How Arizona State's 'NFL' quarterback almost ended up at BYU
When Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt entered the transfer portal last November, he had multiple suitors.
And BYU was near the top of the list.
Leavitt, a redshirt freshman who will turn 20 in December, has deep ties to BYU. His dad, Jared, was a defensive back for the Cougars in the early 1990s and his older brother, Dallin, played for BYU in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
Leavitt also spent his sophomore season of high school in Utah at Pleasant Grove High School — just 10 miles from BYU's campus. His family moved back to Oregon for his junior and senior seasons, where he was named the Gatorade state player of the year in 2022.
Leavitt signed with Michigan State out of high school, 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 committed to the Sun Devils on Monday, Dec. 11 — after he had spent the weekend visiting BYU.
'He Comes From a Good Family'
By all accounts it was a close call. Leavitt could easily be behind center for BYU right now, instead of Jake Retzlaff.
"Really good player. He comes from a good family," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said earlier this week when he was asked about Leavitt. "He's super athletic. He can run, he's got an accurate arm. I think he's got a great football IQ. He's dangerous. He's got a lot of football to play. I think he he saw some opportunities over there at ASU and you look at him, he's thriving in it. He's going to be a difficult matchup for us for sure."
"But man, it's good to see good young men that you know are from amazing families get what they want. He's doing some really cool things and he's going to be doing really good things for a long time becauase I think he's only a freshman right now. The sky's the limit for him. Hopefully we just don't see that great 'sky limit' performance this weekend."
It has worked out well for both programs as Retzlaff has stepped in to lead BYU (9-1) to a No. 14 national ranking, while Leavitt has helped turn No. 21 Arizona State (8-2) into the biggest surprise of the college football season.
'Sam's Going To Be Playing On Sundays'
Over the last three weeks Leavitt has arguably been the best quarterback in the nation. 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's good. Sam's really good. I keep saying it," Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said. "Sam's really good and we should be really happy that we have Sam and we have him for two to three more years. I mean, Sam's going to play on Sundays. There's zero doubt in my mind Sam's an NFL player."
Retzlaff, a 21-year-old senior who spent his first two seasons in junior college, has been one of the most improved quarterbacks in college football this season. After struggling in limited playing time as a junior, completing just 50.4% of his passes, his PFF grade has jumped 34 points this season while leading the Cougars to nine consecutive wins to start the year.
But Retzlaff has struggled in the passing game the past two weeks. He completed just 45.5% of his passes and didn't 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 TD and one interception.
According to PFF's analysis, Retzlaff is struggling with pressure. When he's "kept clean" and the opposing defense doesn't blitz, Retzlaff has a passing grade above 90 — one of the best in the nation. When he faces pressure, his passing grade dips to 43.5 — one of the worst in the nation.
Arizona State enters Saturday's game as 3.5-point favorites, and it's a safe bet the outcome will hinge on the quarterback play. Despite the BYU ties, Leavitt is approaching it 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 pretty funny just watching them growing up and now playing against them."
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Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.