As the college football regular season draws to a close, teams are facing their rivals this week. Amidst the charged atmosphere of competition and spirit of vengeance, Arizona defensive assistant Chuck Cecil found himself at the center of an unusual incident on the sideline that quickly went viral.
It happened during Saturday’s college football game between the Arizona Wildcats and Arizona State Sun Devils, where the former Wildcats player (now a senior defensive assistant) was so pumped up that he ended up hurting himself.
He was hyping up cornerback Owen Gross in the pregame for the thrilling rivalry, and in an act of enthusiasm, he smashed his head into Gross’ helmet three times.
While headbutting is common in football, the only problem with Cecil doing it was that Gross was wearing a helmet, but he was not. As he struck his head three times, blood began to flow, a moment clearly captured by Fox Sports.
Arizona Sr. Defensive assistant Chuck Cecil head-butted a player with a helmet on and starting bleeding from his forehead 😱 pic.twitter.com/lYLqXy3VUC
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 30, 2024
Although Cecil aimed to energize his team for the rivalry game, his injury provided critics and announcers ample material to poke fun at him. With the Wildcats entering the matchup at 4-7 and already eliminated from bowl contention, this incident became an unexpected source of entertainment for fans and commentators alike.
Cecil’s efforts to energize his team went in vain as Arizona State took a strong 42-7 lead in the fourth quarter, before acing the victory at 49-7 and advancing to the Big 12 Championship Game.
Arizona State Sun Devils clinch Big 12 title game spot
On the other side, the Sun Devils put together a remarkable play which marked their 10th victory this season under head coach Kenny Dillingham. And after Houston Cougars defeated the BYU Cougars on Saturday, the ASU has clinched a spot in the Big 12 title game against Iowa State next weekend.
The star of the game for the Sun Devils was certainly Cam Skattebo, who rushed 21 times for 177 yards and three touchdowns to lead his team to an impressive feat over their rivals. Quarterback Sam Leavitt completed the game with 17 out of his 22 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns.
The ASU’s offense outperformed the Wildcats by logging 643 yards against their opponent’s 210 yards. Additionally, advancing to the Big 12 title game has ensured a bye week for ASU in the College Football Playoff.
