TEMPE – Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham walked into the Sun Devils’ postgame press conference exhausted, doused in sweat, yet relieved.
He looked down at safety Adrian Wilson and gave him a wink, as if to say, “How about that?”
That was Dillingham’s first win in Tempe against an AP Poll top-10 opponent. The Sun Devils (5-2, 3-1) toppled No. 7 Texas Tech (6-1, 3-1) 26-22 Saturday in another drama-filled matchup that concluded with ASU students pouring onto Frank Kush Field, that same day the program honored Kush’s 1975 team, which finished undefeated.
ASU’s win was the school’s first against a top-10 foe since 2019, when Jayden Daniels led the Sun Devils to an upset of Justin Herbert’s Oregon Ducks.
Dillingham put an immense amount of faith into sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt, who set career highs in pass attempts (47) and passing yards (319) while playing through injury.
“That quarterback changes everything,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said postgame. “He’s a difference-maker. He’s one of the best in the country and he played really well today. … Everybody rallies around him, so they’re a different team when he’s playing.”
Leavitt missed the team’s game last week at Utah, which resulted in a 30-point loss. He has been battling a foot injury for several weeks, which sparked a bizarre week of practice and water cooler rumors that circulated on social media. Rumors of Leavitt hurting himself in a pick-up basketball game were not true, which Dillingham poked at after the game.
“Just glad he didn’t go out and play basketball this week,” Dillingham said with impeccable sarcasm. “Because that’s what people think a competitor like that does. It’s disgusting. That dude’s a battler, a competitor, a fighter. He wants to do everything he can to get on that field for his team. He was ready to play this week, I felt he was ready to play this week, and he played. And he fought, and he competed. That’s what Sam Leavitt does.”
Missing last week’s game against the Utes was devastating for the Sun Devils’ quarterback. Amid the rain and autumn leaves falling in Salt Lake City, Leavitt said his emotions got the best of him.
“I just started bawling.”
Playing through the pain, Leavitt still did plenty of running around Saturday at Mountain America Stadium, extending plays to keep the Sun Devils ahead. In the third quarter, the sophomore ran nearly sideline to sideline, keeping the play alive long enough to find tight end Chamon Metayer to set up a short touchdown pass to Jordyn Tyson moments later.
Tyson wasn’t playing at full strength either. The star wideout limped around for most of the second half, tugging at his right hamstring and grimacing through routes.
It seemed like a disastrous storm of events for the Sun Devils. An 11-play drive by the Red Raiders cut the score to 19-14, before special teams miscues once again took center stage. Kanyon Floyd’s punt traveled just 29 yards, while Texas Tech returner Coy Eakin took it to the ASU 12-yard line.
One play later, Red Raiders quarterback Will Hammond connected with receiver Reggie Virgil for a go-ahead touchdown, followed by a two-point conversion. In less than two minutes, a 12-point lead for the Sun Devils had evaporated and become a three-point deficit.
With both of ASU’s stars ailing from a physical game, the soul of the sold-out crowd at Mountain America Stadium dissipated into the Tempe sky as the sun began to set.
But the Sun Devils weren’t done yet.
Facing a fourth down with the game on the line, Leavitt scampered to his right, seemingly darting toward the line to gain just two yards away. Tyson, ever in-sync with his quarterback and best friend, turned upfield in search of green grass. At the last moment, Leavitt flipped the ball downfield to Tyson, who carried the offense on just one good leg 33 yards deep into Texas Tech territory.
“They brought cover zero,” Leavitt said. “I saw JT on a little 5-yard out, so I ran at him, and then he just turned it up and found him on the play. Hell of a play by him.
Clutch would be an understatement. The improv play gave Arizona State enough life to seal the deal on a bruising 1-yard touchdown run by Raleek Brown to take the lead for good and salt away the biggest win of the season.
Q4, 0:34 | Raleek Brown has an answer … he burrows for the score to reclaim the lead.
26-22, #ASU@sportscronkite pic.twitter.com/TscAST8gi5
— Nate Mills (@natemillssports) October 18, 2025
A week after what Dillingham called an “embarrassing” loss, nobody expected the Sun Devils to jump back up and swing at the Big 12’s best. The week of practice was a week of reflection for the ASU coach.
Dillingham will take blame for the team’s shortcomings, but never take credit when things swing the right way. Facing a daunting task with several injuries at key positions, he leaned on friends in the coaching world, asking for advice.
“Hey, this is the situation we’re in,” Dillingham said, paraphrasing his conversations. “We’ve got guys dinged up. We got guys in green (non-contact) jerseys. We’re not as physical as we were. We’re a veteran team. I’ve never been in this situation. Help?”
The solution? Work harder.
So, he let the team hit and tackle in practice during the week, turning up the dial of physicality after a game where he felt they were soft up front.
It made an impact on the defense, which had its best performance to date. The Texas Tech offense was among the nation’s best, leading the country in total offense (558.2 yards per game) and second in the nation in scoring (47.5 points per game). On Saturday, the defense stepped up, holding the Red Raiders to just 276 yards on the day and a mere 6-of-16 on third downs.
Linebacker Keyshaun Elliott believes the message in practice sent by the coaching staff turned a corner for the team. A tougher week of practice reminded the team’s veteran leaders of what was at stake.
“Sometimes it’s hard to wake up,” Elliott said. “Coach did a good job holding us accountable. We’re going live on a Tuesday practice (Week 8) of the year, that’s not common. It was kind of a wake-up call for not only him, but for us, too. We felt his energy and passion through it.”
One of Dillingham’s mantras since taking the job at his alma mater has been “Have more fun working harder than anyone in the country.” He felt that the team in recent weeks had let go of the “working harder” part of the phrase.
“You can’t have fun and not work harder than anybody in the country,” he said. “It doesn’t work like that. You have to have more fun, working harder, than anybody in the country. And I lost that. We’ll never, ever, as long as I’m coaching, not practice to the physical level like we did this week.”
A lesson learned for Dillingham suddenly has the Sun Devils back in the thick of the Big 12 race. After much of the country discarded ASU following a humbling loss at Mississippi State in Week 2, an exuberant student section flooding the field as the clock expired showed this team has more to say.
The Sun Devils remain undefeated in the Leavitt era at home, a perfect 10-0.
The upset win, paired with BYU’s victory over Utah, placed the Sun Devils behind the only two teams which remain undefeated in Big 12 play: BYU and Cincinnati. Both of those teams still have to play each other this season.
The road back to the Big 12 Championship is now much clearer. Win, and the rest could take care of itself.
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