(Photo: Spencer Barnes/WCSN)
Located at the Southeast Entrance of Mountain America Stadium, the Carson Student-Athlete Center’s first-floor lobby features the Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Fame. ASU’s home matchup against Texas Tech on Oct. 18 served as the official induction of the Class of 2025. The eight honorees were the only anticipated football players expected to earn a place in the Hall of Fame this season.
However, on Nov. 2, the Hall of Fame saw an unforeseen new addition. A glass box near the entrance displays a single white jersey caked in dirt and grass stains. Right above the No. 2 located on the back sits the four-letter name: Sims.
“It was kind of surreal,” senior quarterback Jeff Sims said. “I don’t really feel like I deserve all that yet, but I mean, it was cool to see.”
For a player who has taken the field in 36 games across his collegiate career, Sims etching his name into ASU’s record books for the most rushing yards in a single game by a quarterback wasn’t exactly something people had on their bingo cards.
Just like the season prior, the signal caller came in as the backup to redshirt sophomore Sam Leavitt. However, the announcement that Leavitt would require season-ending surgery for a lingering foot injury ahead of the Sun Devils’ road game versus Iowa State meant that Sims had an opportunity to ensure his six-year journey came full circle.
“I’ve been ready for this moment since I got here,” Sims said. “That’s what they brought me back for. Just staying ready whenever my time came is most important.”
The four-star dual-threat prospect from the Class of 2020 out of Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville, Florida, originally committed to Florida State before flipping to Georgia Tech 10 months later.
In his first season as a Yellow Jacket, Sims flashed potential throughout the shortened 2020 campaign. His 2,373 combined yards and 19 total touchdowns helped him earn ACC Rookie of the Week honors three times. The first instance came after racking up 341 total yards against a Florida State team whose offensive coordinator was none other than current ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham.
Unfortunately, he struggled to recapture those heights during the next two seasons in Atlanta. Sims’ 10 interceptions in 15 games played, compounded by two separate foot sprains, led him to transfer to Nebraska before the start of the 2023 season.
His lone season in Lincoln ended similarly, as he committed six turnovers in the first two games before another ankle injury limited him to only three more appearances.
With two years of eligibility remaining, Sims rode the portal to Tempe in hopes of potentially earning the starting quarterback job after Jaden Rashada transferred to Georgia. He ultimately lost the battle to Leavitt in camp, but his subsequent embrace of the backup role hasn’t been lost on Dillingham or offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo.
“He’s just a guy who comes to work every day as a backup and a guy who’s been in college football for a long time now,” Arroyo said. “I’m just humbled by the way he comes to work and prepares himself and enjoys it, and makes the team and the group a better place to be.”
Sims made his first start under center as a Sun Devil on the road against Cincinnati during the 2024 season due to Leavitt suffering a rib injury. Although he threw for 155 yards, rushed for an additional 53, and did not commit a turnover, ASU still lost 24-14.
The 2025 offseason provided Sims the chance to spend his final year at the collegiate level at another program willing to hand him starting duties. Instead, he chose to remain at ASU out of a desire to stay close to friends, family, and the team’s two top offensive minds.
“It was really Dillingham and Arroyo,” Sims said. “They’re smart coaches. I’ve learned a lot from them since I’ve been here.
“It’s a family culture here. I got some of my best friends here. So why would I?”
Nearly 365 days after the defeat at Nippert Stadium, his patience was rewarded when he was given another chance to prove himself.
Leavitt sustained a foot injury earlier in the season that left him unable to play versus Utah in Salt Lake City. Sims’ return to the starting quarterback position sadly played out like a carbon copy of his first, as his best efforts weren’t enough to avoid a 42-10 blowout.
This time, though, the backup saw his name called again weeks later. Leavitt re-aggravated his injury on two different occasions against Houston, eventually exiting the game permanently in the fourth quarter. In a short-notice situation with the Sun Devils down 24-0 at one point, Sims helped continue a 16-point swing that fell just short of a comeback. Despite still not winning a game in which he had at least ten passing attempts, Dillingham did not lose any confidence in the backup quarterback’s abilities.
“I was very happy with how Jeff played, leading us,” Dillingham said. “Got a first down, moved down the field a little bit on the first drive and then at the end of the game, drove down the field and scored a touchdown.”
On October 31, one day before ASU played Iowa State, the team announced that Leavitt would not return for the rest of the season. The driver’s seat of the offense belonged to Sims, moving forward with bowl eligibility and Big 12 championship hopes on the line.”
The longtime backup turned emergency starter used Ames, Iowa, as his stage to deliver the defining moment of his career when his team needed it the most. In addition to 177 passing yards and a touchdown, Sims turned 29 rushing attempts into 228 yards and two touchdowns, including a game-winning 88-yard house call in the third quarter.
His performance on the ground not only helped lift the Sun Devils to a 24-19 road victory but also broke the record for the most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game in program history, previously set by Mark Malone in 1978.
“I think everybody knew Jeff can get one leading up to it,” Dillingham said. “But I don’t think there was ever a doubt from our team there. I think that was only his second game with full prep that he started for us, and our team’s got a lot of confidence in Jeff.”
“Our guys were fired up with how good he played, and how much passion played with and his demeanor; being calm the entire game through the good and the bad. And I think our guys really rallied behind that.”
After the game was over, Sims hustled over to the bleachers at Jack Trice Stadium to find his family. The same people who followed him throughout his entire career and factored into his decision to remain at ASU held him in a warm embrace following his greatest achievement yet.
“I talk to them every day,” Sims said. “They’ve been through the mud with me. They’ve been with me throughout the highs. My family is my rock. They’re the reason I go out there and play.”
In the coming days, the quarterback was named AP National Player of the Week and had his game jersey put on display at the Sun Devil Hall of Fame.
Coming off the bye week, however, Sims returned to practice as if nothing had happened. The six-year senior made Tempe his new home because he thought it could be where everything he had worked and strived for paid off, and now that it has, his only focus is to step onto the football field once more.
“I’m just blessed for the opportunity to be here,” Sims said. “I just look at it like that. Look at it with humility, and just come out here and enjoy the process. You got to love the game, and that’s what I love, the game.”
