ASU Football was expected to match its 2023 win total of three victories this year.
The Sun Devils did that in 2024, and it’s still the front half of September.
Kenny Dillingham’s crew is 3-0 after they went on the road to beat Texas State 31-28 in a Thursday night matchup. There were ups. There were downs.
But the Sun Devils responded throughout the night and took down one of the top Group of Five schools in the nation.
Sam Leavitt threw for 246 yards and a passing touchdown along with 40 rushing yards and a ground score in the first road start of his career. The defense forced three turnovers to help seal the victory.
This also came with one of the biggest clock blunders from game officials in college football. The Sun Devils ran down the clock and there was a two-second difference between the game clock and the play clock. On a 4th down with two seconds left, Sam Leavitt took a snap, ran back for three seconds and then took a knee. The clock started late so replay officials said there should still be a second left on the clock.
Referees had teams come back out from the locker room, pushed media – including ESPN’s postgame interview crew – off the field and gave Texas State a final chance. The lateral-heavy play was short-lived as Clayton Smith knocked the ball away and recovered the fumble to seal the victory.
Despite all that, the Sun Devils have a moment to reflect on how far they’ve come in a year and get to kick off their Big 12 chapter in nine days against Texas Tech.
Jordan Hamm
