TEMPE- On a sunny Saturday afternoon in Tempe, the Arizona State Sun Devils faced the No. 7-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders, looking to bounce back after an embarrassing performance at Utah the week before.
A lot of Sun Devils fans in attendance showed up wearing gold, encouraging the team to play hard in front of its home crowd at Mountain America Stadium.
Redshirt-Senior kicker Jesus Gomez made three field goals from the 34, 47, and 26-yard field goals to give Arizona State a 9-7 lead over Texas Tech in the first half.
His contributions on the offensive end put the Sun Devils in a position to win the game through an upset over one of the Top 10 teams in the College Football rankings.
The Sun Devils' defense has drastically improved from last week, limiting the Red Raiders' hot offense to just single digits in points scored throughout most of the game.
“The whole thing for me this week was to show that we’re physical, to show that we pass, to show that we like to play physical," Arizona State safety Adrian "Boogie" Wilson said Saturday. "For me it’s just being physical.”
Quarterback Sam Leavitt made his return to the field after missing last week's game and picked up where he left off for Arizona State.
His touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jordyn Tyson in the third quarter for the Sun Devils to take over on their offensive end for the remainder of the game. The pairing of Leavitt and Tyson is like the bread and butter on Arizona State's offensive end.
"It's just a testament to the way he (Jordyn) and Sam work," Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham said. "They work, they care, they prepare, they do everything they can to get on the field. JT (Tyson) is probably going to be up here at the crack of dawn tomorrow in the ice tub. That's what they do. This dude sitting next to me (Leavitt), I've never been around a guy who just works to try to win football games as much as he does on and off the field. He just does everything he can for this football team. And in the biggest moments, he makes the biggest plays.”
Throughout the game, Leavitt had 319 yards, a touchdown, and made 28 out of his 47 completions after missing last week's game at Utah due to injury.
More importantly, his relationship with Dillingham over the years has been a special one. From the ups and downs to celebrating the wins, both Leavitt and the head coach trust each other.
“You talk about a coach that just knows his players well, so he knows how to approach you in those moments," Leavitt said. "Talk about someone who talks about every single scenario there is. As soon as I come in, we're watching Miami versus Louisville, right before half, and there's a little debate on what they should have done with the clock management.
"We're just coming in right there at the meeting, and I'm talking about what I think we should do versus what he thinks. And that's what happens on game day. We're just on the same page. So it's one of the best situations for me to plan.”
In the fourth quarter, Texas Tech freshman quarterback Will Hammond threw a pass to senior wide receiver Reggie Virgil, who scored a touchdown to give them the lead with two minutes remaining.
After the Red Raiders scored on their drive, the Sun Devils took control, aiming to either score a touchdown or tie the game to send it into overtime.
Running back junior Raleek Brown scored a rushing touchdown to give Arizona State back its lead with 34 seconds remaining in the game.
“Just go score," Tyson said on Arizona State's mindset. "I feel like we try and overcomplicate and think too much and hype ourselves up. You got to just focus on your own 11.”
The Red Raiders had a chance to score a touchdown to win the game, while the Sun Devils' defense focused on locking down on the defensive end. Hammond's 'Hail Mary' pass attempt into the end zone was incomplete, as Arizona State completes the upset and its fans rushed down to the court to celebrate.
Texas Tech receives its first loss of the season after starting the season 6-0, as Arizona State looks to climb up in the Big 12 standings. Under Dillingham as head coach since 2023, the Sun Devils are 5-2 when it comes to playing in games that ended up with less than four points in the final score.
"I think anytime you have a win like this, it rejuvenates your program, especially after the embarrassment last week," Dillingham said. "I still am not going to talk about it, because I'm still so embarrassed by it. So anytime you can have a win like this, it can definitely put you in the right direction. But the key is, it doesn't make you complacent.
"The reason we could win this game is because we lost the game prior. We don't win this game if we beat Utah, we don't win this game if we have it close to Utah, we only won this game because we were so embarrassed that our guys have a different level of intensity and focus, and we found it. And now the challenge is, through the praise, can we continue to have it? And so I would say it can. It's a positive, but it can also be a negative if we don't use it to continue to drive.”
The Arizona State Sun Devils will look to continue to build on their momentum as they will welcome the Houston Cougars at home on October 25.