Sam Leavitt injury update: Arizona State QB to miss remainder of season, per Kenny Dillingham

Arizona State fans received some demoralizing news on Friday. Star quarterback Sam Leavitt will miss the remainder of the season, per Kenny Dillingham via Arizona Sports 98.7’s Bickley & Marotta.

Leavitt was initially injured during last week’s loss to Houston. He suffered a foot injury after an injury in the game. It was Jeff Sims, the veteran backup, who came for Leavitt, offering Arizona State some experience at that spot. However, it wasn’t enough to overcome a surging Houston program. 

Initially, there had been some hope that Leavitt wouldn’t miss time with the injury. However, he was forced to exit the game twice with issues that we now realize were a bit too much to overcome.

First, he left the showdown after falling hard to the ground, but quickly returned. Later, however, he would be seen limping off the field. That time, he couldn’t get back out there for the Sun Devils. It’s that second injury that seems to have cost him his season.

“The first one was just kind of a scare, hopefully, based off what we saw,” head coach Dillingham said postgame. “The second one, we gotta look into it more before I really comment on it.” Now, we know it’ll be a season-ending injury.

Dillingham added at the time that this isn’t a new injury. Instead, it’s a re-tweak of the foot injury that kept him out of the Utah game on October 11th. However, he was back a week later to help the Sun Devils upset Texas Tech. Sims also filled in for Leavitt during the Utah game.

Leavitt initially came to Arizona State as a transfer from Michigan State. He had previously been a four-star recruit in the Class of 2023.

A native of Portland, Oregon, he was the 381st-ranked player and the 24th-ranked quarterback in his recruiting cycle. Since getting to Arizona State, he’s led the Sun Devils to a Big 12 Championship and the College Football Playoff.

This season, Leavitt has played in seven games and is completing 60.7 percent of his passes for 1,628 yards and 10 touchdowns to three interceptions. He’s also rushed for 300 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

Arizona State now sits at 5-3 on the season and 3-2 in Big 12 play, which makes them a long shot to repeat last season’s success, even if Leavitt were healthy. On top of that, this weekend’s game against Iowa State is a rematch of last season’s Big 12 Championship Game. However, similarly, at 2-3 in conference play, the Cyclones are also looking to finish the season strong. 

— On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this article.