(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)
Time was running perilously low. Kansas football was attempting to reclaim a lead they had held for the entirety of the fourth quarter against Arizona State, at Mountain America Stadium Saturday night. After a late go-ahead touchdown catch from ASU redshirt sophomore receiver Jordyn Tyson with 13 seconds left, the Jayhawks’ hopes of snapping its then four-game losing streak came down to a single prayer.
With the clock stopped at five seconds remaining, Kansas had the ball at midfield and one throw for it all. It seemed time stood still as every ASU fan stood breathless watching junior Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels heave careen through the air. The ball hurtled back down to earth appearing — for a moment — to be sent with divine intervention from Daniels’ prayer, destined to fall into the winning hands of a Kansas player.
Instead, Xavion Alford answered.
The Sun Devils’ redshirt junior safety reached two hands to the heavens and spiked the ball into the dirt, confirming the program’s first-ever Big-12 win. The nearly sold-out stadium on family weekend promptly erupted. A din of elation and vehemence leveled the Tempe night sky as a result of Alford’s punctuation on the 35-31 ASU win, moving it to 4-1 for the first time since 2019.
“It was a lot of emotion,” Alford said. “That was a game where we just fought. We fought, fought, and fought, and to finish out with a last play like that was amazing.”
For the player who owned the deciding moment, it was so much more than just a play. It was validation of his patience to get back on the field after over 1,000 days since his last game played.
Alford was originally a four-star recruit per 247Sports out of Pearland, Texas, initially committing to the University of Texas in late 2019. He played four games his freshman season in 2020 before transferring to USC in the spring of 2021. He had a standout season for the Trojans making 31 tackles, a team-best three interceptions, and three deflections, earning USC’s 2021 Co-Defensive Perimeter Player of the Year Award.
Then the setbacks began.
Alford missed the entirety of the 2022 season due to a leg injury and found himself yet again looking for a new home in which he hoped he could flourish.
“I went to Texas, USC to (ASU), kind of trying to navigate and find where I’m comfortable,” Alford said, “in order for me to be the most successful, and get to my goals and help a team win.”
However, his days of being unable to aid the on-field efforts were not over once he reached the Valley of the Sun. Two-time undergraduate transfers, like Alford, are deemed ineligible to play right away and required to wait a year, according to NCAA guidelines. Alford’s waiver request to immediately play was denied and following 2022 — in which he couldn’t play due to injury — he would have to wait a second year before getting on the field.
Ahead of ASU’s 2024 season opener against Wyoming, Alford, now a team captain, gave an impassioned speech in the locker room about seizing the moment and capitalizing on all the work the team had put in to get to that point. He spoke with extreme conviction and from a place of affliction from what he had endured the past two seasons.
“Going through what I went through, different adversities, different experiences caused me to be more vocal,” Alford said. “I spoke from those experiences. Spoke from that pain, and poured that passion into my teammates and this team.”
While being an emotional fulcrum point for the group Alford is also the steadying force of the Sun Devil secondary. He’s already garnered 28 total tackles and an interception through five games.
Playing free safety Alford is often the furthest back and last defender for ASU. He’s tasked with quelling any big plays before they can occur deep down the field while also being willing to step up and make tackles at the point of attack.
“My job is to close the middle of the field,” Alford said. “Don’t allow any deep shots or any explosive plays. As the last line of defense, everybody can count on me. The runner breaks out, I’m gonna get them down and give us a chance to play another play. I get the ball back, get turnovers, things of that nature, and then also come down and make plays.”
Alfords Instagram handle is “100yardlandlord”, an apt description of his play style. His speed, instincts, and anticipation allow him the ability to cover mass amounts of space on the field and make plays in a variety of areas. His dominion over the back line of ASU’s defense allows for other players, like fellow safety, junior Myles Rowser, to hone in on his specific role as the physical presence of the team with peace of mind stemming from Alford’s presence behind him.
“I know I can play more aggressively with his help in the back end,” Rowser said.
Graduate defensive back Shamari Simmons played significant time in Alford’s free safety role in 2023. He excelled in that job leading the team in tackles with 73 and getting the second most passes defended with six. Now with Alford back in the fold, Simmons has been freed to step up to the line of scrimmage as a nickel corner tasked with covering quick opposing slot receivers. He also plays with expanded freedom to make plays thanks to the assurance of the former Trojan behind him.
“I feel very comfortable,” Simmons said. “(Alford) tells me, ‘If you see this, go ahead and just react, and I got behind you.’ It just makes me feel comfortable to go make aggressive plays.”
Of course, the “landlord’s” vocal leadership helps as well.
“He’s the type of guy that just makes sure everybody is on point and the same page,” Simmons said. “So I’m very thankful for him.”
It’s been a long strenuous journey for Alford’s return to the field. Since coming back he’s made sure to make his impact felt on a revitalized Sun Devil program that has already eclipsed its win total of three from each of its past two seasons.
Like in that last-gasp effort from Kansas, Alford has proved himself an integral part of the answer to the recent prayers from Sun Devil fans for new successes. However, just the opportunity to play the game he loves after so long waiting for another chance had been all the grace he needed after enduring his time away.
“First my faith in God,” Alford said. “Then my family, my teammates, and just the love of the game that I have. Just coming out here every day working. I’ve been playing this game since I was four years old, so I still get the same feeling every time coming out here to play.”
