Jaren Hamilton gets some of his speed for ASU football from track days
Arizona State football wide receiver Jaren Hamilton explains how he improved his speed for football through running track when he was younger.
The Arizona State football team got back in the Big 12 race with last week’s upset of Texas Tech. But the No. 24 Sun Devils gave back whatever advantage they gained, losing to Houston, 24-16, on Saturday, Oct. 25, at Mountain America Stadium.
The loss snapped a streak of 10 consecutive home wins for ASU. The Sun Devils were trying to improve to 5-0 this season against teams from Texas, having defeated Texas State, Baylor, TCU, and Texas Tech.
Houston (7-1, 4-1) has emerged as one of the surprise teams in the conference. The Cougars were just 4-8 the previous year. Its lone loss this season was to Texas Tech, 35-11. ASU fell to 5-3.
Quarterback Sam Leavitt left the game in the first quarter after taking a hit and falling hard during a run, but was back in after missing one series. He played most of the game, but again left in the latter part of the fourth quarter, appearing to limp slightly. Backup Jeff Sims replaced him each time.
Let’s review:
What went right
Malik McClain stepped up: The Sun Devils needed somebody to step up with quarterback Sam Leavitt’s favorite weapon, Jordyn Tyson, out with a hamstring injury. Malik McClain responded with seven catches for a career-high 159 yards.
What went wrong
Special teams not so special: ASU’s biggest problem all season was at it again. Jesus Gomez missed two field goals, including a 31-yarder wide right, but that one was not on him. The snap was high and wide. Later in the first half Zechariah Sample returned a punt 56 yards, but that was nullified by a penalty on Maurice Williams. Instead of having great field position, the Sun Devils were stuck at their own 9. Jaren Hamilton returned the opening kickoff of the third quarter 29 yards, only to have that wiped out by a penalty too.
Slow start: The Sun Devils trailed at the half 10-0, marking the first scoreless first half since 2023. Houston finished with an advantage in yards of 193-162 in the half, but the time of possession was even more lopsided, 18:37 to 11:23. That’s an area in which ASU came in ranked third in the country. ASU was 1-for-6 on third down in the first half.
Penalties: The Sun Devils finished with 12 penalties for 76 yards. In addition to the two penalties on long returns in special teams, ASU had a 21-yard touchdown pass from Leavitt to tight end Chamon Metayer wiped off the board for an illegal man in motion. The drive ended with a missed 42-yard field goal by Gomez. That came after the Sun Devils changed snappers from Cade Davis on the first miss to Tyler Wigglesworth on the second.
Offensive line struggled: Houston totaled four sacks and five tackles for loss. Leavitt was hurried all night. Chances to go deep were few and far between. Coach Kenny Dillingham even shuffled his personnel in the first half, but it didn’t matter much. The struggles are a bit surprising given that the line had four returning starters. The unit has struggled all season, but it seems to have worsened with the season-ending injury to the best and most experienced lineman, Ben Coleman.
Running game struggled: The Sun Devils managed just 98 yards rushing. Raleek Brown led the team with 64 yards on 11 carries. Part of that was the offensive line, but in the fourth quarter, ASU was forced to throw the ball more, being down multiple scores.
Personnel notes
Leavitt’s status will be the big story going forward … Key players missing the game due to injuries included DE Prince Dorbah, WR Jordyn Tyson, RB Kyson Brown, OL Ben Coleman, LB Zyrus Fiaseu, and S Xavion Alford . . . The starting offensive line combination included center Makua Pule, making his second career start, Wade Helton at left guard, Josh Atkins at left tackle, Kyle Scott at right guard, and Max Iheanachor at right tackle. In the first half, Jimeto Obigbo came in for Helton and Maki Stewart came in for Atkins . . . S Myles Rowser drew a targeting penalty with 1:31 left in the third quarter, and the Cougars at the ASU goal line. He will sit out the first half of next week’s game. It was the first time a Sun Devil player has been called for targeting this season.
Up next
ASU is back on the road to face Iowa State (5-3, 2-3), on Nov. 1. The Cyclones lost, 41-27, to BYU on Saturday. It will be a rematch of last year’s Big 12 championship game, won by the Sun Devils, 45-19.