From the record-tying 107 degrees of Tempe heat at kickoff, Arizona State (4-1, 1-1) went punch for punch with Kansas (1-5, 0-2) in a gritty 35-31 win on Saturday night.
Redshirt sophomore receiver Jordyn Tyson and redshirt freshman Sam Leavitt hooked up for two scores in the final 15 minutes to help ASU record its first win as a member of the Big 12.
“It’s about winning every single play and it doesn’t matter how many plays it takes,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “Win every single play. We played an ugly game but we played so hard. We played with passion. We made the plays in the fourth quarter … and it was just a good job by our guys executing. We just played the next play. We didn’t get rattled, we didn’t waver, we just responded.”
Behind a sold-out crowd of over 54,000 fans who stayed until the end, the Sun Devils rallied in one of the first cases of activating the Valley under Dillingham.
“That’s what we kind of expected going to the stadium,” redshirt junior safety Xavion Alford said. “It was definitely rocking tonight. Like I said, the fans don’t know how much of a difference they make in there. That was a great college football environment [and] Big 12 game. So for me, it was lovely.”
The Sun Devils caught fire out of the gate as Leavitt completed his first three passes and led the ASU offense down the field for a score. Leavitt floated a ball to the corner of the end zone for redshirt senior wide receiver Xavier Guillory to take a 7-0 lead.
The Jayhawks responded with a long touchdown drive of their own. Redshirt junior Jalon Daniels capped off a 10-play drive with a 22-yard scramble into the end zone to even the score.
After both teams traded punts, Kansas put together a scoring drive through the air. Daniels connected with senior wideout Quentin Skinner for 18 yards to convert a 3rd and 16. Two plays later, Daniels found redshirt junior running back Daniel Hishaw Jr. out of the backfield for a gain of 17 more yards. That set up the touchdown pass to Skinner along the sideline after a miscommunication in coverage by ASU’s junior safety Myles Rowser and junior corner Laterrence Welch.
The Sun Devils saw promising drives end scoreless due to mental mistakes. Redshirt sophomore kicker Ian Hershey’s 38-yard field goal try was blocked by Kansas’ redshirt junior defensive tackle Kenean Caldwell. On their next drive, after a fake punt extended the drive, Leavitt connected with Tyson for a big gain, but Kansas senior defensive back Mello Dotson ripped out and recovered the ball to kill any momentum the Sun Devils had before the half.
Arizona State got some of that momentum back thanks to a quick defensive stop and a 36-yard punt return by Stovall to put the Sun Devils in business. Two Kansas penalties put ASU in the red area and Leavitt hit redshirt junior tight end Chamon Metayer in stride for a touchdown to tie it up before the half at 14-14.
Kansas opened the second half with a long drive that ended in a short field goal after a red zone stop by ASU. That stop, unfortunately, led to the disqualification of the centerpiece of the Sun Devil defense, junior linebacker Keyshaun Elliott, who was flagged for targeting on a collision in the end zone with Skinner. Later in the game, the Sun Devils lost redshirt junior edge rusher Clayton Smith, who recorded a sack in the game, to another targeting penalty.
“To me, those two plays aren’t on our players,” Dillingham said. “That’s just the nature of the game of football right now. You hope they don’t happen. We can coach as much as we want but those weren’t violent penalties. Those weren’t stupid penalties. Those just happen through the flow of the game.”
Elliott and Smith will both be suspended for the first half of next week’s game.
Another promising drive for ASU followed as the Sun Devils methodically worked down the field on the backs of senior running back Cam Skattebo and redshirt sophomore running back Raleek Brown. On second down in the red zone, Leavitt hit an open Tyson in the hands just in front of the goal line, but the ball bounced off his hands and into the arms of Kansas redshirt junior safety Devin Dye for an interception. For the second time in the three drives, a rally was cut short by a mistake by Tyson.
Tyson’s rough start to the game didn’t deter Leavitt’s confidence in the young receiver. In the fourth quarter, Leavitt targeted Tyson again for a 31-yard score to put the Sun Devils ahead 28-24 as the pendulum of momentum swung back in Arizona State’s favor.
“[Tyson] was about as upset as you could possibly be,” Dillingham said. “The fact that he could regather himself, and go execute and finish with a positive attitude is everything we’re trying to build here.”
With just over two minutes remaining, Daniels uncorked a deep ball on a post by Skinner, who made a diving catch in the back of the end zone to reclaim the lead once more.
Looking to lead one last rally, Skattebo exploded on the second play of the drive with a 39-yard run to put the Sun Devils on the doorstep of the red zone. Skattebo finished the night with 185 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries.
On first and goal, with the game on the line, Leavitt knew exactly where he was going with the ball. He found Tyson on a fade to the corner with a high-arching ball for the touchdown. Mountain America Stadium was buzzing after the monumental comeback for the Devils.
“We do two-minute drills all the time in practice, I’d like to say once or twice a week,” Leavitt said. “So, it’s something that we practice and Dillingham says, ‘Just fall back on your training.’ We did what we did…. O-line played a hell of a game all day and then I trusted my dog [Tyson]. A couple of plays early in the game, a couple of mistakes, but why would I ever lose faith?”
After his tough start to the game, Tyson earned a game ball from Dillingham in the locker room for overcoming the obstacles to help win the game.
“On that touchdown, [wide receivers coach Hines Ward] has been preaching, ‘Dig, dig, dig,’” Tyson said. “I dug. What happened? Touchdown. It’s everything. [Ward] has been there, done that. He’s not going to tell me nothing that’s wrong.”
Leavitt finished the night with a career-high four passing touchdowns and 157 yards while adding a career-high 77 yards on the ground. Tyson caught six passes for 76 yards and two fourth-quarter scores.
“When the game is on the line, [Leavitt] showed up,” Dillingham said. “I mean, that was his fifth start in college football. That’s pretty exciting for ASU and that’s pretty exciting for the Valley.”
Arizona State’s offense picked up the slack for its defense, which struggled to get off the field on third down in the game. Kansas converted 7-13 third down attempts and allowed more conversions through penalties.
“Third down defense was not good, once again,” Dillingham said. “It’s an area we’ve got to improve on. Where we did improve was red zone defense … Two red zone stops back-to-back. Keyshaun’s [targeting foul] was a stop, and then we had to do it again, and we got a stop again. So we really got two red zone stops there to start the second half.”
Despite the sloppy performance, Dillingham was happy with how his team responded to the adversity and found a way to win. They’ll have to keep that mindset working through a short week before facing a well-rested Utah team on Friday in Tempe.
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