ASU football ‘not playing scared’ with redshirt freshman Sam Leavitt

TEMPE — Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham said Monday he hasn’t game-planned like quarterback Sam Leavitt is a redshirt freshman.

Leavitt didn’t attempt many deep shots in Arizona State’s 48-7 win over Wyoming, his first collegiate start. Dillingham attributed that to short fields and game flow.

“The first time we had an open field we had the ball on the (Wyoming 42-yard line), which you can’t really take too many shots (from),” Dillingham said. “On the second possession, we chucked it deep and he threw a great ball, so we’re not playing scared with him, moral of the story. We’re gonna be aggressive with him.”

kenny dillingham on arizona state “not playing scared” with sam leavitt at quarterback: pic.twitter.com/SdXdt0jWJV

— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) September 3, 2024

Leavitt averaged 11.7 yards per attempt even without connecting on the few deep shots attempted.

Dillingham said he wants to stay balanced offensively, but he isn’t expecting a ratio of 49 runs (4.9 yards per carry as a team) to 22 pass attempts for every game.

“Obviously, you’d always love to be balanced. I don’t know if it was about Sam. I think Sam is a high learner even though he’s a (redshirt) freshman,” Dillingham said. “I don’t think we tailored the plan to say. ‘Hey let’s protect him.'”

The nature of the blowout added to the run frequency, as did Wyoming’s inability to stop the Sun Devils.

“I didn’t think we were gonna be able to run the ball at that high of a percentage,” Dillingham said.

Five of the six players who carried the ball at least four times saw an average of more than four yards per rush, with Leavitt being one of them at 5.9 yards per carry on eight rushes.

His mobility and poise were on display throughout, taking two sacks on eight pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.

Leavitt turned the poise into points when he stepped up to avoid pressure and throw on the move to tight end Chamon Metayer for Leavitt’s second score of the day. The drive included two third downs he converted with his legs.