Kicker upgrade: ASU adds Eastern Michigan transfer Jesús Gómez

ASU has filled perhaps its biggest need in the transfer portal with the addition of kicker Jesús Gómez from Eastern Michigan.

Gómez announced his decision on social media on Sunday after a Tempe visit over the weekend. He will have one year of eligibility remaining.

The Puebla, Mexico native hit the first field goals of his college career during EMU’s upset win at ASU in 2022. That was also the final loss of the Herm Edwards era in Tempe.

In that game, Gómez’s three field goals from 40, 27, and 20 yards were the difference in a 30-21 Sun Devils loss.

Over the last three seasons, Gómez is 46-for-58 on field goals and 95-for-100 on extra points. He has made 40 of 47 field goals inside the 50-yard line and knocked through two from 50-plus in each season.

His biggest kick this year was a career-long 57-yard field goal at Washington to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter on Sept. 7.

He also hit from 29 and 50 yards to supply EMU’s only scoring of the game, a 30-9 loss.

How big was ASU’s need for a kicker upgrade?

Where ASU kickers are 4-for-12 (33.3%) on field goals from at least 30 yards out this season, Gómez was 14-for-19 (73.7%) on such kicks. He was also 23-for-32 (71.9%) over the previous two seasons.

ASU coach Kenny Dillingham did not include kicker among several positions he named as transfer portal needs on a Zoom call one day before it opened, but he said earlier in the season the group’s inability to consistently make kicks had changed his in-game strategy.

Since ASU’s last loss on Oct. 19 at Cincinnati after which Dillingham called the team’s kicking game “atrocious,” ASU has made two field goals and attempted just four across six straight wins.

Redshirt freshman Carston Kieffer, who is 1-for-2 on the season and made his only attempt in the aforementioned stretch, will kick for the Sun Devils in the Peach Bowl, Dillingham said.