TEMPE, Ariz. – Just one day stands between No. 11 Arizona State and the start of its 2025 season. With Heisman hopeful, redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt, throwing to highly touted redshirt junior wide receiver Jordan Tyson, the Sun Devils enter this fall with a level of buzz around the program that hasn’t been felt in years.
The offseason excitement will culminate tomorrow, when ASU opens its season against Northern Arizona University in front of a sellout crowd at Mountain America Stadium.
“I think it’s the first time we’ve sold out that first football game since 1998, at least,” Athletic Director Graham Rossini said on the PHNX Sun Devils podcast. “That’s a really important testament that more people are starting to join what we’re building.”
While the rivalry between Sun Devils and Lumberjacks doesn’t quite match the other in-state matchup of Arizona State and the University of Arizona, the two teams have a long history dating back to their first meeting in 1915 — ASU walked away with a big 72-3 win in the inaugural game.
For the Maroon and Gold, it’s the first chance to see a new-look offense without running back phenom Cam Skattebo. Sparky will showcase a three-headed monster in the backfield with juniors Kyson Brown and Kanye Udoh, along with redshirt junior Raleek Brown.
“Both of those guys [Kyson and Raleek Brown] have the tools that work in our offense, as we saw last year,” Offensive Coordinator Marcus Arroyo said. “You’ve gotta be a switchblade in that backfield.”
Alongside its revamped backfield, Head Coach Kenny Dillingham and company bolstered its receiver room through the transfer portal. Redshirt sophomores Jaren Hamilton (Alabama) and Noble Johnson, along with redshirt junior Jalen Moss (Fresno State), headline the new additions, giving Leavitt a deeper group of pass catchers to work with.
“He’s just consistent,” Dillingham said of Moss. “There’s a reason he’s had the production he’s had in college football. He gets his right depth, catches the ball, does what he’s supposed to do.”
On the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Brian Ward brings back 10 starters from last season, with the only departure being safety Shamari Simmons.
Despite the continuity and familiarity on defense, Ward and his staff are still working to button up their unit ahead of their matchup with NAU, which ranks No. 19 in the FCS entering the season.
“It’s just, as a coach, our job is to do everything we can to get these guys ready and prepared so there’s no mistakes on Saturday, and they don’t ever feel like we come to the sideline and go, ‘Hey, Coach, what do we do?’ We want them to have the answers, not us to have the answers,” Ward said.
For the Lumberjacks, stopping Arizona State is going to be a tough task, but NAU head coach Brian Wright and company are eager to take the field after falling last season 24-0 in the first round of the FCS playoffs.
“I think our guys came back this offseason really hungry,” Wright told AZ Family. “Not that we’re putting more emphasis on special teams, but we’re asking a lot more of the top players.”
The Lumberjacks’ trip to Tempe marks the first time the two teams have met since Dillingham took over the ASU program in 2023.
He hopes his Sun Devils can get off to a strong start in his third year as head coach and secure another emphatic season-opening win.
“I want to see what this team is,” Dillingham said. “I want to see who we are on Saturday, like it doesn’t matter who we play. It’s about us.”
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