Jordyn Tyson’s go-ahead touchdown with 16 seconds remained stamped an explosive fourth quarter where ASU scored 21 points; however, the three prior quarters had their fair share of crucial plays as well.

In the opening drive of the contest, wide receiver Xavier Guillory scored a picturesque touchdown, beating his defender in single coverage and diving for safety to bring in the first touchdown of the game. Guillory’s touchdown marked not only his first of the season but only his second touchdown since suiting up for the Sun Devils. His last time over the goal line was the opening game of the 2023 season against Southern Utah.

For the senior, impacting the game on the scoreboard has been a missed site, and recovering from trials and tribulations allowed him to make the remarkable play.

“It's been a while. I got injured last year, and you know, missed a lot of games, and you know, that was one of my first touchdowns in a while,” Guillory said. “It was good just to get back in the end zone and just remember that like all that work that's put in is in for not and that when you get your opportunity, make that place, so it felt good to get that.”

The touchdown provided ASU with a first-half lifeline. Although the team did not play its best football in the opening 30 minutes, the early success allowed the offense to get better opportunities.

“We needed some explosive plays,” Guillory stated. “We got a lot of dynamic receivers, so we needed somebody to get plays deep down the fields; after we got that, we were able to really open up the defense and get slants to get [Tyson] open. We were just trying to really set the tempo, so getting that on that first drive was huge, and then that gave us some momentum, some confidence to be able to go down and score. We put up 35 points and could have put up more but we did we did well this game offensively.”

The next Sun Devil touchdown arrived late in the second quarter when tight end Chamon Metayer found space underneath and burst into the endzone on a 20-yard touchdown. Similarly to Guillory, Metayer made it clear how important the timing of his touchdown was on the game's final outcome, going into the locker room tied at 14 points.

“I just know we needed momentum going into the half,” Metayer said. We always preach we got to win before the half. As long as we cancel out the score, it's a new brand of football, new 30 minutes, it's 0-0. We needed momentum play and I was the guy, I'm just always ready when my number is called.”

Those two touchdowns gave fans and players a glimpse of what quarterback Sam Leavitt would do for the rest of the contest. With two first-half touchdown passes, the redshirt freshman was able to grow as time went on and convert on big plays down the stretch of the game.

Leavitt finished the game with four touchdown passes on Saturday, becoming the first ASU quarterback to do so since Joey Yellen against USC in 2019. In just five games as a starting quarterback, his teammates can see clear as day the growth he has made since game week one.

“It was good to see him start rolling,” Guillory said. “He's one of those guys that dynamic. He can throw the deep ball; he can run. He's a young quarterback, so it's good when you see stuff like that, taking coaching, coach Arroyo, coaching it up well, and you've just seen the results of that, and that's something he does all the time in practice, and it was fun to see him able to do it on the field. Just throwing it up to me and just trusting his receivers. That's the most exciting part I saw from the last game.”

On the offensive end, the Sun Devils have grown their foundational trust to newly found heights. Working through mistakes and turnovers to pull through the most difficult moments was clear as ever on Saturday.

“We trusted our backs, we trusted our quarterback, trusted the receivers and even though the receiver groups a whole didn't play well, we were able to just like fight back and stay ready,” Guillory noted. “Stay in the moment, not give up or give in to the pressure, and just stay consistent within our scheme.”

Trust will be pivotal when ASU hosts No.16 Utah on Friday. The visitors are the highest-ranked opponent the program has faced thus far, yet Metayer knows it’s just like any other game, and the opponent won’t dictate the team’s preparation.

“I ain't changed nothing, just the way I‘d attack the day I attack the day the same way,” Metayer said. “I attack any other game, so just going out here prepared, locked it, loading ready to go.

“I think the main goal is not focusing on who we're playing and it's just focused on us. At the end of the day, and it's about best for preparing for the game. So I think just focus on us right now.”

The motivation to succeed is certainly not a question being asked around the Sun Devil camp this week. The admirable start to this season has quickly altered the narrative on a squad predicted to finish dead last in the Big 12 standings by the Big 12 Football Media Preseason Poll. Guillory made the noteworthy point that those projections still linger on the minds of the players, and being the predicted loser against Utah only fuels that blazing fire.

“We’re, all underdogs, we all got that chip on our shoulder,” Guillory said. "We remember they had us ranked 16th at the bottom of the conference. And so we don't take that lightly; we come out here and work like that. We still those guys that they had ranked last. So we come out here with a chip on our shoulder to really show the world of what we can do.

ASU has taken low projections and prior dissatisfactions and turned the tide in Tempe in 2024. Sitting on a 4-1 record, the team has already surpassed its previous win total in each of the last two seasons. For the players, the hard work they’ve put in has led to this success early on, kicking off a new age for the program.

”It's what we expected,” Guillory said about the 4-1 start. “We got the guys in here that wanted to be here, and the guys that didn't, they're not. And so we got guys that buying in to the program, buying in to what Dillingham's selling.”

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