Oct 18, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Solar Devils quarterback Sam Leavitt (10) in opposition to the Texas Tech Purple Raiders within the second half at Mountain America Stadium. Obligatory Credit score: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Pictures No. 24 Arizona State, unranked final week when it defeated then-No. 7 Texas Tech, should now flip its consideration to a Houston crew that isn’t within the High 25 regardless of boasting a 6-1 report.
The Solar Devils (5-2, 3-1 Massive 12) will host the Cougars (additionally 3-1 in convention play) on Saturday night time in Tempe in a sport that can affect the standings. Each entered the weekend a sport behind co-leaders BYU and Cincinnati.
“On this world, you go from within the fortress to within the outhouse in a single day,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham mentioned Monday.
The Solar Devils’ 26-22 victory over Texas Tech was this system’s first since 2019 in opposition to a crew ranked within the prime 10.
Sam Leavitt had an efficient return after sitting out on account of a foot harm in Arizona State’s 42-10 loss at Utah.
Leavitt handed for a career-high 319 yards, finishing 28 of 47 passes with a landing and no interceptions in opposition to the Purple Raiders.
Jordyn Tyson reeled in 10 passes for 105 yards and a rating and shared Massive 12 Offensive Participant of the Week honors with Houston quarterback Conner Weigman.
Tyson completed the sport limping due to a leg harm. His standing for Saturday’s sport is unsure.
Arizona State will face a Houston protection that enables 19.0 factors a sport, which ranks tied for twenty seventh within the nation. The Cougars have 17 sacks and eight takeaways this season.
Dillingham mentioned he’s cautious of Houston due to coach Willie Fritz’s historical past of success at Georgia Southern, Tulane and now Houston. Fritz is 81-63 at these three colleges.
“On the finish of the day, their head coach has received a whole lot of video games for a very long time at a whole lot of locations,” Dillingham mentioned. “They simply win video games by enjoying good protection, complementary offensive soccer, possessing the soccer and never hurting themselves.”
Houston is coming off a last-second 41-yard subject purpose by Ethan Sanchez in a 31-28 win over Arizona at residence.
Weigman turned the primary Cougars quarterback with three passing touchdowns, a dashing landing and not less than 95 yards on the bottom in a sport since Kevin Kolb in 2003.
He completed with a career-high 98 dashing yards working behind a unit that was named the Massive 12 Offensive Line of the Week.
The Cougars didn’t permit a sack and overpowered Arizona’s protection with 232 dashing yards, essentially the most for this system in a Massive 12 sport.
Saturday’s sport would be the first matchup between Houston and Arizona State since 1990, when the Cougars received 62-45 in Tokyo.
“Our No. 1 purpose this week is beat Arizona State; they have an excellent ballclub,” Fritz mentioned. “I’ve received a ton of respect for them. We have to be all-in with our preparation this week in an effort to achieve success.
“We’re enjoying on the highway. They’ve an excellent surroundings there. We have to be all locked in on them.”
–Area Degree Media
