While Skattebo gets the headlines, Arizona State has dual-threat weapon in QB Sam Leavitt

AUSTIN (KXAN) — When people think of the Arizona State Sun Devils this season, it's typically about the angry-running bruiser Cam Skattebo. That's for a good reason, but the improbable Big 12 Conference champs also have another weapon, redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt.

Leavitt transferred from Michigan State and won the starting job over Jeff Sims. He didn't get much of a shot with the Spartans as a true freshman, completing 15 of 23 pass attempts for 139 yards in four games, but he has burst onto the scene this year. He's thrown for 2,663 yards with 24 touchdowns against just five interceptions, and he's an excellent scrambler when the pocket breaks down. He's rushed for 316 yards on 37 scrambles, third-most among FBS quarterbacks this year.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said Leavitt has improved as the season has gone and he runs the Sun Devils' offense "really well."

"They've got a really good scheme, and you can see when people are trying to commit themselves to stop the run. That's what he finds those one-on-one matchups to create explosive plays," Sarkisian said. "It showed up in the Big 12 championship game for him."

He continued to say that Leavitt's athleticism helps Arizona State create balance in their offense and he takes care of the ball.

"They would be able to have that balance if he didn't play the way he played," Sarkisian said.

Leavitt's confidence is through the roof after leading the Sun Devils to the Big 12 title. They were picked to finish last in the conference by media members in the preseason poll, and he's a big reason they've overachieved from an outsider's perspective. He raised some eyebrows with comments earlier in the week, saying he's "going to prove I'm the better quarterback," compared to Texas' third-year starter Quinn Ewers.

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham said Leavitt is saying what he believes.

"Sam probably thinks he could beat Michael Jordan in basketball," Dillingham said. "It's nothing about the opponent, it's about his own self-belief. Sometimes when you verbalize those things, just what you internally believe, it gets twisted in a negative light."

Leavitt was a 4-star recruit in the 2023 class out of West Linn High School, south of Portland, Oregon, and one of the state's powerhouse programs. As highly touted as he was out of high school after leading the Lions to an Oregon Class 6A championship in 2022, he didn't get recruited by the top programs. He received offers from Washington, Washington State, Arizona and Florida State before deciding on the Spartans. Now that he's the starter for the Sun Devils, he's letting the chip on his shoulder fuel him to prove his critics wrong.

"I hope that every player on the field feels that they're the best," Leavitt said. "That's how it should be. You put all this work in and get to be on this stage, so why would you not believe that yourself?"

Leavitt will face the best pass defense in the country in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Wednesday against Texas, anchored by Jim Thorpe Award winner Jahdae Barron and second-team All-American Michael Taaffe. The Sun Devils haven't played in a game of this magnitude since 1996 when Jake Plummer led the program to the Rose Bowl. They lost 20-17 but finished the season as the No. 4 team in the AP poll with an 11-1 record.