(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)
TUCSON — There is little-to-no doubt who the favorite target of redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt is. One look at the ASU stat sheet each week will reveal two outliers. One is senior running back Cam Skattebo, who is one of college football’s most unique weapons, offering a threat as both a receiving back and a power back.
The other outlier is sophomore wide receiver Jordyn Tyson. The Colorado transfer spent all of last season on the sidelines with an injury, but in his return to the field in 2024, Tyson has revealed himself as one of college football’s premier outside threats. Entering Saturday’s Territorial Cup, Tyson had 67 receptions for 958 yards and nine touchdowns.
The game against Arizona offered Tyson an opportunity to go toe-to-toe with arguably college football’s best receiver. Junior Tetairoa McMillan has been widely mocked inside the top-5 of next year’s National Football League Draft, but on Saturday, one receiver reigned supreme. In ASU’s (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) 49-7 beatdown over rival Arizona (4-8, 2-7 Big 12), Tyson was the best receiver on the field, finishing the game with eight receptions for 143 yards and a touchdown.
However, with a little under four minutes left in the third quarter, Tyson caught a screen pass from Leavitt and turned upfield before being wrapped up and slammed down as he was tackled. He remained on the field for a while before heading to the medical tent with what looked like right shoulder pain. A few minutes later, he came out with a sling around that same shoulder.
“The connection was unbelievable between those guys,” ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said about his star duo. “We will find out in the morning or tonight for (Tyson).”
The connection between Leavitt and Tyson has been ASU’s strongest weapon through the air, and any time without the star sophomore would be a huge blow to the ASU offense as we currently know it. One stretch of the game on Saturday illustrates just how important the pair is.
One minute into the second quarter, ASU was already in striking distance for what would quickly become its third touchdown of the game. Leavitt faked a jet sweep, fooling the entire Arizona defense, and hit Tyson on a screen pass. Tyson walked into the endzone, and ASU was up 21-0.
All the talk entering the season was how elite of a duo McMillan and redshirt sophomore quarterback Noah Fifita were. Returning to Arizona after former head coach Jedd Fisch departed for Washington, the pair were supposed to spearhead the Wildcats entrance into a new conference. Instead, it was Leavitt and Tyson who represented the best of the Grand Canyon State among its new conference mates.
“Did we?” Leavitt asked after being told that he and Tyson outshined the duo on the other side of the field. “That’s really cool to hear because we talked about that early in the week. We said, ‘Hey, they’re supposedly the duo,’ but we wanted to come let them know what it really was.”
Following Tyson’s injury, he was immediately rushed to the injury tent, where he later emerged with tears in his eyes, according to SunDevilSource. The one thing that could lift his spirits? A teammate’s touchdown.
As the 4th quarter began, Dillingham decided to pull his starters, giving senior quarterback and Tucson native Trenton Bourguet a chance to play a game in the town where he grew up. The super senior connected with true freshman receiver Derek Eusebio, and 64 yards later, Eusebio was in the end zone.
“(Tyson) came back onto the field, and the first thing he said was, ‘Dang, I missed Derek’s play,’” Dillingham said.
It is a sign of how close this team is that even after sustaining an injury that could keep him out of a Big 12 Championship game and beyond, Tyson was happy to know that young kid got his first career catch and touchdown.
“It means everything,” Eusebio said of his score. “My mom went to (Arizona), and now I have ultimate bragging rights against her.”
Tyson and Leavitt’s connection has been so electric this season that it would be natural to question how Leavitt would perform without his favorite receiver, especially if Tyson will miss any games going forward. Well, Leavitt answered all those questions with a gorgeous deep ball to senior wide receiver Xavier Guillory on a slot fade to put the Sun Devils up 35-7.
Leavitt got a cover zero blitz and let it go with some air under it to Guillory, who turned around and saw the ball falling into his hands. It’s Guillory’s second score in as many weeks, and if Tyson is out for an extended period of time, he would be one of the players ASU turns to. However, he isn’t the only one, as Tyson’s excellence has masked a deep receiving room.
“[Eusebio’s touchdown] just kind of shows you top to bottom, where our wide receiver room is at, where our QB is at,” Guillory said. “We’re just all one. We’re connected. We all go out there, we play for each other. When you see the ball in the air, we just go make plays. It’s routine. It’s nothing different from what we do in team tempo on a Tuesday.”
ASU has set themselves up for a few more team tempo periods. With the win and Cincinnati’s loss to TCU, the Sun Devils clinched their spot in the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship Game. Just over a month ago ASU was 5-2 and ESPN gave them just a 1.2% chance to win its next five games. Achieve anything less than that, and they would miss the title game.
Well, five weeks later, the Sun Devils took care of business, and they ain’t done yet. And if that game is played without Jordan Tyson? Next man up.
“If (Tyson) is going to be out, we have to step up to the plate,” Guillory said. “The coaches are going to ask us to carry what JT did all season. He proved that he was one of the best, if not the best, receiver in the country, so we go out there and not have any fall off coming up next week.”
