The rise of ASU football

Delving into the Sun Devils’ legendary 2024 season

By Bella Keenan

Photos courtesy of Calvin Stewart and Anthony Cavale

There are 20 seconds left on the clock. It’s first and goal for ASU. Redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt steps back, looks right and throws the ball to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jordyn Tyson. Tyson makes the catch for the game-winning touchdown against Kansas. Fans scream, jump and topple over each other. The whole Valley can hear Mountain America Stadium roar — a typical Saturday night in Tempe for the 2024 season.

Before they shocked the nation and climbed the ranks, the Sun Devils toiled through the 2022 and 2023 seasons, both resulting in a 3-9 record under two different head coaches. At the beginning of the 2022 season, the athletic department fired head coach Herm Edwards due to poor results and player recruiting violations.

“The moment I [started school at ASU], it was terrible,” said Braeden Steele, a senior studying sports journalism. “I remember seeing [Edwards] get fired on the field. We were just doing terrible. We just weren’t winning any games.”

Shaun Aguano, who is now the running backs coach, took over for the rest of the 2022 season. In November 2022, Sun Devil Athletics hired Phoenix native and ASU alum Kenny Dillingham as head coach. Coaching for the first time in 2023 posed Dillingham some challenges, as the team experienced quarterback issues, an injured offensive line and a lack of morale. Through it all, Dillingham kept his head up and prepared for the next season.

The new year brought fresh faces to the locker room, and familiar faces shined during offseason training. The team gained Michigan State transfer Leavitt while Tyson bounced back from his knee injury. The pair joined star senior running back Cam Skat- tebo, who looked great in the 2023 season but didn’t have a team to work with.

Despite the offseason acquisitions, ASU was still picked to finish last in the Big 12 by pre-season pollsters. “We want to get better,” Dillingham told Deseret News prior to the 2024 season. “We want to grow every single day. There’s not a win total. There’s not a goal like that. It’s just the very best we can be at everything we do.”

A look back on the 2024 season

It was a hot Saturday night in August. Faithful Sun Devils filled the student section for the first game against Wyoming. Some were hopeful, but many were doubtful at the start of the 2024 football season. Could the team turn it around? Would the transfers make the difference? Could Dillingham redeem himself?

Fans had reason to hope. In the second play of the game, redshirt junior linebacker Zyrus Fiaseu intercepted a throw for a 29-yard pick-6. The stadium went wild. The game couldn’t have started better, and the domination continued. From long-pass touchdowns to short-run touchdowns to a fumble return for a touchdown, the team seemed to have found its spark. ASU won 48-7. There were still many questions that needed to be answered, but people couldn’t believe what they saw.

ASU won its next two games by a slim point margin. The Sun Devils won at home against Mississippi State and on the road against Texas State. As they toured through the Lone Star State, they stopped in Lubbock, where the team faced its first big challenge: Texas Tech. The defense gave up two touchdowns in the first quarter, which led to them trailing the whole game. ASU could not get its of- fense running, and the defense was giving up too many points. ASU lost 30-22.

Doubt crept in. Maybe the previous teams weren’t good. Will ASU go back to losing again? Might as well put the Sun Devil merchandise away.

ASU had two weeks to regroup before its matchup against Kansas on Oct. 5. Fans packed Mountain America Stadium for the Saturday night game. Everyone was eager to see how the storyline would play out.

Leavitt threw a 28-yard dart to redshirt senior wide receiver Xavier Guillory for a touchdown in the first quarter. Kansas reciprocated with a 22-yard rushing touchdown. The next drive, ASU punted and Kansas scored. ASU struggled offensively, missing a field goal and fumbling the ball minutes before the half. With just 26 seconds left in the first half, Leavitt threw another spectacular 20-yard pass to redshirt junior tight end Chamon Metayer. It was tied 14-14 at the half.

The teams traded field goals and touchdowns for the rest of the game. With two minutes left, Kansas took the lead, making the score 31-28. ASU went on a long, methodical drive. It came down to the wire. With 16 seconds left, ASU scored the final touchdown, winning 35-31.

The following week, ASU played No. 16 Utah at home. The betting odds had Utah winning by five points. In the second quarter, Leavitt took a big hit, putting him on the sidelines for the rest of the half. ASU led 13-9 at halftime. Leavitt came back, but Skattebo was the star of the show, completing 47- and 50-yard rushing touchdowns. ASU’s lead at half helped propel them to victory, winning 27-19. The goal posts went down and fans rushed the field. ASU defeated its first ranked team.

In Cincinnati, Leavitt was out due to a rib injury from the previous game, so senior backup quarterback Jeff Sims replaced him. Traveling across three time zones, missed field goals and poor offense led to their 24-14 defeat.

Stewart Mandel, editor-in-chief of The Athletic’s college football coverage, said, “They lost at Cincinnati about halfway through the year, and Sam Leavitt was hurt. It put them a little bit out of sight, but then they got hot from there.”

The next game, ASU held Oklahoma State’s stand-out running back Ollie Gordon II to 25 rushing yards, leading to a victory of 42-21.

ASU came back to Mountain America Stadium to barely slide past Central Florida without Skattebo, who was out due to a shoulder injury. Even with no rushing touchdowns, the Sun Devils won 35-31.

The following weekend, ASU played at Kansas State. The Sun Devils dominated the first half, forging ahead with a score of 21-0 at halftime. Tyson had two receiving touchdowns and Metayer had one. ASU kicked a field goal to start the second half but didn’t score again. Kansas State scored two touchdowns, but that wasn’t enough to beat the Sun Devils. ASU triumphed over Kansas State 24-14.

On Nov. 23, ASU had its biggest matchup of the season: No. 14 BYU. “I’ve never seen anything like the ASU vs. BYU game,” Steele said. “The entire stadium was filled. You could see sections of entire blue and entire yellow. When either team scored, it was a huge cheer, and the student section was crazy. I mean, I was falling into people.”

For the second week in a row, ASU started the first half strong with a comfortable 21-3 lead at halftime. However, the Sun Devil defense let BYU inch closer by the minute. BYU scored two touchdowns in the third quarter and another midway through the fourth quarter. The score was ASU 28-23. On the next drive, ASU got all the way to the BYU 11-yard line and was stopped on its fourth down try. It was now a one-score game with 2 minutes and 34 seconds left.

BYU had a chance to win, and ASU intercepted the ball. Leavitt infamously ran backward to run the clock out. On what was supposed to be the last play, Leavitt threw the ball long out of bounds for the clock to run out. The fans rushed the field for the second time that season.

“The field storming was one of the best moments of my life, as was the game as a whole,” Steele said. “Even though I knew in the back of my mind that time would be added back, I had to get on that field!”

However, there was still one second left on the clock. The referees got everybody off the playing field, giving BYU the chance to throw a Hail Mary and… it failed. ASU beat its biggest opponent, and fans rushed the field once again.

The Sun Devils’ last game was a domination against its rivals, UA. ASU was up 35-0 at halftime. Leavitt played until the end of the third quarter, and Tyson experienced an injury that took him out of the game, and eventually the rest of the season.

Wide receiver coach and NFL Hall of Famer Hines Ward said, “It wasn’t about, ‘We lost our stud wide receiver.’ It was just about, ‘Now the other guys get their opportunity to showcase what they’ve done.’”

Redshirt freshman wide receiver Derek Eusebio caught a pass in the backfield from redshirt senior backup quarterback Trenton Bourguet and ran 64 yards for a touchdown. ASU won 49-7.

“By October, you just don’t hear as much chatter about ASU football, and this is the first [season] that I can remember [where there] was this energy throughout the season and people were just so excited about it,” said Brett Kurland, a Cronkite School assistant dean.

Big 12 Championship

Although ASU entered the Big 12 championship game as a top seed, doubt lingered about their ability to defeat Iowa State, which had a strong season. The Sun Devils faced the Cyclones in Arlington, Texas, on Dec. 7.

Skattebo opened the game with a 28-yard run, weaving through the Cyclones’ defense. The game was tied 10-10 by the beginning of the first quarter, but the Sun Devils gained momentum. ASU scored twice and held the Cyclones’ offense to no points in the second quarter. The Sun Devils’ defense shined in the third quarter with two fumble recoveries and an interception. ASU won 45-19, quieting the naysayers and uplifting the true supporters.

“I got a picture in my office of us all being Big 12 champions because I never would have imagined,” Hines said. “When I got here, we were the last ranked team in the Big 12. There were really no expectations, which I loved.”

The team celebrated for a moment before preparing for their biggest challenge yet: playing Texas in the Peach Bowl.

The Peach Bowl: ASU vs Texas

ASU played Southeastern Conference powerhouse Texas in Atlanta, Georgia, on New Year’s Day. The offense struggled in the beginning to make progress, but after a 15-yard Texas penalty on fourth down, ASU got the ball back. ASU gained the advantage by kicking a field goal at the 22-yard line, making the score 3-0. The Longhorns did the “Texas TwoStep,” scoring a touchdown in two plays and pulling ahead 7-3. After failing to attain a first down, ASU punted the ball, which was returned by Silas Bolden, a Texas wide receiver, for a 75-yard touchdown.

“It felt like we were a little outclassed at that point. I was just hoping we didn’t get beat too bad,” Steele said.

ASU used halftime to regroup. After getting stopped on fourth and goal, the Sun Devils scored a safety and a field goal. Then, ASU drove downfield. It was fourth and two. Coach Dillingham always has something up his sleeve. The center snapped the ball to Skattebo. Before the defense got to him, Skattebo launched the ball to senior wide receiver Malik McClain to catch. He scored!

“I just felt grateful to be able to help this team, being that guy to lean on and be reliable and accountable,” McClain said.

While on defense, ASU put pressure on Texas and succeeded by intercepting the ball. The Texas kicker, Bert Auburn, missed a kick to gain the lead in the last minute of the game. The referees also missed a crucial targeting call against Texas on third down that could have changed the outcome of the game.

With seconds to spare, Texas me - thodically drove to the ASU 19-yard line. The playoffs were on the line, and Auburn had the opportunity to defeat the Sun Devils with his leg. He kicked the ball and it hooked left. The game was headed into overtime.

ASU scored the first touchdown in overtime, then the defense held Texas to fourth and 13 with the entire season on the line. Texas retaliated with an unexpected route, confusing ASU’s defense and scoring.

“We hadn’t practiced that,” said Bryan Ward, ASU’s defensive coordinator. “That was 110% on me. Whatever happens on defense, it’s on my shoulders. It’s never the player’s fault. If it is the player’s fault, then we have the wrong player out there.”

In a matter of minutes, Texas scored a 25-yard touchdown, giving ASU one more chance to tie the game. On third and eight, Leavitt attempted to pass the ball to graduate student wide receiver Melquan Stovall and… the ball was intercepted. The game was over and ASU’s magical season came to an end.

“To see the success that we had, to go toe-to-toe with Texas without [Tyson], I think it just galvanized our whole team that whoever is out there on the football field, we can get the job done because we’re playing together as a unit,” Hines said.

“Early on, if I saw ASU lose, I would be like, ‘Get them next time,’” Steele said. “But when I saw ASU lose [during the 2024 season], I genuinely was sad. I was like, ‘I need them to win.’ When they lost against Texas, when it was over … I just walked out, went to bed and then I slept for three hours because I was like, ‘I don’t want to deal with these feelings.’ This team made me feel that way. That’s how much I care for them.”

The future of ASU football

ASU football has so much to look forward to: another year under Dillingham’s belt and regained confidence within the team. Dillingham was accredited by many as the reason why ASU played so well in the 2024 season.

“He just brings a different energy to the job than coaches in the past,” Mandel said. “Last year was the most attention and most enthusiasm I’ve seen around ASU for 30 years, so that’s a big credit to him.”

Aguano said he wants to keep the players humble heading into next season.

“Last year, they [were] trying to gain confidence to see if they belong[ed],” he said. “Now we’re at the top, so they’re gonna have to put away the confidence level a little bit and make sure that we go back and work hard to stay at that level. It’s gonna be tough.”

When asked about goals for next season, defensive line coach Diron Reynolds said, “[I want] to get 1% better every day to make sure we got the same focus and come with the same tenacity every day, making sure that we’re not just being selfish, but look[ing] outside ourselves and mak[ing] sure the guy next to us is comes along as well.”

Not only does the team have a lot to look forward to, but so do ASU fans.

“It just feels good to have a team that you can be proud of and be able to represent,” Steele said. “For the first few years, it was a burden being an ASU football fan, and this year I felt proud.”