How Much Can Change In A Year? Sun Devils Aiming To Take Down Top-10 Texas Tech Again
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How different can things be less than a year later? For both Arizona State and Texas Tech, it seems like plenty has happened in the last 12 months since the huge upset in Tempe.
A Look Back
When the then-No. 7 Texas Tech traveled to the Valley to take on the Sun Devils on October 18, 2025, it was a clash between the defending Big 12 champions in Arizona State and the eventual Big 12 champions in the Red Raiders. No one knew that at the time, obviously, despite Texas Tech being favored to do so with a 6-0 record. That did not deter the Sun Devils, who, despite coming off a thumping at the hands of Utah, 42-10, were able to pull off the upset, their highest-ranked win since defeating Oregon in 2019.
As is the case in today's college football, the rosters will look quite different just a year later, especially for Arizona State.
Only one player who attempted a pass, rush, or caught a pass in this game is still with the Sun Devils in a prominent way, that being WR Jaren Hamilton. He caught a few pivotal deep balls in that contest, going for 101 yards receiving. At that time, it was QB Sam Leavitt leading the way, with a game with 319 passing yards for Arizona State, bouncing back in a big way after missing the week prior vs. Utah. WR Jordyn Tyson was a man on a mission that day, battling through a hamstring issue all game to record 10 receptions, 105 yards and a TD. RB Raleek Brown ran for 69 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown with under a minute to play, lifting Arizona State to that 26-22 victory.
For Texas Tech, they will have about as much continuity on the offensive side as you'll find in this day and age. QB Will Hammond, who in 2025 was the backup to Behren Morton, started the game against the Sun Devils and has now taken the reins full time this season. They return both RBs who carried the ball in the game, Cameron Dickey and J'Koby Williams, and their leading receiver, Coy Eakin, who had 5 receptions for 66 yards and a TD in Tempe that day.
The defense is where the Red Raiders have taken the biggest hit, as Jacob Rodriguez and David Bailey, among others, have now departed the stout defense. The same can be said for Arizona State, as the struggling 2026 unit would certainly love players like Keith Abney II, Prince Dorbah, Javan Robinson, and Myles Rowser.
What Has Happened Since?
A story that could be told in many, many parts is what has happened to both teams since that October day in 2025.
Texas Tech finished the season strong, going undefeated the rest of the regular season, beating BYU in the Big 12 Championship game, and making their first College Football Playoff appearance. They were blanked by Oregon, 23-0, in that contest, marking their only other loss of the season besides the one in Tempe.
For Arizona State, they lost star WR Jordyn Tyson to the NFL, being drafted 9th overall by the New Orleans Saints, along with Keith Abney to the Lions. Tyson has yet to make his debut, still dealing with similar hamstring issues that popped up in this very game, while Abney recorded his first interception last week.
The other major blow was QB Sam Leavitt, who, due to an injured ankle, suited up just one more game for the Sun Devils in his career. He transferred to LSU to team up with new head coach Lane Kiffin, in an extremely strange saga beginning to end. Leavitt has had similarly strange injury issues pop up again this season, ahead of the highly anticipated Ole Miss game, but has played every game for the Tigers. The Junior has thrown for nearly 1,500 yards and 10 TDs, but 8 interceptions. Still as mobile as ever, though, he's scrambled his way for 259 rushing yards and 7 TDs on the ground.
Ironically, Leavitt is only second strangest QB transfer story between these two teams.
Cincinnati standout QB Brendan Sorsby entered the transfer portal and was given a boatload of NIL money to head to Lubbock. Before he even played a down, his story took over college football, touching just about every controversial topic in the sport today.
In short, Sorsby was found to have gambled on college football, including his own team, while at Indiana University. Many court injunctions and rulings were filed and issued, with the QB in limbo between playing, rehab, and the NFL supplemental draft at different points. In the moments he was ruled to be allowed to play, there were talks of a boycott of all Texas Tech athletics.
In the end, Sorbsy never ended up playing for the Red Raiders, as they turned back to Will Hammond, who got the starting job against the Sun Devils in 2025. The Sorbsy conundrum still looms, however, as no concrete resolution was ever made.
Texas Tech also lost stars to the NFL Draft, as EDGE David Bailey went #2 overall to the New York Jets and has been fantastic, recording five sacks in his first five career games, including three on Sunday against the Browns. LB Jacob Rodriguez, who finished fifth in the Heisman race and gobbled up plenty of other honors in an All-American season, was drafted in the second round by the Miami Dolphins. After five weeks, he leads the NFL in tackles with 57.
What's Next?
What's been made clear is that programs can shift and be fully altered in the span of just one college football season. On Saturday, the uniforms will look familiar, even down to the colors of the jerseys (Arizona State wore white at home, in an alternate jersey). But even then, is that the same?
Arizona State has had another turbulent start to the season leading into a matchup with Texas Tech, once again with two early-season losses and looking for an identity. That doesn't mean head coach Kenny Dillingham is thinking of anything different this time around.
"I expect to win every game. I expect to win games where we run the friggin swinging gate. There hasn't been one game that we've played where I didn't have the utmost confidence in our game plan and ability to win the game."Kenny Dillingham
Since Dillingham arrived in Tempe, the team has made a name for staying in games they weren't supposed to on paper. From the UCLA win in his first season, where they used the swinging gate offensive line and Cam Skattebo as a RB/WR/QB/P hybrid, to a hard-fought loss on the road, like #5 Washington a few weeks before that, all the way to the improbable end of the season in 2024 that got them into the College Football Playoff.
At Jones AT&T Stadium on Saturday, another opportunity is ahead of his team. A Red Raider team coming off a conference championship, and being far and away the odds-on favorite to do it again coming into the season. Dillingham and his crew will have their work cut out for them once again.
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Fletcher Anderson is a 2025 graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State, and have been reporting for newspapers and writing sports columns since 2018. He began a sports column for the Lake Minnetonka Navigator, when he was still a sophomore in high school. Since then, he has written for teams, schools, newspapers and digital sites, including Cronkite News at Arizona State. In that role he covered area high school sports as well as the Arizona State athletics. He began contributing to On SI in 2026.