Leavitt’s connections leading No. 21 Sun Devils back to relevance

(Photo: Spencer Barnes/WCSN)

Minutes after Arizona State football’s momentous victory over Kansas State last weekend, a video was released of redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jordan Tyson dancing on top of the lockers with his teammates hyping him up all around him. The moment went viral as a sign of the all-time high vibes in Tempe right now.

A few days later, ASU Football’s various social media accounts released the high quality, high production hype video that they do after every win, and it revealed that what must have been just a few minutes after Tyson’s performance, Tyson was joined by redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt and senior running back Cam Skattebo as the trio sat on the lockers locked arm in arm.

This trio of players has been a spark to the explosion of ASU Football all the way to the No. 21 spot in all the latest rankings, and this trio is, in all likelihood, going to be a main catalyst to whatever heights the Sun Devils achieve going forward this season.

Two of the players were with ASU last season when they went 3-9 in the first season under head coach Kenny Dillingham. Sitting in the center between his two favorite weapons, Leavitt is the Sun Devils’ most impactful newcomer, and recently, he has been the Big 12’s most impactful, too, winning three of the conference’s Newcomer of the Week awards this season.

“I’ve always felt that way, and you hope every quarterback in the nation feels that way,” Leavitt said when asked if he felt he was one of the best quarterbacks in the country. “Now that I am putting it on paper on Saturday nights, everybody is going to see it.”

His rise has coincided with the Sun Devils, who have not lost a game with Leavitt starting in just over two months, and in the last three weeks, he has been even better. The Oregon native has thrown for three touchdowns and no interceptions in three consecutive games, leading ASU to three massive games, two of which were on the road. According to ASU’s game notes, PFF now has Leavitt as the nation’s highest-graded freshman on both sides of the ball at 88.7.

His connection with Tyson is a large part of Leavitt’s production, and the two have exploded to take a large part of the load that so often rested solely on Skattebo’s shoulders. Since week 7, no Power 4 receiver has accrued more yards than Tyson (548), and his nine touchdowns are tied with Heisman favorite Travis Hunter for most in the Big 12.

“We work on (our chemistry) in practice, and that’s all it really comes down to,” Tyson said. “We practice to work, and we don’t play around in practice.”

Leavitt’s connection with Tyson has flourished, but at the core of Leavitt’s ascension is his connection with Dillingham, which has grown ever since Leavitt came for his record six-hour official visit in December. Since then, Leavitt’s relationship and ability have grown into a similar trajectory to other quarterbacks Dillingham has coached; in that same locker room party that saw Tyson dancing, Leavitt dragged the power conference’s youngest head coach onto an Instagram live, drowning him in celebration.

“You guys saw the videos after the games of him screaming, jumping around,” Dillingham told the media. “I’m just glad he’s not trying to run people over anymore, but that’s who Sam is. That’s what makes him different, is he’s just so passionate about the game.”

Dillingham already has experience developing NFL-level quarterbacks. Bo Nix is currently emerging as the potential franchise quarterback for the Denver Broncos, and Jordan Travis was deemed so valuable that last season, Florida State was left out of the College Football Playoff when they lost him despite being undefeated. Dillingham sees the similarities between them.

“When you look into his eyes, you’re like, ‘He’s got it,’” Dillingham said about Leavitt on Josh Pate’s College Football Show. “You can’t coach that, and I’ve coached guys who are like that. They are playing on Sundays right now, and one of them just won every award known to man last week for the Broncos.”

Dillingham isn’t the only one comparing Leavitt to AFC West quarterbacks. Offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo was on the Oregon offensive staff from 2017 to 2019 and spent time developing Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. Arroyo is identifying some eerily similar characteristics.

“Both are extremely cognitive, and I think that I saw that when we first met,” Arroyo said. “Both are extremely cognitive. Both are very smart. Both are very diligent regards to how they take notes and how they prepare … I think there’s a there’s more commonalities than than I probably anticipated, in regards to the growth of the quarterback of that position during this stage.”

The most exciting thing about all of this for Sun Devil fans is Leavitt’s future. The 19-year-old still has at least two seasons he can come back to Tempe. The only question is if he will. His connection with his teammates and special connections with his coaches seem to indicate that Leavitt will be back under center and Tyson outside, but in the new era of college football, everything changes so fast.

It has been a clear priority to Dillingham to keep continuity. He has preached how before he wants a new contract he wants to get his players and staff in place, replacing as few people as possible. It’s why his ‘Activate the Valley’ messaging has been so important, but more important than all is continuing to win.

Everything ASU could possibly accomplish is still ahead of them, they are one of the handful teams still in play for a National Championship, regardless of how far fetched that sounds, but none of it is possible without winning Saturday’s game against BYU.

As competitive as he is, every game Leavitt plays is filled with emotion, but this weekend provides him the opportunity to go up against his family’s history. Jarred Leavitt, Sam’s father, letters at BYU in two sports including football and Dallin Leavitt, Sam’s older brother, also played football for the Cougars.

However, according to 247Sports, Leavitt was never even offered by the Cougars coming out of high school, and despite receiving an offer when in the transfer portal last offseason, Leavitt has found a new home with new connections.

“It’s the same as every other week,” Leavitt said. “It doesn’t change based on what my family has done in the past but it’s pretty funny just watching them growing up and now playing against them.”