Jesús Gomez lifts Sun Devils to victory for second straight week

After a near hurricane blew through the Valley of the Sun on Friday, there was football to be played.

Coming off a 27-24 win at Baylor to open Big 12 play, Arizona State played host to the Horned Frogs of TCU, the third straight team from the state of Texas on the schedule. Much was made about TCU's potent offense and the concerns of a depleted secondary, and in the opening 23:36 of the game, those concerns were merited.

Arizona State received the opening kick and traded punts with TCU on each team's opening possession. Following another Sun Devil punt, TCU mounted a 7 play, 51 yard drive capped off by a Trent Battle rushing touchdown to open the scoring.

TCU would add 10 more points before halftime with a Jeremy Payne rushing touchdown and a field goal by Nate McCashland, stretching the lead to 17-0 just over halfway through the 2nd quarter. The Sun Devils in that same span had drives end on a missed FG by Jesús Gomez, then a turnover on downs.

On the next drive, the scales started to tip away from becoming a total blowout. The Sun Devils put up a quick score on a 57 yard touchdown pass from Sam Leavitt to Jordyn Tyson, bringing the score to 17-7.

After the defense forced a three and out, the Devils found the end zone again, this time on the ground as Sam ran the ball in from 8 yards out to finish a 47 yard drive. The Sun Devils would threaten again before the half, driving to the TCU 25 before a fumble by Leavitt that took us to halftime with a 17-14 deficit.

TCU worked their way down the field to open the 3rd quarter and were on the doorstep of stretching their lead, but Boogie Wilson had different plans, coming away with the interception in the red zone.

Sam and the offense would get all the way down to the TCU 7 yard line following the interception before settling for a 26 yard field goal by Gomez.

After 17 unanswered points, TCU's offense woke back up and mounted an 8 play, 65 yard drive that ended with a Josh Hoover rushing touchdown. Ironically, with all the hype about the Horned Frogs passing game, all three of their touchdowns came on the ground.

Trailing once again, the Devils took the next drive back in to the red zone, but the offense sputtered to a halt, turning the ball over on downs after reaching the TCU 3 yard line in a twisted reversal of what happened on the Sun Devils' final possession against Mississippi State.

The defense cracked down and forced a punt that gave the offense excellent field position on the TCU 39, but the drive stalled once again just outside the red zone and ended with a miss from Gomez, this time from 43 yards.

TCU would punt again after moving backwards, and surprise surprise, the Sun Devil offense found themselves facing 4th and goal from inside the 10 for the second time in three drives. This time they found paydirt as Sam connected with Tyson for his second touchdown pass of the game from 4 yards out.

Coach Dillingham in his postgame comments defended the decision to go for it on 4th and goal here due to having all three timeouts and being able to guarantee last possession if needed, where the team only had two timeouts when settling for the field goal in Starkville.

With 1:50 left in regulation, TCU got the ball back with the opportunity to work the clock and attempt the win. On the second play of the drive, Prince Dorbah swiped that opportunity away, sacking Hoover and forcing a fumble that he would recover for the second Frogs turnover of the night, giving Sam the ball at the TCU 15 with 1:42 on the clock. The offense would get down to the 1 yard line before a false start pushed the ball back to the 6, setting the stage for Gomez to redeem himself.

Trailing for the first time in the game, TCU entered desperation mode, and on their second play of the next drive, Martell Hughes picked off Hoover to seal the win and move the Devils to 4-1 on the season.

The Devils beat TCU at their own game, winning the passing battle 278-259, and dominated the ground game 220-10. The defense stood strong and refused to lay down when faced with a 17-0 deficit. Offensively, there are still some questions when it comes to play calling, especially down in the red zone. Jordyn Tyson had a rebound game with 8 catches for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Raleek Brown led the way on the ground with 147 yards on 22 carries.

The Sun Devils will enjoy a much needed bye next week before going on the road for a matchup with Utah on October 11th. The next home game for the Devils will be the Hall of Fame Game against Texas Tech on October 18th.