Trust goes both ways with QB Jeff Sims set to make 3rd ASU start at Iowa State

TEMPE — Jeff Sims will make his third Arizona State start in two seasons on Saturday at Iowa State with Sam Leavitt ruled out with injury, but Sims’ experience is vast dating back to prior stops.

Sims was starting games for Georgia Tech during the pandemic in 2020 against quarterbacks like Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, UCF’s Dillon Gabriel and even Florida State’s Jordan Travis, who at the time was being coached by Kenny Dillingham.

When Sims joined ASU, he was expecting to compete for the starting job, and he did all the way through Camp T, when Leavitt really took the reins of the competition.

After going through 2024 as a full-time backup and looking down his last season of eligibility, why didn’t Sims look for a shot at a starting gig knowing Leavitt would be back?

“Not gonna lie, it was really Dilly and (offensive coordinator Marcus) Arroyo,” Sims said Tuesday. “I like being around them. They’re smart coaches, I’ve learned a lot from them since I’ve been here.

“And then, I’m a faith-driven man, so my family and I, we talked about it, we prayed about it, we just felt like this was the best place to stay.”

He added the family culture was another factor, including having some of his best friends as teammates, like Leavitt who razzes him with “you suck” whenever the chance presents itself.

“Why would I want to leave?”

To Dillingham, that’s a sign of trust.

“We trust him, he trusts us,” the coach said Wednesday. “So I think the trust and the honesty and the transparency is something that I pride myself (on).

“I think he’s had a long, crazy career. So I think it’s pretty cool for him to be able to really finish this thing out and play a few games, and I’m excited to go watch him play this week.”

Arroyo called it humbling to hear Sims holds their relationship in such high esteem, especially knowing that he chose to come to ASU for the same reasons of believing in the culture and relationships in Tempe.

Sims is 24 of 49 for 182 yards and one touchdown along with 102 rushing yards on 29 carries across five games this season.

Back at previous stops Georgia Tech and Nebraska, Sims was bitten badly by the turnover bug — 29 interceptions and 12 fumbles lost compared to 43 total touchdowns over 30 games.

To this point as a Sun Devil, he’s not yet turned it over across 214 snaps.

Who is Arizona State’s QB2 behind Jeff Sims?

True freshman Cam Dyer has been cleared from a torn ACL he suffered in his high school state championship game in New Mexico last November, and Dillingham said on Tuesday that he’s in line to back up Sims.

“That’s little bro,” Sims said. “Cam, he prepares every week like he’s the starter. Even when he was not cleared when he was hurt, he’s just that type of guy. He’s the same person everyday.

“He comes to work and I’m really not worried about anything, like if anything was to happen and he had to go in the game, I wouldn’t be worried, not one bit.”

some reps from arizona state’s qb1 and qb2 for this week at iowa state, jeff sims and cam dyer: pic.twitter.com/NvK6wa4NMF

— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) October 29, 2025

Dyer was the highest-rated freshman in ASU’s 2025 class at No. 251 overall, per 247 Sports’ composite ranking.

For a time, he was expected to make the same switch from quarterback to wide receiver that Hines Ward did, but the plan switched back to allow him to begin his college career at quarterback.

“Candidly, he gets cleared and then he’s out here ready to roll,” Arroyo said of Dyer. “He’s really diligent, he’s been Jeff’s right-hand guy the whole time. Doesn’t miss a meeting, he’s on time, takes diligent notes, he asks good questions. … A young guy that we recruited that way and saw some of things like that in his traits, and again, those are the roles that get played.”

ASU will roll out the Sims-Dyer combination at Iowa State with kickoff set for 10 a.m. MST on Saturday on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. It will be televised on TNT.

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