How Arizona State’s NFL Quarterback Almost Ended Up at BYU

Leavitt, a redshirt freshman who turns 20 in December, has deep ties to BYU. His father Jared was a quarterback for the Cougars in the early 1990s, and his older brother Dallin played for BYU during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

Leavitt also spent his sophomore high school season in Utah at Pleasant Grove High School — just 10 miles from the BYU campus. His family returned to Oregon for his junior and senior seasons, where he was named the 2022 Gatorade State Player of the Year.

Leavitt signed with Michigan State out of high school and then entered the portal when coach Mel Tucker was fired. Leavitt eventually narrowed his choices to Arizona State, BYU, Utah, Washington State and Oregon State. He joined the Sun Devils on Monday, December 11th after spending the weekend visiting BYU.

“He comes from a good family”

Apparently it was a close call. Leavitt could easily end up behind BYU center instead of Jake Retzlaff right now.

“Really good player. He comes from a good family,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said earlier this week when asked about Leavitt. “He’s very athletic. He can run, he has a precise arm. I think he has a great football IQ. He’s dangerous. He needs to play a lot of football. I think he saw some opportunity there at ASU and you look at him and he thinks he’s doing well there, he’s going to be a tough opponent for us for sure.”

“But man, it’s nice to see good young people who you know come from great families get what they want. He’s doing really cool things and he’s going to be doing really good things for a long time because I think he’s just a rookie, right? Now there is no limit for him. Hopefully we just don’t see such a great performance this weekend.”

It worked out well for both programs, with Retzlaff stepping in to lead BYU (9-1) to a No. 14 national ranking and Leavitt helping turn 21st-ranked Arizona State (8-2) into the program’s biggest surprise. college football season.

“Sam will play on Sundays”

Over the past three weeks, Leavitt has arguably been the best defensive player in the country. In wins over Oklahoma State, UCF and Kansas State, Leavitt completed 65% of his passes for 740 yards and 9 touchdowns with no interceptions. He also rushed for 69 yards.

“Sam is good. Sam is really good. I keep saying it,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said. “Sam is really good and we should be very happy that we have Sam and we will have him for another two or three years. I mean Sam will play on Sundays. There is no doubt in my mind that Sam is an NFL player.”

Retzlaff, a 21-year-old senior who spent his first two seasons in junior college, has emerged as one of the most improved defensive backs in college football this season. After struggling with limited playing time and completing just 50.4 percent of his passes as a junior, his PFF grade jumped 34 points this season, leading the Cougars to nine straight wins to start the year.

But Retzlaff has struggled with the passing game over the last two weeks. He completed just 45.5% of his passes and did not throw a TD pass in BYU’s 22-21 road win over Utah. In last week’s 17-13 home loss to Kansas, he passed for just 192 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

According to PFF’s analysis, Retzlaff struggles under pressure. When he stays clean and opposing defenses don’t blitz, Retzlaff’s passing grade exceeds 90, one of the best in the country. When he faces pressure, his passing grade drops to 43.5, one of the worst in the country.

Arizona State enters Saturday’s game as a 3.5-point favorite, and it’s safe to say the outcome will depend on the play of the quarterback. Despite the BYU ties, Leavitt is approaching this game like any other game.

“It’s the same as every other week” Leavitt told The Arizona Republic. “It doesn’t change based on what my family has done in the past, but it’s kind of fun just watching them grow and now playing against them.”

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