Sun Devils get back on winning track with 34-15 victory over Texas State

Just over a week ago, Arizona State marched into Starkville carrying more than a top-12 ranking — they carried the weight of expectation. A program that had lost only once in nearly a year, brimming with confidence and swagger, ready to prove they could keep rolling. 

But Mississippi State had other plans. The Bulldogs flipped the script, fans rushing the field as ASU trudged off, stunned and searching for answers. What looked like a showcase of dominance turned into a gut-punch reality check, forcing the Sun Devils to confront the gap between hype and execution.

The opportunity to respond came quickly in a rebound test against Texas State — the nation’s No. 16 offense. The Bobcats had piled up 95 points and over 1,000 yards in just two games, and after pushing ASU to the brink a season ago, they weren’t about to be overlooked. For the Sun Devils, what once looked like a simple non-conference tune-up suddenly felt like a proving ground, and a measuring stick for whether Big 12 title talk still belonged in the conversation.

ASU responded emphatically. Though the Sun Devils started slow, by the second quarter, they were firing on all cylinders. Junior running back Raleek Brown stole the show with 144 yards on the ground, including a 75-yard touchdown, while junior wideout Jordyn Tyson added 105 yards and a score on just six catches. By the end of the third quarter, ASU had erupted for 34 points. On defense, the Sun Devils (2-1) dominated, silencing the nation’s 7th-best rushing attack through two games with five sacks, ten tackles for loss, and forcing three fumbles — one of which they recovered — en route to a commanding 34-15 win over Texas State (2-1).

The question all week, following the Mississippi State loss, had centered on sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt: how would he and offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo adjust after Leavitt managed just 82 passing yards and left nearly all ASU receivers sidelined in impact? 

Saturday provided the answer. Arroyo’s plan to get Leavitt into rhythm clicked early, mixing chunk runs from Raleek Brown, highlight-reel plays from Tyson — including a leaping hurdle into the end zone off a perfect throw from Leavitt for ASU’s first touchdown — and designed opportunities for senior tight end Chamon Metayer, who hauled in a career-high six catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. Every play carried the confident, daring edge that Leavitt and ASU have come to rely on.

Texas State made it close early, and a third-quarter touchdown showed some momentum, but ASU’s offense maintained relentless pressure that the Bobcats simply couldn’t match.

“I said it a couple of times, but I was grateful for what happened against Mississippi State,” Leavitt exclaimed. “If we came out of there with a win, we wouldn’t have attacked the week the way we did. The little issues would’ve got blown over. They came to show, and we honed in on those things, and we band together as a team. We saw the second half for Mississippi State carried over into this game. We’ve got to figure out how we’re going to continue to build upon this and keep the same mojo as a team overall.”

Leavitt himself contributed 59 rushing yards, or 75 if sacks are excluded, showcasing his freakish athleticism with spins, jukes, and evasive moves that created big plays. Altogether, ASU amassed 245 rushing yards, led by Raleek Brown, who now assumes the spotlight fully after sharing it with junior running backs Kyson Brown and Kanye Udoh in previous weeks. His performance, capped by the 75-yard touchdown, not only opened the game but also stamped his consistent impact on ASU’s offense moving forward.

“He made the kind of jump that I feel like JT made last year,” Head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “Where he was working back, and nobody really knew about him. Everybody forgets about you when you transfer somewhere and don’t play for a year because you’re not a new transfer… He’s a really, really good football player. He’s worked his butt off. He’s focused. He’s dialed. He’s competitive. He’s good in pass protection. He’s earned the right to have a game like that.”

While the offense delivered the expected rebound after a poor outing against Mississippi State, the defense faced its own challenge: freshman quarterback Brad Jackson, senior running back Lincoln Pare, and the explosive Texas State attack. 

Against MSU, ASU’s defense had been strong overall but allowed three critical blown coverages that directly led to touchdowns. On Saturday, a defensive rebound was just as crucial as the offensive resurgence, and ASU made it happen, controlling nearly every aspect of what the Bobcats wanted to do.

Texas State started with negative two yards of offense over its first few drives, as the ASU front recorded two sacks, two tackles for loss, and a quarterback hurry — trends that would continue throughout the game. 

By halftime, ASU led 20-3, having tallied three sacks, five tackles for loss, and its first turnover of the year: a forced fumble by junior defensive back Keith Abney II, recovered by senior Myles Rowser and returned near the Texas State end zone. Leavitt and Raleek Brown combined to turn that turnover into points, extending ASU’s lead and cementing the team’s dominant statement on both sides of the ball.

Leading the way was senior linebacker Jordan Crook, who, along with senior teammate Keyshaun Elliott, has alternated taking command each week. Crook led the team in tackles in Week 1, Elliott stepped up the following week, and this week, Crook reclaimed the spotlight in dominant fashion. He totaled 12 tackles, including a sack where he exploded into the backfield, and 3.5 tackles for loss, consistently disrupting running lanes and forcing quarterback Brad Jackson into hurried decisions.

“We knew the quarterback was a runner, but we just knew we wanted to play a better standard defense and better standard of football on the defensive side of the ball,” Crook said. “And I don’t think we were playing bad, but we just kind of said we wanted to get back to playing our type of football on all three levels…The biggest thing out of everything was we wanted to make sure we stayed on their neck the whole game, not give any easy things up and just make it hard for those guys.”

The combined effort on both sides of the ball showed that everyone had taken the wake-up call from last week seriously. A repeat of an unimpressive non-conference win, like the one against NAU, simply wouldn’t suffice. Now, it seems ASU has a clearer sense of what lies ahead and a better understanding of what this team is truly capable of.

That clarity will be put to the test as the Sun Devils enter the early gauntlet of their non-conference schedule. Two of their next four games come against ranked opponents — Texas Tech and Utah — while next week’s trip to Baylor in Waco pits them against a team coming off a win over previously ranked SMU and a 35-point blowout of Samford. The stage is set, and ASU’s performance against Texas State suggests they’re ready to meet the challenge head-on.

“Anytime you get kind of punched in the face and then you rebound, it’s like, ‘OK, you want to go back to work.’ You have two choices, you can run at it or you can run away from it,” Dillingham said. “I hope we’re a football team that runs into it. They run straight at it. Coach (Charlie) Ragle brought up this like buffalo versus a cow. A cow runs away from the storm, a buffalo runs through it, or something. We wanted to be the buffalo this week. You just run through the storm; you get through it faster. You get the cow, you get caught, you’re in it longer. So hopefully we’re a team that runs through the storm.”