Leading 17-6 out of halftime, redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt made magic happen on a 52-yard touchdown run, injecting a floundering Sun Devils’ offense with life and sealing a 38-19 win on opening night. 

Leavitt finished the day tied as ASU’s leading rusher with 73 yards and two touchdowns on explosive scrambles.  

“[I was] not necessarily trying to do too much on those plays,” Leavitt said. “[I was] doing what my coaches taught me.” 

Leavitt said he saw man coverage and cover one employed by the Lumberjacks and “just took off.” 

“I made a good play,” Leavitt said. 

Unlike a season ago, Leavitt said he’s learned not to predetermine his quarterback scrambles while extending plays, something he’d worked on in the offseason. 

Sun Devils’ head coach Kenny Dillingham called Leavitt’s heroics on the ground essential in the offense regaining momentum after a pedestrian end to the first half—ASU went three-and-out three consecutive times, netting zero yards, in the second quarter. 

“It was huge, absolutely critical,” Dillingham said. 

Yet, Dillingham wasn’t surprised by his quarterback’s ability to run the football in key situations.

“He’s athletic,” Dillingham said. “Those are the things you can do when you’ve got an athletic team out there.” 

Despite Leavitt’s 330 yards of total offense and 131.3 passer rating, the sophomore graded his evening as a C-plus, a grade Dillingham thought was too harsh.

“Sam [Leavitt] is going to be his hardest critic,” Dillingham said. “He’s never going to be satisfied, but he had a really good football game.” 

Although Leavitt shone carrying the football, the quarterback and early candidate for the Heisman Trophy still compiled an impressive season debut in the air, throwing for 257 yards and two touchdowns. 

The man on the receiving end of those touchdowns, redshirt junior Jordyn Tyson, matched Leavitt’s effort. 

Tyson caught 12 receptions for 141 yards, including a miraculous over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone.

“I was shocked he caught that,” Leavitt said. “Probably one of the best catches I’ve seen in an while.” 

From the sidelines, Dillingham said he couldn’t see Tyson’s catch, yet did not doubt his wild receiver’s playmaking abilities. 

'I’m surprised every day that they make plays like that,” Dillingham said. 

On the receiving end, Tyson claimed he mastered the art of the basket catch as a kid.

“I worked on that catch,” Tyson said. “I just never had the opportunity to really do it on the field.” 

The All-American candidate returned to the field Saturday for the first time since he suffered a season-ending injury on Nov. 30 against the Arizona Wildcats.

“It was a blessing,” Tyson said of the opportunity to return. “It was great.”  

On the night, Leavitt targeted his No. 1 option an astonishing 17 times. No other Sun Devil received more than six targets, a worrying sign for the offense moving forward. 

Add 12 penalties for 93 yards—the most in a game under Dillingham—and the game’s final score of 38-19 starts to make sense.

“I believed he out-coached me tonight,” Dilligham said complimenting NAU head coach Brian Wright's game plan. “That’s something I need to look at and figure out how that doesn’t happen again moving forward.” 

Dillingham praised the Lumberjacks’ creative schemes. 

“They’re probably one of the worst team’s you could ever play week 1 with how unique they play the game,” Dillingham said.  

Outside of NAU’s gameplanning, a series of backbreaking penalties kept the game close.

The Sun Devil offense came out firing after Leavitt’s 52-yard touchdown run, with redshirt junior running back Raleek Brown scoring on a 75-yard catch and run; however, a holding penalty on redshirt senior wide receiver Malik McClain negated the big play.

Things went from bad to worse, as the next play, a 64-yard catch by McClain, was then called back for holding on redshirt senior guard Kyle Scott. Adding insult to injury, ASU’s offense capped the sequence with a delay of game. 

Dillingham blamed himself for the Sun Devils’ undisciplined brand of football. 

“We got to get that cleaned up,” Dillingham said of the nearly 150 yards lost in penalties. “That starts with me. I’m the end all be all when it comes to stuff like that.” 

Despite the sloppy performance, Dillingham cited his love for winning “gritty” football games. 

“[I’m] just happy we got a W,” Dillingham said.