(Tempe, AZ) A warm summer evening greeted both teams as the College Football season began with a sellout crowd as the defending Big XII Champs faced off against in state rival Northern Arizona.
ASU was hoping to defend their Conference Championship and a return trip to the College Football Playoff.
Northern Arizona wanted to take the momentum from last season and be a contender for the Big Sky Conference Title.
First Quarter
ASU won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half.
The Lumberjacks gained eight yards in their possession and three and out.
Arizona State’s Raleek Brown got his first action since last year when he suffered a leg injury that kept him out basically the entire season. He snapped off a 31 yard punt return to give the Devils good field position for their first possession of the season.
The Brown duo with Raleek and Kyson were expected to pick up the slack replacing Cam Skattebo who now plays for the New. York Giants.
Sam Leavitt calmly drove the offense down to score on five plays for 49 yards on a 6 yard power run by Raleek Brown. Sun Devil up 7-0 at the 10:44 mark of the opening quarter.
Raleek Brown touchdown
The strong Devils’ defense forced their second three and out for NAU.
Early on, the offense was clicking both on the ground and through the air, but a false start and sack of Leavitt had ASU with a fourth and seven. With nothing to lose, Kyson Brown took the direct snap on punt and ran 34 yards on the fake punt to get the first down. On the next play, Leavitt found Jordan Tyson open for a 19 yard touchdown and quickly it was 14-0 midway through the quarter.
Jordyn Tyson touchdown
Tyson also returing from an injury in the Territorial Cup game in Tucson last year and he looked in mid season form already in this game.
NAU got things going on their third possession and put together a drive down to the Sun Devils three yard line. From there, the defense stiffened. The Jacks knew a field goal wouldn’t suffice, so they went for it and Ty Pennington threw an incomplete pass in the back of the end zone.
The Sun Devils did nothing on offense and Kanyon Floyd punted for 39 yard, but Isaiah Eastman returned it for 17 yards and gave Northern Arizona great field position at the ASU twenty seven yard line.
Second Quater
The Lumberjacks settled for a Hunsaker 31 yard field goal to get NAU on the scoreboard 14-3 to start the quarter.
For the third consecutive time, ASU went three and out after staring the game on fire. Even the successful fake punt the Devils faced a fourth down.
Arizona State’s defense held the Jacks to under 2 yards per run, but the game had become a defensive affair as neither team moved the ball effectively and it was a series of three and outs.
At 6:04, ASU finally got their first down in five previous possessions. That sparked the offense but only momentarily. The Lumberjack defense got a huge sack on Leavitt for a 15 yard loss to settle for a 36 yard field goal to go up 17-3 just prior to halftime.
On a fourth down and six, NAU completed a pass for 18 yards and a first down at the Sun Devils twenty eight yard line trying to steal some points before halftime with Arizona State getting the ball first in the second half.
Pennington was sacked on the following play with 17 seconds and no timeouts left, and Hunsaker make a 46 yard field goal to cut the lead to 17-6.
After a 20 yard pass completion to Chamon Metayer, Jesus Gomez gave a 57 yard a shot, but was short to end the half.
Halftime
After scoring on their first two possessions, Arizona State had a long drought of three and outs well into the second quarter. The Sun Devils only managed a field goal in the after their initial success. With a new backfield, ASU could only muster 64 yards rushing.
Northern Arizona managed 125 yard of total offense with 105 yards coming via the pass. Although they did have very limited success on offense, like ASU they had many possessions that concluded after three plays.
Third Quarter
Coach Dillingham made an adjustment to open up the offense early in the third quarter and it paid off. On a third and four, Leavitt called his own number and ran 52 yards to score. It took only five plays to go 76 yards, so they began the third quarter as they did the game; fast and furious. Devils up 24-6 at 12:24 mark.
Sam Leavitt touchdown
NAU came storming back through the air and down to the Sun Devil five yard line and a first and goal. Pennington connected on a 3 yard pass to Nason Coleman for the Lumberjacks first touchdown of the contest. That cut the lead 24-13 around the midway point of the quarter.
From the twenty five yard line, Leavitt dumped an underneath screen to Raleek Brown who showed off his tire track speed and out ran everyone for 75 yards to the end zone, but a holding penalty negated the play. On the following play, Malik McClain who was whistled for the holding, caught a 64 yard pass but an ineligible man downfield infraction also brought that play back. From there, ASU couldn’t match the drive’s initial success and had to punt.
Northern Arizona couldn’t take advantage of the Devils’ miscues and had to punt on the following possession.
The Devils converted a fourth and three and that ignited the offense and to complete a 70 yard drive with Leavitt finishing with an 18 yard run to score. Arizona State 31-13.
Fourth Quarter
With being down by eighteen points, NAU had to go on fourth down from their own thirty yard line, they succeeded with an 11 yard run. That didnt hold true on the second attempt on fourth down as Pennington’s pass fell incomplete to give the ball back to the Sun Devils on downs.
The Devils like NAU attempted to convert a fourth down and six but a timely weak side cornerback blitzed forced Leavitt to hurry his pass and it fell incomplete to give the ball back to the Jacks.
At this point of the game, neither team was playing inspired football. NAU did nothing on their possession and the ball went back to the Sun Devils at the middle of the quarter.
ASU looked liked they were ready to get this one over as they just were going through the motions. Leavitt’s interception by Michael Beresford and then on the other side, back up quarterback Lathan Boone returned the favor with reserve lineman Amthonie Cooper getting the pick.
Leavitt came to back to life scoring on threw plays on a short 35 yard drive capped off by nice catch by Tyson from 16 yards to add to ASU’s lead 38-13 as the clock continued to wind down.
The Lumberjacks using their reserve players moved the ball effectively against the second and third string ASU’s defense picking up big chunks of yardage, but the game had been decided long before.
The Jacks scored a touchdown with 20 seconds left and attempted a two point conversion that failed.
The final score on a uninspired opening game, ASU won 38-19.
Wrap Up
Tonight’s game had some good plays at times and things that Coach Dillingham wasn’t very happy with.
Raleek Brown showed he could step up and lead the running game with his flat out blazing speed. His best play was called back on a penalty, but the talent and will was there.
Kyson Brown had a solid game, averaging 10.4 yards per carry. He also had 6 catches for 72 yards.
Jordyn Tyson showed no signs of his injured shoulder from last season as he had 144 yards receiving and two touchdowns
Sam Leavitt was 25-39 for 257 yards (1 interception), but the offense was very inconsistent going long periods of not getting a first down.
Arizona State was 5-5 in the Red Zone and converted a Lumberjack turnover into a touchdowns
The Devils’ defense was very stingy at times only allowing NAU to gain 89 yards rushing, but still gave up 242 yards through the air. The defense recorded 72 total tackles. ASU still needed to get better pressure on the quarterback. NAU’s Pennington had too much time to sit in the pocket that resulted in 242 passing yards.
One of the most glaring aspects of improvement needed was to cut down on the penalties. Two big plays for touchdowns were called back on needless penalties away from the ball. The Sun Devils committed 12 penalties for 93 yards.
Next Saturday, Arizona State will travel to Starkville to face the Mississippi State at 4:30 p.m. local time. The Bulldogs won their opener 34-17 over Southern Mississippi.
ASU did win their 26th consecutive home opener, only Illinois has more at 27 to lead the nation.
Tonight’s attendance was 56,759 in a sellout.
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