Arizona State football will be without one of its leaders on the team for the rest of the season. Quarterback Sam Leavitt is set to undergo surgery to correct a lingering injury issue, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.
“Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt will miss the remainder of the season, coach Kenny Dillingham confirms to ESPN. He’s set to have surgery,” Thamel wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Leavitt missed Arizona State's game against Utah, but has played in every other game this season, including the past two when they faced Texas Tech and Houston. Though he combined for 589 passing yards and two touchdowns in those two games, he did not look like himself when he was rushing, only managing 25 yards on 18 carries.
This season, Leavitt threw for 1,628 yards and 10 touchdowns, while also rushing for five touchdowns.
Leavitt suffered the injury on Sept. 20 against Baylor. He returned the next week and helped the team to a victory against TCU, but he re-aggravated the injury against Utah. Head coach Kenny Dillingham noted that he has a tough group of players when mentioning Leavitt playing through injury.
“So it’s been something that’s been lingering,” Dillingham said. “Like I said, he’s been battling and fighting. He’s the ultimate competitor. This is like the worst, obviously, news that he wanted to hear because it means he can’t play football. He loves the game of football. He loves this place. So, it’s definitely unfortunate for him.”
For now, sixth-year senior Jeff Sims will start in place of Leavitt, and Cam Dyer will operate as the backup.
The next question will be if Leavitt played his last game with Arizona State, as he's draft eligible.
“ I wish I could answer that question,” Dillingham said. “I’m not even beginning to process what are his next steps. I haven’t even asked him that. I just feel bad for him that he has been dinged up all year and he’s been battling for our football team. It’s unfortunate that it just hasn’t gotten any better.”
