TCU’s Josh Hoover sits where ASU’s Sam Leavitt hoped to be in deep Big 12 QB pool

TCU quarterback Josh Hoover has thrown for more yards per game (333.3) than any other signal caller in college football so far this season.

When he faces Arizona State on Friday, one quarterback gaining Heisman traction will face another who entered the year with Heisman hopes, although the latter’s award momentum has subsided due to an inconsistent start.

Hoover’s 1,000 passing yards on the season is well ahead of ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt’s total of 748 yards, and Hoover has played one fewer game.

“There’s so much conversation about these guys before they ever play a game,” TCU coach Sonny Dykes said of Hoover’s award prospects. “I think we had a pretty clear frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy coming into the year … but if you’re not one of the favorites early on, it’s hard to get in the mix.”

Arizona State saw that play out firsthand last season, as Cam Skattebo was unable to make up the difference between preseason expectations and on-field production, finishing fifth in Heisman voting and just outside the group of four finalists.

Hoover has worked his way up to 11th (+1800) on DraftKings’ odds for the award, well ahead of 19th-place Leavitt (+4000).

“Obviously, that’s a prestigious award,” Hoover said. “For me, it’s all about winning games and doing my job. I’ve got a job to do each and every weekend. I’m gonna prepare, do my best to be the best I can for TCU.

“We’ve talked about it a bunch, but you go win games, good things happen. Everybody gets rewarded … so for us the focus is, you know, just winning each and every week and doing what we can to get better and whatever comes of that, that’s great.”

Where does Sam Leavitt stand entering matchup with Josh Hoover?

Leavitt has endured an up-and-down start to his season, where his legs have been doing much of the talking.

He’s bounced back from an abysmal first half at Mississippi State (5-for-15 for 30 yards) with consistent steps up in performance against Texas State and at Baylor.

He said on Tuesday the recent win was the first time he had his feet under him this season.

“Kind of calmed down in the game,” Leavitt said. “Just continually getting better within the game plan and trusting my guys and trusting the timing. Felt like we did a better job of quick-game passing, had some good third-down and fourth-down conversions. So I was really proud of myself for that.”

Through four games, Leavitt has a better passer rating when under pressure as opposed to when he’s kept clean, per PFF. That could be valuable if TCU’s defense continues down the path it’s on of sending a lot of blitzes without them getting home consistently.

A second reliable receiver target has surfaced ever so slightly for Leavitt, too, with Derek Eusebio coming up big with 89 yards on four touches at Baylor. He’s expected to be part of the game plan against TCU to add to the established targets of Jordyn Tyson and Chamon Metayer.

Leavitt still has the second-worst passer rating this season among Big 12 quarterbacks, but the better performer Friday could move up a tier in a messy and competitive group with weekly changes. Utah’s Devon Dampier struggled mightily against Texas Tech last week, and the Red Raiders’ own signal caller, Behren Morton, went down with an injury in that contest.

Other contenders include Iowa State’s Rocco Becht, Arizona’s Noah Fifita and Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson, the latter of whom Leavitt arguably outplayed last week.

Catch ASU-TCU on Friday at 6 p.m. MST on the Arizona Sports app, ESPN 620 AM or 98.7 FM HD-2. It will be televised on FOX.

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