While Skattebo gets the headlines, Arizona State has a dual-threat weapon in QB Sam Leavitt

AUSTIN (KXAN) — When people think of the Arizona State Sun Devils this season, they typically think of the angry running back Cam Skattebo. There’s a good reason for that, but the unlikely Big 12 Conference champions also have another weapon, redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt.

Leavitt transferred from Michigan State and won the starting job over Jeff Sims. He didn’t get much of a shot with the Spartans as a true freshman, completing 15 of 23 passes for 139 yards in four games, but he’s burst onto the scene this year. He has thrown for 2,663 yards with 24 touchdowns against just five interceptions and is an excellent scrambler when the pocket breaks. He rushed for 316 yards on 37 scrambles, third most among FBS quarterbacks this year.

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Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said Leavitt has improved as the season has gone on and that he runs the Sun Devils’ offense “really well.”

“They have a really good system, and you can see when people try to commit to stopping the run. That’s what he finds on the one-on-one matchups to create explosive plays,” Sarkisian said. “It showed up in the Big 12 championship games for him.”

He went on to say Leavitt’s athleticism helps Arizona State balance their offense and he takes care of the ball.

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“They would be able to have that balance if he didn’t play the way he played,” Sarkisian said.

Leavitt’s confidence is through the roof after leading the Sun Devils to the Big 12 title. They were picked to finish last in the conference by media members in the preseason poll, and he’s a big reason they’ve overachieved from an outsider’s perspective. He raised some eyebrows with comments earlier this week saying he “wants to prove I’m the better quarterback,” compared to Texas third-year starter Quinn Ewers.

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham said Leavitt speaks his mind.

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“Sam probably thinks he could beat Michael Jordan in basketball,” Dillingham said. “It’s not about the opponent, it’s about his own belief in himself. Sometimes when you verbalize these things, just what you believe internally, it gets twisted in a negative light.”

Leavitt was a 4-star recruit in the 2023 class from West Linn High School, south of Portland, Ore., and one of the state’s powerhouse programs. As highly touted as he was out of high school after leading the Lions to an Oregon Class 6A championship in 2022, he wasn’t being recruited by top programs. He received offers from Washington, Washington State, Arizona and Florida State before deciding on the Spartans. Now that he’s the starter for the Sun Devils, he’s letting the chip on his shoulder burn him to prove his critics wrong.

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“I hope every player on the field feels like they’re the best,” Leavitt said. “That’s the way it should be. You put in all this work and get to stand on this stage, so why shouldn’t you believe it yourself?”

Leavitt will face the best pass defense in the country in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Wednesday against Texas, anchored by Jim Thorpe Award winner Jahdae Barron and second-team All-American Michael Taaffe. The Sun Devils haven’t played in a game of this magnitude since 1996, when Jake Plummer led the program to the Rose Bowl. They lost 20-17, but finished the season ranked No. 4 in the AP poll with an 11-1 record.

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