ASU football focused on improvement, says head coach Kenny Dillingham
Dillingham says if the program teaches players to focus on doubters, “then we’re sending a terrible message to our players.”
SAN MARCOS, Texas — Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham knew he had to get more out of his passing game this week than he did last week. The Sun Devils’ eye-catching numbers running the ball last week against Mississippi State would surely have this week’s opponent, Texas State, crowding the box and challenging them to shoot.
ASU did what it needed to do, beating the Bobcats 31-28 on Thursday night at UFCU Stadium. ASU is now 3-0 on the season for the first time since 2019, evening last season’s winning record when it was 3-9.
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Freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt, playing on foreign soil for the first time in his career, completed 19 of 30 passes for 246 yards. The biggest beneficiary was sophomore Jordyn Tyson, who caught six passes for 120 yards and a touchdown. The Michigan State transfer threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Tyson late in the second quarter that proved to be a highlight of the night.
Leavitt was intercepted in the third quarter when he threw to tight end Markeston Douglas and the ball was intercepted by Chris Mills. It was his only turnover in three games this season.
That was a contrast from last week, when 346 of the team’s 415 yards came from ground work. This week, the running game was not productive, as ASU only managed 101 total rushing yards and Cam Skattebo was limited to 62.
The fact that Leavitt led the team from a two-touchdown deficit on the road was no surprise to Dillingham.
“That’s exactly what I thought,” Dillingham said. “He’s a competitor. He’s a total competitor, so I have the utmost confidence in him getting back because he’s smart and he cares. He fights and he’s passionate. He got beat up, I mean destroyed, shaken up. And it was like it never happened. He just showed up like he was playing strong safety. That’s the mentality he plays the game with though. When you have a quarterback that plays like that, guys are behind him. Those guys see him get hit like that and get back up, that motivates people.”
Leavitt’s career-best was 258 yards in the opener against Wyoming. He was 12 yards short on Thursday, but he was ready to meet the challenge. He also ran for 40 yards and even recorded three sacks. His 40-yard run set the stage for a 2-yard run by Skattebo that tied the game at 28-28 with 2:17 left in the third quarter.
“It was super fun to be in that atmosphere, an away game, just having 30,000 fans here and being able to run the offense, play with the guys I’ve been with since day one. It was a lot of fun,” Leavitt said.
ASU is back on the road next week to open Big 12 play at Texas Tech (1-1).
