Sun Devils and Sam Leavitt Poised for a Surprising Turnaround That Could Shock the Season

Ever find yourself dragging through a marathon day of college football, craving just one more game to savor—something that might not wow the crowd but promises a clear victor? Well, welcome to the late-night showdown between Texas State and Arizona State. Now, this isn’t going to be a gridiron masterpiece worthy of highlight reels, but hey, sometimes the beauty lies in picking a team ready to make a statement. Texas State, flying under most radars with a surprising 2-0 kickoff under their belt, faces off against an Arizona State squad itching to shake off a recent stinging loss. Will the Sun Devils reignite their season with a scorched-earth performance, or can the Bobcats claw their way into the spotlight? Buckle up—this one’s about grit, rebounds, and maybe, just maybe, a total beatdown. LEARN MORE.

Texas State vs. Arizona State, 10:30 ET

For this game, we will be at the end of a long College Football day, and I always like having something to look forward to at the end of the night because we don’t always get the best games. I won’t lie to you, this is not going to be one of the best games of the day, but I’m not always looking for the best game; sometimes I am just looking for a winner, and that’s what I think we have here. Let’s get to the window with a ticket on the game between the Texas State Bobcats and the Arizona State Sun Devils. 

Texas State is probably not a team most are familiar with, and that’s fine. It isn’t a major school, but the team has started off successfully with a 2-0 record for the year. They are in the Sun Belt conference, which has some good players and teams, but obviously isn’t one of the more exciting conferences in college. So far, the Bobcats offense has looked great, with at least 43 points scored in both games. They didn’t play overly impressive teams in the first two games, beating Eastern Michigan in the first game and beating the University of Texas-San Antonio in their second matchup. Last week was a substantially closer game, winning by just seven points. They took the lead early in the fourth quarter and then were able to force punts or turnovers on downs to end the game. It was a good stand for their defense, but they’ve still allowed a total of 63 points in the two weeks. All of quarterback Brad Jackson’s touchdown passes have been to wide receiver Beau Sparks, so expect the Sun Devils to focus on him and try to shut him down.

Arizona State came in with rather high expectations for this season. So far, it doesn’t look like they will live up to those expectations. I know, it is very early and I’m probably overreacting, but they took a bad loss last week dropping a game to Mississippi State. Sure, it was a road game and Mississippi State should be a decent enough team, but it was a game the Sun Devils should have won if they want to be a top-tier program. Sam Leavitt, quarterback for Arizona State, hasn’t looked great early in the campaign with three interceptions already, including two last weekend. He was only able to complete 10 of 22 passes, and those only went for 82 yards. With a chance to try and win the game for the Sun Devils, he had his pass intercepted. Week 1 was a warmup week for Arizona State, and they didn’t even look that great in that one, winning by 19 over Northern Arizona. The team did kind of coast after building up a lead, so I don’t want to read too much into it. Leavitt did look much better in that game, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another two scores. 

You may be a bit surprised by my pick as I’ve kind of made a case that Arizona State doesn’t look that good to this point in the season. Texas State has been competitive in their first couple of games, but their defense looks terrible. I am taking Arizona State to cover the -15.5 spread in this game. The reason is that I expect them to make a statement out of this one. I’m thinking that Leavitt will put up a bunch of points on Texas State’s bad defense. I also think that Arizona State is looking to rebound from that loss and remove the bad taste from their mouths. I expect this to be a bloodbath as the Sun Devils destroy the Bobcats. 

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