Baylor welcomed in Arizona State for a crucial Big 12 showdown between two teams who have aspirations of playing for league championship in Arlington in December. Both teams entered the game with a 2-1 record, with Baylor falling to Auburn in Week 1, while Arizona State lost on the road against Mississippi State in Week 2. Both teams were entering this game looking to get conference play started off on the right foot, but it was Arizona State getting the walk-off win with a 27-24 victory on the road on Saturday night. Here are the top 3 takeaways from this game.
The Turnover Battle
Baylor lost the turnover battle 3-0 on Saturday night, and it turned out to play a huge role. Arizona State tacked on a field goal after all three turnovers, two fumbles and once interception, on Saturday night. Josh Cameron had a pair of fumbles and Sawyer Robertson threw one interception. And while the Baylor defense was able to keep Arizona State out of the end zone each time, in these Big 12 games decided at the margins, that just isn’t good enough.
Cameron’s first fumble on the opening drive led to ASU taking a 3-0 lead. Then in the third quarter, another field goal after another Cameron fumble made it 13-10. And Robertson’s interception led to three more points that put the Sun Devils up 16-10. And while Baylor came back to tie this game at 24 before ASU kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired, I’ll be thinking more about how costly the turnovers were for Arizona State.
Sam Leavitt’s Leadership
While Sawyer Roberston had himself a really good game, especially late, it was Arizona State signal caller Sam Leavitt who was the better quarterback on the night. It wasn’t just his stat line of 22/32, for 221 yards, one touchdown pass, plus 62 rushing yards and one score on the ground. And Leavitt came up big in some of the biggest moments on the road on Saturday night.
Here’s Leavitt’s touchdown pass to Jordyn Tyson to put Arizona State up in the fourth quarter.
And then, after Baylor came down and tied the game, Leavitt brought the team back into field goal range to win the game. After a tough start to the season for Leavitt based on his expectations, this conference road win, a night of accurate passing and a look of confidence seemed to energize him. And now? Watch out Big 12.
The Title Defense
Arizona State is now 1-0 in its Big 12 Championship defense from 2024. It was never going to be easy, and this Baylor game is one I had circled as one of the most critical games in the Big 12 this season. So, it’s the Sun Devils who come out on top and are now atop the Big 12 standings. But look at these next three games for Arizona State: TCU next Friday night, then at Utah and then back home to play Texas Tech. That is as difficult a stretch as there is in the Big 12 Conference right now.
As for Baylor, they’re 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the Big 12. The good news is the Bears get Oklahoma State and K-State coming up back-to-back. That’s looking awfully favorable for the Bears based on how those two teams are playing.
