ASU won in dominant fashion on Saturday, demolishing Wyoming, as transfers and incoming freshmen were some of the players who made their impact known from the opening kickoff en route to the 48-7 victory. Here are their contributions.
(Note: all transfer players, true freshmen, redshirt freshmen regardless of if they played last year, and other players, regardless of class, who redshirted last year are the ones mentioned in this article series)
Offense
Where would we start other than redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt? The Michigan State transfer began his Sun Devil career with a strong start, opening his account on 14-22 passer attempts for 258 yards and two touchdowns. He claimed he felt poised in Saturday's win, as he understood his role and the gameplan from the start.
“I actually wasn’t too nervous,” Leavitt admitted. “That's a testament to the coaching staff and the team, preparing and having answers for every situation. On film, just watching it and understanding what I needed to get to, whether that’s a check down or getting the ball to my playmakers, I didn’t do anything special tonight, just got the ball to my playmakers, and let them make a play.”
Leavitt’s impact didn’t stop in the air. He consistently picked up yards with his legs to the delight of his head coach, Kenny Dillingham. He rushed eight times for 47 yards despite being sacked twice. Dillingham noted that he wants Leavitt to run when necessary, using his athleticism to avoid a negative play.
“I told him before the game to be yourself,” Dillingham said Saturday. “When in doubt run, most of the time when you’re a running quarterback, you’re like, oh, I wanna prove that I can throw it. What I was proud of was, he took that and he applied it to the game.”
The offensive spark was jolted by a new look running back core, crowded with talent behind star player Cam Skattebo. Redshirt junior and Colorado transfer Alton McCaskill earned some late-game snaps following Skattebo and Kyson Brown's dynamic performances. The Texas native had seven carries for 17 yards.
Freshman Jason Brown Jr. made his impact felt during the game's latter stages. The true freshman ran up the gut numerous times, with four attempts for 33 yards, and his longest run went for 16 yards as he powered into the secondary.
A multitude of fresh faces at wide receiver contributed to the aerial attack, starting with graduate and USC transfer Jake Smith, who, despite being on the Sun Devil roster in 2023, hadn’t been featured in a game since 2020. Smith had three receptions for 47 yards, and Dillingham awarded him with a game ball on Saturday after making his long-awaited debut in a game. Much like safety Xavion Alford, Smith was denied immediate eligibility by the NCAA as a multi-year transfer who has yet to earn his degree, a ruling that was later reversed for players in his situation but was reversed after the regular season ended.
“I told coach Arroyo (offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo) I wanted [Smith] to get a touch in one of the first three or four plays; I wanted to get his feet wet,” Dillingham said Monday. “If he catches that same screen today (one where Smith had 34 yards after the catch), I think he scores; he gets a little excited. The definition of battling adversity is 1,000 days of not playing and just working.”
Redshirt sophomore Jordyn Tyson, who appeared in three games last year after transferring from Colorado following an ACL tear, recorded stats for the first time in his ASU career. Tyson paced the Sun Devils with four receptions for 49 yards, including a 20-yard catch up the middle that saw him beat a man before being pushed over the sideline.
In the tight end group, Colorado transfer and junior Chamon Metayer had a formidable Arizona State debut, scoring a 25-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Metayer made himself available for a scrambling Leavitt underneath, then proceeded to break a tackle and added 22 yards after the catch jolting into the endzone, putting ASU up 33-0 at the time. On the night, he posted two receptions for 32 yards.
Defense
The smothering Sun Devil defense was show-stopping on Saturday night, and the newcomers provided the early fireworks, pun intended, recording all three turnovers and setting the tone for the rest of the night.
The linebacker core corralled in two interceptions in the opening five minutes of the contest. Junior and San Diego State transfer Zyrus Fiaseu scored on a pick-six on the second play of the game. Wyoming quarterback Evan Svoboda rolled out to his right on second down, and Fiaseu read his eyes the whole way, shooting the gap, securing the turnover, and rushing into the endzone for a 29-yard touchdown, the inaugural score of ASU’s 2024 campaign.
“It was just the play call,” Zyrus noted humbly on Saturday. “The play call was right, and I did my job, and when you do your job and you execute, good things happen.
“It was more of seeing my teammates happy. I was glad I scored, but at the end of the day, I just did my job. Me and [Keyshaun Elliott] we ran to the sidelines and did a ‘shoulder shrug celebration’ and just seeing everybody hype at the start of the season it was amazing.”
From shoulder-shrugging his teammate's pick-six to grasping an interception of his own, former New Mexico State transfer junior Elliott forced a turnover of his own on the drive following Fiaseu’s interception. On the play, Elliot followed Svoboda's pass on third-and-23, leaping to make the grab, returning it 18 yards before being forced out of bounds, setting the offense up with excellent field position. His imprint on Saturday's game was only getting started. The junior led ASU in total tackles with seven, with one tackle for loss.
“No days off doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we’re still going to go do our jobs,” Elliott said. “Shoutout to the coaches. It's a testimony to our work, we both had interceptions just like that in practice so it shows up, The quarterback happened to throw it right to us so couldn’t be in a better place.”
The defensive line got after the Cowboys, hounding and consistently causing pressure, but one player stood out amongst the pack: Cincinnati transfer Justin Wodtly. The senior scooped up a live ball following a failed lateral pass, allowing him to waltz into the endzone for the Sun Devils' second defensive touchdown of the game. Wodtly also had two total tackles and a quarterback hurry.
In the defensive back unit, numerous players were introduced in the maroon and gold. Washington State cornerback transfer Javan Robinson, Florida safety transfer Kamari Wilson, New Mexico State safety transfer Myles “Ghost” Rowser, and freshman cornerback Rodney Bimage Jr each made one tackle in their debuts. Sophomore nickel corner and Oregon transfer Cole Martin was impressive, notching three tackles. But the biggest story in this group was redshirt junior safety Xavion Alford making his first appearance in college football in over two seasons, having last played at Southern California in 2021.
Similarly to Jake Smith, Alford was awarded a game ball by his head coach. However, his impact on the field against Wyoming went under the radar, as he ironically did not record a tackle in his first game for ASU. Nonetheless, Dillingham noted the powerful words the newcomer delivered to his teammates, which ignited the crucial locker room flame that led to victory.
“I think the leadership of Xavion showed that he gave our motivational speech pregame; he’s way better at that than I am,” Dillingham laughed. “The way he’s packed, the way he carries himself is something that I’ve been around a few times but it’s very rare. The leadership style he has and the command he has.”
Special Teams
Redshirt Sophomore placekicker Ian Hershey, who played in only four games last year for ASU, converted his first two attempts from 29 and 24 yards but missed his third kick from 38 yards. Redshirt Freshman placekicker Carston Kieffer missed his lone attempt from 43 yards.
The Sun Devils’ only true freshman starter, Kanyon Floyd, wasn’t asked to punt often on Saturday, recording just two attempts, but they made them both look routine with an average of 46 yards. One of the punts went for a touchback, which was a missed opportunity to pin the visitors deep in their side of the field
Ohio State transfer graduate Parker Lewis was the designated kickoff guy against Wyoming, delivering an outstanding performance of six touchbacks out of eight kickoffs. The former All-Pac-12 player at USC was the biggest reason the Cowboy's average start on drives was their own 25-yard line.
Full Newcomer Participation List for Wyoming
QB Sam Leavitt
QB Jeff Sims
RB Jason Brown Jr
RB Alton McCaskill
WR Derek Eusebio
WR Malik McClain
WR Jordyn Tyson
WR Jake Smith
TE Chamon Metayer
TE Cameron Harpole
TE Coleson Arends
TE Douglas Markeston
OL Joey Su’a
OL Keona Peat
OL Ben Coleman
OL Josh Atkins
DL Roman Pitre
DL Albert Smith
DL J.P. Deeter
DL Zac Swanson
DL Justin Wodtly
DL Chance Symons
DL Jeffery Clark
DL Jacob Kongaika
LB Keyshaun Elliott
LB Zyrus Fiaseu
LB Martell Hughes
DB Laterrance Welch
DB Javon Robinson
DB Xavion Alford
DB Myles Rowser
DB Cole Martin
DB Montana Warren
DB Rodney Bimage Jr
DB Adama Fall
DB Kamari Wilson
DB Keontez Bradley
K Parker Lewis
K Ian Hershey
K Carston Kieffer
P Kanyon Floyd
LS Tyler Wigglesworth
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