Arizona State S Xavion Alford ruled out for the season

Arizona State redshirt senior safety and Pat Tillman Leadership Council member Xavion Alford is out for the remainder of the season, head coach Kenny Dillingham announced on Monday.

Dillingham added that edge rusher Prince Dorbah and linebacker Tate Romney are expected to return for the West Virginia game on Saturday.

Alford was a finalist for the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award in 2024, but an undisclosed injury has kept him out since Sept. 6 against Mississippi State.

Dillingham said the injury first occurred during the offseason.

“We were trying to get him back,” Dillingham told reporters. “That’s a kid who’s been a staple of this program since we got here as a staff. He’s one of the heartbeats of the program. It just pains me that he’s not going to make it back. … It just sucks for him.”

Dillingham said he did not want to speak for Alford in terms of what happens next for him.

Alford transferred to ASU from USC after missing the 2022 season due to injuries, and he had to sit out the entire 2023 season due to since-updated NCAA two-time transfer rules.

He played 14 games last season, racking up 85 total tackles, seven passes defensed and two interceptions en route to making the All-Big 12 First Team. In two games this year, Alford recorded nine tackles.

Injuries have hampered the Sun Devils this year, as Alford joins quarterback Sam Leavitt and running back Kyson Brown on the list of players done for the season. Star wide receiver Jordyn Tyson has also missed two games and is trending toward returning against Colorado on Nov. 22.

“It’s something we’ll assess after the year,” Dillingham said. “Maybe we’ve got to be more physical in spring and fall, that way games aren’t drastically more physical than our practices because we did tail back this year, so those are all things I’m looking at. … I’m kind of just throwing things at the wall to try to think about reasons.”

ASU is 6-3 (4-2 in conference) with three regular season games remaining.

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