The Arizona State Sun Devils handed the Texas Tech Red Raiders their first loss of the season in Tempe, beating the No. 7th-placed team 26-22. The Sun Devils as a result moved up to 5-2 for the season with Sam Leavitt producing a career-high 319 yards and a touchdown on his return from injury.
“The biggest thing is I feel like I let them down. The same thing we tell them in a win it just sucks this way and it’s a lot harder, but you just gotta come back and look at the routine and what you’ve done. You’ve gotta look at the film tomorrow and it’s not going to be fun to watch,” the Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire said after the game, per ON3.
The game turned on a two-minute drive: down 22–19 with 2:00 left, Sam Leavitt went 5-for-7 for 61 yards, hit Jordyn Tyson on a 33-yard fourth-and-2, drew a pass-interference at the goal line, and Raleek Brown finished it with a 1-yard TD at :34.
“I wanted to be 7-0, but your goal is still to get to AT&T Stadium and get in the playoffs. If you let this one game be your season, then you’ve missed the mark,” McGuire claimed.
Leavitt, back from a foot injury, helped his team overturn a 19–7 fourth-quarter deficit into a 22–19 lead. Jesus Gomez went 4-for-4 (34, 47, 26, 28) as ASU repeatedly finished drives with points.
Facing an offense that had averaged 558.8 yards, ASU held Tech to 276 total yards, tackled in space, and closed out the last snap. Freshman QB Hammond (22/37, 167 yards, 2 TD; plus a TD run and 2-pt keeper) engineered back-to-back TDs in the final 3:45 for a 22–19 edge before ASU’s answer.
ASU piled up 394 yards on a top-flight defense missing DT Skyler Gill-Howard (season-ending ankle). TE Terrance Carter Jr. left early with a leg injury.
ASU is now 5–2 in one-score games under Kenny Dillingham.
