Jesús Saves as Sun Devils win Big 12 opener

It feels so good to have a kicker to trust in the biggest moments of games.

It took until the final second on the clock, but the left foot of redshirt senior Jesús Gomez delivered the Sun Devils a 27-24 win in Waco, their first win in a conference opener since 2017.

While his 43-yarder for the win was perfect, the whole game was not perfect for the Sun Devils. Plenty of promise coming from this game, but still some things to figure out with a short week coming up against TCU.

The Good

Jesús Gomez

A perfect 4-for-4 on the day kicking, Gomez accounted for 13 of the Sun Devils' 27 points yesterday, converting kicks of 21, 31, and 33 yards in addition to his game winner. He has been nearly perfect in his kicking opportunities all season long, converting all 12 extra point attempts and missing only a 57-yard field goal attempt at the end of the first half against NAU. After last season's turnover at the kicker position, through 4 weeks it looks like Coach Dillingham has someone he can trust from nearly anywhere on the field.

Receiving Involvement

Sam Leavitt had a very solid game with 22 completions for 221 yards and a touchdown, but what stood out to me was seven different receivers recording at least one catch. Jordyn Tyson led the way with 7 catches including one touchdown, but what has been speculated for a few weeks came true as the Baylor defense limited his production to just 43 yards. The Chamon Metayer Fan Club was very happy last night seeing him haul in 6 catches for 55 yards, but former walk-on Derek Eusebio surprised everyone with two catches for 78 yards, including a 61 yard catch down the middle that set up the game tying score midway through the 4th quarter. Sam seems to be hitting his stride with spreading the ball around after getting back to game form in the first three weeks of the season.

Defensive Presence

The question all week long was how could the defense, especially the secondary, hold up against Baylor's offense with so many injuries. Keyshaun Elliott, Jordan Crook, and Boogie Wilson made their presence known, each recording at least 8 tackles. Wilson set the tone by recovering a Josh Cameron fumble on Baylor's opening drive of the game, and Zyrus Fiaseu mirrored Wilson by recovering another fumble by Cameron on Baylor's opening drive of the second half. Keith Abney II added to the defensive stats by picking off Sawyer Robertson late in the 3rd quarter to swing the momentum in the Sun Devils' favor.

The Bad

Third Down Conversions

Third downs have been one of, if not the worst part of the Sun Devil offense this season. Through the first three games, Arizona State ranked 128th in FBS with a 27% third down conversion rate. While their 6-for-16 conversion rate yesterday is technically an improvement, the inability to sustain drives and finish with a touchdown will come back to haunt the Devils eventually this season. Fiaseu's fumble recovery gave the offense the ball deep in plus territory at the Baylor 32, but the offense fizzled in the red zone and had to settle for a chip shot field goal that kept it a one score game.

Inconsistent Playcalling

While the offense was effective, there appeared to not be a truly committed gameplan one way or another. When combined with the inefficiency on third downs, the Sun Devils could not manage to put the game away despite having multiple opportunities to do so.

The Ugly

Penalties

Stop me if you've heard this before. Penalties continue to be a weakness for the Devils on both sides of the ball. Thankfully Baylor was equally as undisciplined, but through four games on the season, the Sun Devils are averaging 8 penalties per game. With tough games against TCU and Texas Tech coming up, the Sun Devils cannot afford to maintain that high pace.

Secondary

It's a little unfair to call the secondary out here, but I'm a fan of accountability. They did hold up well for the first three quarters, but started to show holes in the 4th quarter that saw Baylor take their first (thankfully brief) lead of the game. Hopefully the defense can weather the storm of injuries to stay competitive in the coming weeks.

Closing Thoughts

At the end of the day, a win is a win. Still far too early to look at the standings, but 4th place in the Big 12 looks a lot better than it could be.

The Sun Devils have a short week and will take on TCU from Mountain America Stadium on Friday at 6:00pm Arizona time on Fox. Stay with us as we break down everything about TCU leading up to kickoff.