The crowd was silent as the Sun Devils were down 10 points, with an offense that had only put up 38 yards midway through the second quarter.
Nine seconds of game time changed that.
A touchdown pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt and a confusing kickoff decision from UCF leading to a pick-six had ASU fans in a frenzy as their team took their first lead right before halftime.
“We shouldn’t have won that football game,” ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “We played horrible, didn’t coach great.”
Giving up 406 total yards of offense, three rushing touchdowns to one player and gaining 260 yards of total offense won’t etch too many W’s in the schedule. But, for Dillingham and the Sun Devils, none of that mattered, only those nine seconds did.
ASU beat the UCF Knights 35-31 to improve its record to 7-2.
A pick-six from junior defensive back Laterrence Welch, two touchdowns from redshirt sophomore receiver Jordyn Tyson and a combination of two freshmen blocking a punt and returning it for a score brought the game back for the Sun Devils.
"Just be the very best you can be all the time and then repeat," Dillingham said. "Those two kids just try to be the very best they can be all the time and then repeat and repeat. So when it shows up for them, it’s awesome.”
Those freshmen are linebacker Martell Hughes and redshirt defensive back Montana Warren.
“They take that job seriously,” Welch said. “That's the one thing I can say about him (Hughes) and Montana … Like those guys really want to be here, and those guys really love what they do.”
Tyson also continues to find success. He had seven receptions for 99 yards and two scores. His catches of the night had an impressive catch radius, with one forcing him to completely turn around to readjust to the ball and high-pointing it to secure the catch.
The young offensive duo of Tyson and Leavitt stepped up without senior running back Cam Skattebo, who was out with an injury. Tyson praised Leavitt after the game.
“He's an NFL quarterback," Tyson said.
Tyson also mentioned that Leavitt's been putting in work this season in the film room, and it showed. Leavitt finished with three touchdowns and danced in the pocket all night to extend plays.
“He's a dog,” Dillingham said. “That's it, great player. The fact that he has three years left, every company in the state should be calling him for an NIL deal. People should be throwing cars at him. They should be throwing condos at him. They should be throwing whatever they can throw at him.”
For the Knights, fifth-year back RJ Harvey showed out with 25 carries for 127 yards and three touchdowns, and on 4th-and-2 with the game on the line, the stadium knew he'd get the rock.
Harvey ran it up the middle and the defense stepped up to the plate and stuffed him for a one-yard gain. Even with the big play, the front seven still had some struggles.
“He is the best back we've faced,” Dillingham said. “Dynamic, explosive, they did a great job running the football … that’s a good learning lesson for us, that we can’t line up and stop the run.”
Next, the Sun Devils face Kansas State on Nov. 16 in Manhattan, Kansas.
Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Ramirez and Madeline Schmitke.
Reach the reporter at danielr1102@gmail.com and follow @daniel_rios72 on X.
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Daniel is a senior studying sports journalism. This is his first semester with The State Press. He has also worked at WCSN, OC Riptide, 1550 Sports and AZPreps365.
