Jeff Sims puts forth career effort vs. Duke but ends Sun Bowl with backbreaking interception

It was a Sun Bowl to remember for Arizona State and quarterback Jeff Sims despite their 42-39 loss to ACC champion Duke on Wednesday.

In what was a career-best performance, Sims gave ASU its first lead of the day with a touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, about seven minutes after a touchdown pass pulled the Sun Devils within three.

ASU got explosive pass plays on both drives, with a 38-yard Derek Eusebio reception preceding the fourth quarter touchdown and a 68-yard catch-and-run on a screen play to Demarius Robinson setting up the third-quarter score.

The Sun Devil defense got a massive fourth-down stop at the goal line with 2:51 left and a four-point lead, but redshirt freshman Jason Brown Jr. fumbled on the first play of the ensuing drive. Duke took the lead two plays later.

Trailing by three with 2:10 left, ASU still had a chance. But as Eusebio was coming across the formation on the fourth play, Sims threw an interception, his only turnover of the game.

Sims finished with a career-high 375 passing yards on 27 of 38 with three passing touchdowns, adding two rushing touchdowns on 70 yards across seven carries. His five total touchdowns were also a career high, and his 27 completions tied a career mark.

“When the time came for me to make a play, I didn’t. And that’s probably gonna be the only thing I’m thinking about,” Sims told reporters postgame. “It’s cool to have the touchdowns and all that, but we didn’t win and we was in a position to win but we didn’t get it done.”

It’s hard to imagine the regular-season finale against Arizona, in which Sims turned the ball over four times, leaving anything but a sour taste in the quarterback’s mouth between then and Wednesday. He certainly went out on a better note with what he accomplished — albeit in a loss — in the Sun Bowl.

“Pretty good way to end it,” coach Kenny Dillingham said. “It would’ve been way better if we would’ve won the football game, as he said. But that dude’s a special dude. Our team rallied behind him.”

Up until Brown’s fumble, the redshirt freshman also had a career day, amounting to 120 yards on 12 carries with 14 receiving yards on two catches. He’s poised for a bigger role in 2026 as a redshirt sophomore.

“It was his first time really starting in college football,” Dillingham said. “He fumbled. He shouldn’t fumble … he knows that. (Coaches) called a bunch of bad plays out there today, and I get paid to do it, so I’m worse than him.

“That dude played unbelievable today, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

Among other players looking to end their careers on a high note, linebacker Jordan Crook reached the 100-tackle threshold on the season with his nine tackles after entering the game needing eight more.

Defensive linemen Elijah O’Neal and Justin Wodtly also added to their career sack totals with 1.5 and 0.5, respectively, in the college career finales.

While he was expected to get some run, true freshman quarterback Cam Dyer did not get any snaps in what was a highly-contested barnburner with 1,158 total yards of offense between the two squads, a Sun Bowl record.

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