Observations, Notes From Arizona State's Saturday Scrimmage

The defense was once again the story of Sun Devil practice.

Arizona State players warm up during a practice inside the Verde Dickey Dome in in Tempe on August 12, 2025. | Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

TEMPE -- The 2025 Arizona State football season is now under two weeks from kicking off - the first game against FCS foe Northern Arizona is set to be played on August 30.

Head coach Kenny Dillingham held a scrimmage for his team on Saturday night inside of Mountain America Stadium in preparation for the game that is to be in short order - ASU on SI was in attendance for the roughly hour-long battle.

Biggest Highlights From the Scrimmage

- Nikko Klemm pick six off of Christian Hunt - Klemm read the play the entire way and struck at the right moment.
- Raleek Brown 65 yard rushing touchdown.
- Jesus Gomez long range field goal.

General Observations

• Leavitt connected with Tyson at least five times - the duo is only growing with time.

• R. Brown really impresed for the most part - was the best RB on the field.

• It was another strong day for the Sun Devil pass rush - Prince Dorbah, Clayton Smith, and Justin Wodtly all displayed definitive moments of force.

• The offense suffered too many operational penalties - false starts, holdings, etc.

• Leavitt continues to utilize athleticism in the right manner and looked fairly sharp outside of a pair of questionable decisions, including a deep shot to Malik McClain in triple coverage.

• Hunt made a great throw to Jaren Hamilton in middle of field for around 20 yards, made another one on the next drive to James Giggey for about the same gain.

• AJ Ia suffered a key drop on 3rd & goal.

The Final Drive

- Kyson Brown reception in short game.
- Leavitt improvises out of broken pocket, scrambles for first down.
- Tyson on sideline for another first down.
- McClain in middle of field for ≈25 yards
- 42 yard FG Good as time expired

The general takeaway from the night that was is that the defense continues to appear to be farther along relative to the offense - all three levels of DC Brian Ward's group look in game speed and are all sufficiently deep.

The offense still had moments, but it might take a game or two to figure out how to navigate life without Skattebo fully.

Read ASU on SI's exclusive interview with Jordyn Tyson here, and on where Sam Leavitt lands on the NIL merchandise sales leaderboard here.

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