TEMPE – Without its most productive offensive player, junior wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, No. 24 Arizona State struggled to gain rhythm on offense, leading to it suffering its first home loss since 2023.
“It sucks, it was a good run,” coach Kenny Dillingham said regarding the home win streak. “We’ve really built a great environment here. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done tonight. We didn’t play well enough.”
Houston (7-1) traveled west to Mountain America Stadium on Saturday evening and downed ASU (5-3), 24-16, despite a valiant comeback attempt from the Sun Devils. After going down 24-0 entering the fourth quarter, the Maroon and Gold scored 16 unanswered points to make the game interesting toward the end.
The problems for the Sun Devils?
The offense was nearly nonexistent during the first three quarters of the game, while the special teams units continued to struggle.
All five of the drives for sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt’s unit in the first half either ended in a missed field goal, a punt or a fumble. Leavitt coughed up the football after the ball awkwardly slipped out of the gunslinger’s hands.
He also dealt with a multitude of injuries for most of the game, as he was slow to get up early in the first quarter and tweaked his lower body again later in the game. The injuries forced senior Jeff Sims to come into the game off the bench.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsSam Leavitt is headed to the locker room.@InfernoIntel pic.twitter.com/f8201Thcyf
— Colin Hogan (@_colinhogan) October 26, 2025
While Sims ended up leading his teammates down the field with a fourth-quarter touchdown, he finished the game with a mere 55% completion rate and only 58 yards through the air.
The Sun Devils also struggled in the trenches most of the game. The Cougars dropped Leavitt behind the line four total times, forcing him to flee from the pocket on numerous occasions. On the other side, ASU only totaled one sack and one quarterback pressure.
Without Tyson, the Sun Devils lacked rhythm, failing to consistently drive the ball downfield. Dillingham’s squad only gained 98 rushing yards during the game, a number that doesn’t even come close to their impressive 186.7 average rushing yards per game so far.
Senior receiver Malik McClain stood out as the lone bright spot for the offense, finishing with seven catches for 159 yards, with a highlight deep ball of 36 yards.
“I was blessed to just be in the game and contribute,” McClain said regarding his play. “With JT going down, we had to change some things around. I just had to play my part and make plays when they came.”
Nonetheless, ill-advised penalties doomed the Sun Devils from the very beginning. Senior safety Myles Rowser was ejected for targeting, a pass interference call in the corner of the end zone on Senior corner Keith Abney II got Houston to the 1-yard-line and an illegal shift negated an offensive touchdown in the third quarter.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsSun Devil fans are now throwing items such as water bottles onto the field. A pass interference call in the corner of the endzone on DB Keith Abney II erupts the Inferno into a frenzy.
— Taylor Gautney (@t_gautney) October 26, 2025
The ASU defense is motioning to the fans to stop. Not a great look.@InfernoIntel
“We can’t have it (the penalty),” Dillingham said regarding the illegal motion. “That’s on myself to not let those things happen.”
The Sun Devils’ defense also struggled with the physical presence of Houston’s offensive line. Dual-threat junior quarterback Connor Weigman ran the ball 21 times and gained 111 yards with a touchdown for the Cougars.
The designed quarterback run seemed to give the Maroon and Gold a heap of trouble, leading to long, drawn-out drives for Houston over four quarters.
“We knew all week they had a job, and they did it, QB runs well,” ASU senior linebacker Keyshaun Elliott said, referring to the physicality of the Cougars. “They did it all game. It was just continuous drives. … There are some things that we have to fix as players. We just have to play more violently.”
With his physical presence, senior tight end Tanner Koziol proved to be a deadly offensive weapon, tallying 100 receiving yards and adding a touchdown to his impressive total. Matching the overall physicality, Houston controlled the game with a 37:02 possession time, dominating the time of possession.
ASU also struggled with its special teams operations. After winning Big 12 Specialist of the Week for the third time last week, Senior kicker Jesus Gomez finished just 1-for-3 on his kick attempts. The usually reliable option missed 31 and 42-yard kicks that would have capitalized on the Sun Devils’ offensive drives.
“We’re moving people around,” Dillingham said regarding the special teams struggles. “We just have to flush it and try to move forward in those areas.”
A tough road environment awaits ASU as it travels to Ames, Iowa, to take on Iowa State next Saturday.
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