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About 11 months ago, Utah defeated Arizona State 55-3 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Even without starting quarterback Cam Rising and other key players, including tight end Brant Kuithe and linebacker Lander Barton, the Utes demolished the Sun Devils, gaining 513 yards and limiting Arizona State to just 83.
Bryson Barnes threw for a career-high four touchdowns, while the Utes ran for 352 yards, including 111 from Ja’Quinden Jackson, 79 from Nate Johnson, and 64 from Jaylon Glover.
The Sun Devils’ rushing attack never got going, with star Cam Skattebo held to 31 yards on 12 carries, and with only six scholarship offensive linemen on the trip due to injuries, Utah’s defense feasted.
The quarterback situation for Arizona State, which was already bad coming into the game with its first two options injured, turned worse when Trenton Bourguet was injured on the Sun Devils’ first series. Jacob Conover, the fourth-string quarterback and one-time BYU Cougar, was rattled all game and completed just five of 22 passes for 41 yards.
It was an impressive performance for Utah, and one of the worst performances in Arizona State history.
“Everybody should be embarrassed. This isn’t Sun Devil football,” ASU defensive back Jordan Clark said, per The Associated Press.
In coach Kenny Dillingham’s first season after taking over for Herm Edwards, who was fired midseason in 2022, he had to deal with a large outflow of transfers that exited the program, and a rash of injuries, including at quarterback. All of that translated into a dismal season.
Yet again, there were big changes this offseason — Arizona State brought in 30 more transfers and lost 30, according to 247Sports — and so far, the turnover is paying dividends.
Picked dead last in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll, Arizona State is instead 4-1 — the same record as the No. 16 Utes — heading into Friday’s matchup (8:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN). In less than a year, the Sun Devils have undergone a turnaround from that “embarrassing” November day in Salt Lake City.
It starts with Michigan State transfer quarterback Sam Leavitt, a dual-threat redshirt freshman that Utah offered when he put his name in the transfer portal this offseason.
He’s thrown for 1,012 yards and seven touchdowns with three interceptions on 59% accuracy, but what makes him a great fit for Arizona State’s offseason is his running ability. He’s added 257 yards and four scores on the ground, and his legs were a huge part of why the Sun Devils improved to 4-1 with a 35-31 win over Kansas.
On the game-winning touchdown drive with two minutes left, Leavitt used his legs for two first-down conversions, including a 4-yard run on third-and-3 from the Kansas 7-yard line, and capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jordyn Tyson to take a 35-31 lead.
Leavitt hasn’t been a perfect quarterback — his completion percentage ranks 93rd in FBS — but he’s been exactly what Arizona State has needed, and he’s been impressive for a redshirt freshman.
“His athleticism, he’s a true dual threat. … He’s doing a good job with the QB run game for them, he’s still really young, and so his development is still ahead of him,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.
“His efficiency rating right now is about 133, throwing the ball. So got some work to do there, but he’s doing a really good job of doing what they’re asking him to do, and they’re doing a really good job of making sure the offense is tailored to his skillset.”
Leavitt has been a breath of fresh air, no doubt, but this Arizona State offense is still based on the run. The Sun Devils are running the ball at a 62.5% clip, with Skattebo and Leavitt getting the vast majority of those carries, and it’s been working — Arizona State is averaging 33.2 points per game.
Skattebo has been a true workhouse back with 111 carries for 615 yards and six scores, and Leavitt has been a nice complement to that. This is all powered by a revamped offensive line featuring Cal transfer Ben Coleman, Hawaii transfer Joshua Atkins and Texas Tech transfer Cade Briggs, who have cleared the way for the nation’s No. 17 rushing attack.
After struggles against the run in its loss to Arizona, including a decent amount of missed tackles, the Utes used some of their bye week to conduct physical practices full of live tackling.
“That’ll be the key this week. They’re a run-heavy team and they’re well over 200 yards a game rushing, and if we’re as noneffective as we were in the Arizona game, it’s going to be a long night,” Whittingham said. “And so that is the big challenge for our defense is to step up and become what we know we can be against the run.”
Defensively, there will be a couple of key first-half absences for the Sun Devils after starting linebacker Keyshaun Elliott and starting defensive end Clayton Smith were ejected for targeting in the second half last game. Elliott is one of the Sun Devils’ most productive linebackers (36 tackles and an interception), while Smith has four sacks and six quarterback hurries on the season.
Taking advantage of those absences in the first half will be key for the Utes, especially if Cam Rising starts. The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reported that the Utes’ veteran quarterback, who has missed the last 3.5 games with a finger injury, will start against Arizona State.
There’s an opportunity for Utah to strike through the air, as ASU is allowing 215 passing yards per game, compared to a stingy run defense that is giving up just 96 yards on the ground.
Utah has had two weeks to correct some of its issues — red-zone offense, tackling and run defense — that plagued them in its loss to Arizona, plus perhaps get some injured players back. Whittingham has been able to prepare for Arizona State for the last two weeks, while Dillingham has had to quickly turn the page to the Utes on a short week after beating Kansas.
“Unfortunately, you play a Friday night game and Utah is off a bye, so I don’t know how we got a schedule where we have six days and they have a bye week, but it’s possibly the worst scenario you could ever have is have a short week when another team has a bye,” Dillingham said.
“So I don’t know how that happened, but we’re going to have to be as fresh as physically possible. It’s all about being fresh for this football game. They’re going to be fresh.”
After losing one game, every contest from here on out is key if Utah wants to get to the Big 12 championship game. Friday starts a stretch of three winnable games (at ASU, vs. TCU, at Houston) before the Utes’ second bye week, but the trip to Tempe will be the most challenging.
In case you missed it
The Utes suffered a home loss to Arizona, dropping their first Big 12 Conference game of the season, but are 4-1, with all of their goals in front of them. Here’s where Utah stands as it enters the second half of the season.
From the archives
Extra points
- Where Utah and BYU are projected to finish in Big 12 women’s basketball (Deseret News)
- The Cam Rising dilemma (Deseret News)