AP Player of the Week: Arizona St. workhorse Cam Skattebo runs for career-high 262 against Bulldogs
Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo (4) runs the ball against Mississippi State in the first half during an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Tempe, Ariz. Credit: AP/Rick Scuteri
The Associated Press national player of the week in football for Week 2 of the season:
Cam Skattebo, Arizona State
The Sun Devils' fourth-year running back rushed for a career-high 262 yards and finished with 297 all-purpose yards in a 30-23 win over Mississippi State.
Skattebo's 33 carries are the FBS single-game high so far this season. His final run was his longest, going for 39 yards to the Mississippi State 12 and allowing the Sun Devils to run out the clock.
He averaged 7.9 yards per carry while amassing the second-highest rushing total in program history behind Eno Benjamin's 312 yards against Oregon State in 2018. His 12 runs of at least 10 yards, all against Mississippi State, lead the nation.
Skattebo, a native of Rio Linda, California, who transferred from Sacramento State for the 2023 season, also caught three passes for a team-high 35 yards.
Runner-up
Xavier Scott, Illinois. The third-year defensive back from Riviera Beach, Florida, had his fingerprints all over the Illini's 23-17 win over then-No. 19 Kansas.
He was in on three takeaways, including an interception return for a touchdown, and he recorded a sack and finished with a team-leading eight solo tackles.
Illinois defensive back Xavier Scott poses for a selfie with a fan after the team's 23-17 win over Kansas in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Champaign, Ill. Credit: AP/Charles Rex Arbogast
His interception on Kansas' first series set up a field goal, and his 30-yard pick-6 put the Illini up 13-10 late in the first half. With the Jayhawks at the Illinois 46, Scott knocked the ball loose from Jalen Daniels and teammate Alec Bryant recovered to end the game.
Honorable mention
Northern Illinois DT Cade Haberman blocked a 48-yard field-goal attempt to end the first half and a 62-yarder at the end of the game to preserve the 16-14 upset of then-No. 5 Notre Dame; Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty ran for 192 yards and three touchdowns in 27-24 loss to then-No. 7 Oregon. Syracuse QB Kyle McCord passed for 381 yards and four touchdowns as the Orange held on to beat then-No. 23 Georgia Tech 31-28.
Six stats
— Rutgers RB Kyle Monangai has never fumbled on 459 rushing attempts since 2021.
— Penn State's Drew Allar has an interception rate of 0.6% on 486 career attempts, best among FBS players with a minimum of 200, according to SportRadar. He threw an interception against Bowling Green on Saturday for his first of the season but just the third in 15 career games.
— North Carolina's Jahvaree Ritzie leads the nation with five sacks in two games. He had a total of 2.5 sacks over his 40 previous games.
— Georgia heads to Kentucky with 15 straight road wins, the FBS' longest active streak.
— Missouri has scored on 66 of 68 trips into the red zone since the start of the last season, according to SportRadar. That's a 97.1% success rate that leads the nation among teams with at least 10 drives inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
— SMU's Collin Rogers set a school record with five goals and accounted for all his team's scoring in an 18-15 loss to BYU. He had kicks of 53, 52, 45, 38 and 28 yards.
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AP voters: Aaron Beard, Tim Booth, Pat Graham, Gary B. Graves, Stephen Hawkins, Pete Iacobelli, Mark Long, John Marshall, Eric Olson, Ralph D. Russo, John Zenor.
