ASU has outscored its opponents 63-13 in the middle eight this season as head coach Kenny Dillingham has emphasized it to the point where players who weren’t too familiar with the term are beginning to master the period that runs from the last four minutes of the first ha;lf through the first four minutes of the second half. Redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt is a prime candidate, as he’s become much more knowledgeable about the topic under Dillingham’s system.

“I didn’t know too much about it before this season, but we’ve done such a good job this year,” Leavitt stated. “We’ve stressed it so much and it’s been the key to so many victories, so I definitely see the importance of it now. Honing in on scoring when we have the ball in the last few minutes and playing situational ball is going to get us in a good spot.”

Leavitt and ASU head to Manhattan, Kansas, this weekend to take on No. 20 Kansas State, the second of three ranked teams the Sun Devils will face this season. Wildcats quarterback sophomore Avery Johnson has put the Big 12 on notice with 1,892 passing yards and 17 touchdowns, along with 391 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

Leavitt and Johnson are from the same recruiting class, both graduating in 2022. Leavitt was a three-star recruit according to Rivals.com, and Johnson was a four-star and ranked 138th nationally while Leavitt was unranked.

“I’ve been looking forward to this since the start of the season,” Leavitt said. “Another kid in my class, and I get to go toe-to-toe with him with a really good football team, so I’m just super excited for the opportunity. We gotta go get this one, and games get bigger and bigger after that.”

Leavitt is no stranger to playing winning football and has carried that over to Tempe this year. After back-to-back 3-9 seasons, ASU has now doubled the wins it’s had in the past two years, sitting at 7-2. Even though Leavitt anticipates successful football no matter where he goes, that still doesn’t remove any of the exhilaration it brings him.

“I guess I’ve always had success in my career,” Leavit expressed. “My senior year of high school, we won the state championship, so it’s kind of just an expectation for me. Obviously, it’s really fun and enjoyable, but it’s where I expect to be. It’s nothing crazy, and I love the big lights, so I’m just excited.”

Leavitt has displayed his ability to move around in the pocket and allow time for his receivers to get open down the field, but it can be dangerous at times for a quarterback. Leavitt has already seen that, suffering a rib injury against Utah after scrambling and getting hit hard. For Leavitt, he sees no reason as to why he wouldn’t try to escape the pocket while also staying out of dangerous situations.

“I try to extend a play as much as possible until it gets too risky,” Leavitt noted. “Even if there could be nothing if something pops, I’ll always try to extend it if there’s nothing there initially, and if it gets too cloudy, I’ll just throw it away. My thing is, “Why would I ever not try to extend a play if I can?” as long as it’s not putting me in harm’s way.”

Leavitt’s right-hand man in the backfield, senior running back Cam Skattebo, was absent in last week’s game due to a shoulder injury, although even without pads on he still tried to convince Dillingham to put him in the game. Leavitt wasn’t surprised to hear this, as he feels it sums up who Skattebo is and how much effort and energy he puts into the team day in and day out.

“He cares so much about the team and the program,” Leavitt explained. “He’s always trying to be juiced, and he’s on me during practice all the time. It just shows his true passion for the game and love for everything about it, and he’s always there with his brothers in the moment. He hears all the stuff around him, and he’s still the same person I met from day one.”

Leavitt played in just four games as a freshman at Michigan State prior to transferring to Tempe, but his maturity has blown away the expectations many had for the young quarterback. Although Dillingham mentioned in his press conference that he expected Leavitt to be around where he is in his progression, Leavitt has seemed to pick up on things quicker in all aspects of the game.

“I’ve learned to not get too high or too low,” Leavitt recognized. “It’s really hard when you’re in a slump to bounce back, and I’m really proud of myself and the team for that throughout the season. I think I’ve gotten more mature in just understanding the game is going to have its ups and downs, and I just have to always bounce back.”

Sophomore running back Kyson Brown filled in for Skattebo against UCF, carrying the ball 18 times for a season-high 71 yards. With Skattebo remaining questionable, according to Dillingham, although he did practice today with the team, Brown could start for the second game in a row against a similar defense in terms of numbers.

UCF ranked second in the Big 12 in rushing defense with 116 rushing yards a game but 13th in passing defense, giving up 239 yards a game. Kansas State is similar, with the best run defense at 98 yards a game and the 10th-best air defense, allowing 230 passing yards a game.

“The defensive line is really sound,” Brown mentioned. “They’re where they’re supposed to be; they don’t make too many mistakes, so I’d say that’s one of the best aspects of Kansas State, and we’re going to have to do our job really well this week to have a chance to win.”

As the season continues, the wear and tear on players continues. In 2023, injuries hit the Sun Devils so much that they couldn’t practice with a scout team toward the end of the season, but Brown has now seen both sides. Each week, this team plays together and additionally well together, and Brown feels it’s only a matter of time until the Sun Devils’ final form is revealed.

“We’re getting closer and closer to being our best selves,” Brown voiced. “We’re getting better every week, so I think this is a pretty special team and we’ve shown that. We have a lot of guys on the field who care. We see that, and we play for each other, so I think we’re going to show that and try to get a dub this week.”

With Brown being one of the returners from the 2023 team, he’s witnessed firsthand the change in the culture. Dillingham harped reshaping this team element the moment he stepped foot in Tempe, but the team at hand wasn’t up to par in terms of its motivation. With this rejuvenated team combined with returners and new players that mirror the buy-in Dillingham wanted, the Sun Devils are primed for a possible late run to the Big 12 championship.

“It’s been a big difference,” Brown commented. “We changed it over the offseason. A lot of guys put in the work, and we knew it had to be something different this year. We had to do something, and we wanted to change the culture around here. I think a lot of the guys that were here took the initiative, and we wanted to be a part of something special.”

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