’s single-season rushing touchdown record that had stood since 1972, finishing the season with 21.

Skattebo has my vote for the College Football Hall of Fame, right up the street from Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (Not that I have one.)

His playoff performance against one of the best defenses in the nation confirmed what we’ve been watching all season. Skattebo is as good as they come, bouncing off opponents like a ping-pong ball in a stadium full of paddles.

It’s one thing to do that against Wyoming, Mississippi State and Arizona, but Skattebo went deep into the hearts of Texas.

And if he’s a first-round NFL draft pick, it will be thanks to this game.

After vomiting, Skattebo scored two touchdowns and ran in a 2-point conversion. He caught a 62-yard pass down the sideline that frustrated a Texas defender so badly that he ripped off Skattebo’s helmet instead of tackling him.

“He's a special player,” Dillingham said. “It's just Cam. It's exactly what I expected, bottom line. You give him the ball, crazy things happen. They saw man (coverage) earlier in the game, he runs to the side, ‘I gotta win a go bomb.’

"I was like, ‘I agree!’ And we found a way to get him the go ball, and he makes the play. And that's just Cam.”

Another way of saying it is, that’s just a pro.

It’s only a matter of how high in the draft he’ll be selected, and which team is lucky enough to get him – and the legion of ASU fans that will follow his every step on his NFL journey. 

He proved that and more with his performance in the Peach Bowl.

Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @SayingMoore.