Jesus Gomez delivers Sun Devils a huge win over Baylor in first Big 12 game of year

On a Saturday night in Waco, Jesus delivered a win for the devil.

For the second year in a row, Arizona State kicked off their Big 12 schedule on the road in Texas, this time against Baylor. The first half was a dead heat, with the Sun Devils and Bears tied up by the time the break came around.

After punting to start the second half, Arizona State's defense made a huge play. They forced and recovered their second fumble of the day, sending Sam Leavitt and the offense back out with just 32 yards to the endzone. They would eventually get into third and goal, but came up short and settled for a field goal to go up 13-10.

The defense forced a punt from there, and Arizona State started cooking offensively. Leavitt seemed to get into a groove, but a holding penalty erased a big first down. They managed to get into a fourth and short in field goal range, but Kenny Dillingham opted to go for it. It turned out to be one of the few times all night the run game was stuffed.

The mistake was short-lived, though, as Keith Abney picked off Sawyer Robertson just four plays later. That led to another field goal from Gomez, putting Arizona State up 16-10. The sudden lead seemed to shake the Bears awake, as Robertson marched down the field with several big throws before getting into the endzone for the lead.

That, in turn, woke up Arizona State's offense. Leavitt also made some big plays, including a 61-yard bomb to Derek Eusebio, before finding Jordyn Tyson in the endzone for a score. The Sun Devils then went for two to go up one touchdown, and Leavitt again found Tyson in the endzone, putting them up 24-17.

Baylor struck right back, converting a 3rd and 17 and later throwing a 33-yard touchdown pass to even things up. That set the stage for Leavitt, needing to get in field goal range with just under two minutes left in the game and two timeouts.

They did just that in short order. An offsides penalty and a late hit on a defenseless Tyson gave the Sun Devils 20 yards alone, and Leavitt hit several players for decent gains on top of it. Once they got inside the Baylor 30, Arizona State let the clock run down to one second, taking a timeout and sending out their trusty kicker.

Gomez banged it through with ease, celebrating the win almost immediately after the ball left his foot. The kick was never in doubt, right down the middle, and Arizona State gutted out the victory for a tough road win. They're now 1-0 in the Big 12 and receive a serious morale boost as they head home to host TCU next Friday.