Heading into Thursday night’s game at Texas State, many ASU fans were skeptical of redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt and his abilities. A 10-20 performance, passing for 69 yards and no touchdowns, didn’t instill much confidence that the Sun Devils passing game could would be the offensive aspect that could lead the team to victory in their first road game of the year. Relying once again on a running game that produced 346 yards last week seemed like the only receive for a potential victory.
Ultimately, no one football game is like the other, and on a night where the run game labored hard to tally just 101 yards and a contest that saw senior running back Cam Skattebo’s output decrease by 200 yards from last week to stand at 62 yards, it was Leavitt that was the tip of the spear for the Sun Devil offense in 31-28 win over Texas State.
In the days leading up to the game, Leavitt vowed to the media that he would turn in a better performance than last week, and delivered resoundingly, completing 19 of 30 passes for 246 yards, along with a touchdown and interception for a 136.5 quarterback rating. And for the second straight week, he also scored a rushing touchdown.
Head coach Kenny Dillingham defended his quarterback all week, admitting that a heavy reliance on the running game last week took him out of his rhythm. And if anyone was skeptical of that statement before the Texas State contest, they received a formidable reply in return.
“He’s a competitor,” Dillingham said about Leavitt. “When he’s back there, I have the utmost confidence. He’s smart, he cares, and he’s passionate. He got destroyed on a run, and he just popped up like he plays strong safety. That’s just the mentality of how he plays. When you have a quarterback that plays like that, I think the other guys rally around that.”
During a game where the running game was at a standstill, Leavitt kept the Sun Devils afloat throughout the contest with his composure. The team posted 101 yards on the ground, with Leavitt contributing 40 of those yards and negating the suffocating defense, the Bobcats printed bottling up Skattebo.
Leavitt started the game strong, leading ASU down the field for a touchdown on its first drive. This marked the third game in a row that ASU scored on its opening drive. Alas, it also went three-and-out two times in a row, and with the Arizona State defense unable to slow down a dynamic Texas State offense, the Sun Devils found themselves down two touchdowns with just over five minutes left in the first half.
But Leavitt’s resolve came through when his team needed it the most.
On 3rd-and-11, Leavitt dropped back and unloaded a 52-yard downfield touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Jordyn Tyson to bring the Sun Devils to within seven. From that point on, Leavitt looked much more relaxed in the pocket, and drove down the field in a two-minute offense and scrambled for a touchdown with only six seconds left in the first half.
“We responded well,” Leavitt mentioned. “That ultimately put us back in the game, and we got the ball to start the second half. We did a great job of staying emotionally stable. Being at an away game with all those fans was cool, and commanding the offense like that and being out there with all my guys was fun.”
The ASU signal caller didn’t scramble around the pocket sooner than he needed to, and with his demeanor, looked more like a veteran than a redshirt freshman as he was sitting in the pocket and going through his reads. And when the passing lane was absent, he once again showed his agility, moving the chains with his feet, with his longest run of the game coming in the third quarter on a 40-yard scramble.
What also assisted Leavitt was his offensive line’s output in the second half. Leavitt was sacked in both three-and-out drives in the second quarter, which made it impossible for him to get out of a jam. Nonetheless, the offensive line allowed just one sack from then on, allowing Leavitt to step up in the pocket and keep his eyes downfield.
In a game where it was anticipated for the Bobcats to focus on containing the Arizona State ground attack, Leavitt did exactly what Dillingham needed him to do to, and that is to give the Sun Devils a chance to win the game. During his first road game as a starter and his third game overall being at the helm of any offense, the composure that he displayed was just as critical as his pure talent.
“Coming into the game, Coach Dillingham talked about not getting too high or too low,” Leavitt remarked. “So that’s what exactly happened.”
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