(Photo: Janes Reyes/ WCSN)
TEMPE – October has a special place in many people’s hearts as the weather begins to turn the page from the scorching summer to the chilling winter.
The weather isn’t just what makes October special, as college football and the Halloween season become staples in most American households. College football games begin to get more and more meaningful as teams start to show their true colors, while Halloween strikes fear into the public through haunted imagery.
Saturday night, Arizona State football seemed to merge the two autumn staples in a spooky 24-16 loss at home against Houston (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) – No. 24 ASU’s (5-3, 3-2) first loss at Mountain America Stadium since losing to Arizona in Week 13 of 2023.
“We didn’t play good enough in the first half — first three quarters — of the football game,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “It’s unfortunate, but it was a great crowd, great environment. Hopefully, we can start another run here, the next home game.”
The game seemed cursed from before it even started, when star redshirt junior wide receiver Jordyn Tyson was ruled out with a lower-body injury. Tyson’s absence left a gaping hole in the Sun Devils’ offense, as they now had to find a way to make up for his missing average of 89 yards and a touchdown every game.
“You’re losing the number one pick in his position in college football. That’s obviously pretty critical for your football team when you’re losing,” Dillingham said. “Is it an excuse? No. We didn’t play good enough to win. Maybe if he played, maybe we would have survived not playing good enough to win.”
The task of replacing Tyson seemed impossible early in the game, with ASU struggling to find an offensive rhythm. The offense reached the red zone on the opening drive of the game — which ended in a missed field goal — but didn’t return until the fourth quarter.
However, while the rest of the offense struggled, redshirt senior wide receiver Malik McClain stepped up with seven catches and 159 yards. Heading into Saturday’s game, McClain only had six catches for 51 yards on the season.
“I was blessed to be in the game and contribute,” McClain said. “With JT going down, we had to change some things around. I had to play my 1/11, play my part, and make the plays when they came.”
As for the rest of the Sun Devils’ receiving core, redshirt junior Jalen Moss doubled his receiving total on the year with two catches for 26 yards. Redshirt senior tight end Chamon Metayer also showed up in Tyson’s absence, going for 55 yards and a touchdown on four catches.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt dealt with his own curses as well. Leavitt came out of the game on two separate occasions due to injury.
Five plays into the game, Leavitt went down with an injury after a 14-yard run into Houston territory. Leavitt was helped off the field and had a short stint in the sideline tent before heading to the locker room.
“He wanted to get right back in and I said ‘No, you’re going to get imaging before you get back in,’” Dillingham said.
Leavitt would return to the game, but missed out on ASU’s final two drives of the game after being seen limping off the field.
Redshirt senior quarterback Jeff Sims filled in with Leavitt off the field, as he did in the Sun Devils’ trip to Utah two weeks ago. Sims finished the day completing 6-of-11 passes for 58 yards and a touchdown.
“Jeff did a really nice job of moving the ball down the field,” Dillingham said. “Scored a touchdown on a two-minute drill.”
However, Sims struggled to move the ball on the last drive of the game, as ASU remained stranded in the shadow of their own endzone.
Sims missed three passes for short gains, with the only positive gain on the drive coming from his own six-yard rush.
ASU’s defense wasn’t able to escape getting cursed themselves, as defensive coordinator Brian Ward’s unit reverted to its previous struggles from the loss to Utah.
In Salt Lake City, the Sun Devils struggled to stop quarterback Devon Dampier from running all over their defensive front. Dampier finished the game with 120 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Saturday night offered a very similar story for ASU’s defensive front, as it seemed incapable of slowing down junior quarterback Connor Weigman’s ground attack.
Weigman ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, the bulk of which came on designed quarterback runs.
“You have to have your free safety or one of your extra fitters come down and hit the hole,” senior linebacker Keyshaun Elliot said. “(Houston) is good at doing their job. That offensive line did well getting up to the second level.”
The Sun Devils defense did a good job of stopping the rest of Houston’s rushing attack, as outside of Weigman, the Cougars only tallied 72 yards on 27 carries, which Dillingham recognized.
However, ASU’s struggles stopping an opposing quarterback’s ground attack weren’t the only curse to repeat in its loss against Houston, as the Sun Devils’ special teams unit struggled once again.
On their opening drive, without Leavitt, ASU somehow clawed their way into the red zone, but were unable to find the endzone. The Sun Devils opted to kick a 31-yard field goal from redshirt senior Jesus Gomez.
The snap from redshirt senior long snapper Cade Davis was too high for sophomore holder Kanyon Floyd, and Gomez missed wide.
The third quarter offered a case of deja vu for all of the Sun Devil faithful, with a very similar sequence happening, this time from 42 yards out.
“That was one of the phases that didn’t play good enough,” Dillingham said. “All of the phases have to play better.”
Gomez would have a chance for redemption in the fourth quarter, and showcased that the third time was in fact the charm, but it was not without changes to the special teams unit.
Redshirt junior long snapper Tyler Wigglesworth took over for Davis, and Gomez’ kick through the uprights went through without any worry.
Next, the Sun Devils look to regroup ahead of a pivotal matchup against Iowa State in Ames next Saturday, as they won’t get a chance to restart their home-winning streak until November 15th against the West Virginia.
“We have the same record in conference last year at this exact time,” Dillingham said. “Listen, we’re at the same spot we were last year. We just got to go get better. Everybody’s got to look themselves in the mirror. Coaches, players, everybody.
