Sam Leavitt Details His Confidence Stemming From Week 3 Performance

The Arizona State star QB is confident heading into Big 12 play and it's largely due to how he and his teammates played in Week 3.

Sep 6, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback Sam Leavitt (10) hands the ball off during warm ups prior to the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

TEMPE -- Arizona State has been gifted with numerous star players over the years that Kenny Dillingham has manned the helm of the program.

Perhaps the most consequential decision was to add QB Sam Leavitt through the transfer portal just under two years ago. A Big 12 title ensued a season ago.

On Tuesday, Leavitt spoke with the media ahead of the Sun Devils' Big 12 title defense beginning on Saturday. Arizona State on SI gathered some major highlights from the exchange.

"Yeah, it's a conference of margins. You got to win the details. You know, we talk a lot about taking care of the ball, you know, and then just playing our game. And, you know, the games come down to the clutch, and we had, what was it five games last year that was, you know, last second, either touchdown or stop by the defense. So, you know, we understand what it takes now and just good for us to go into that, put that into our belt, and know what it takes."

On Bouncing Back in Week Three

Sep 13, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback Sam Leavitt (10) pregame against Texas State Bobcats at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images | Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images

"I felt like I was really playing ball again, having fun out there, you know, not thinking too much, and just kind of playing, you know, I feel like that's when we play the best. We're a really creative team that plays within the system. That's a player that I am. So I kind of need to be free flowing in a lot of ways while playing within the system.

So getting me going early, you know, coach Arroyo did a great job. We met a lot last week, and so we're going to continue to do that basically going forward. Just understand what it takes. You know, just getting on the same page, they're seeing the same things in the game. So understanding that the difference between week one and two and last week, it's exponential, because the work that we put them together earlier in the week. So that was really good to see."

Nov 23, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Detailed view of an Arizona State Sun Devils helmet at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Leadership Council is Prepared on Weekly Basis

"Yeah, we have a really good understanding of, you know, what we want to get accomplished and how we're going to do that, you know. And that's just goes back to coach Dillingham, implementing these things early on, you know, starting last year, and it kind of just fell into this year.

Sep 13, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback Sam Leavitt (10) pregame against Texas State Bobcats at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images | Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images

Our leadership council understands what it takes and the type of people and teammates that you need to be, and then they hold everyone else accountable to that, and everyone else follows. So it's kind of a whole collective event."

Chamon Metayer's Career Best Game Was By Design

Aug 30, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils wide receiver Jordyn Tyson (0) and Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback Sam Leavitt (10) celebrates a touchdown in the fourth quarter between Arizona State Sun Devils and Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images | Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images

"Yeah, you know, we came into the weekend, we got to get the ball into our playmaker's hands. You know, Chamon's a guy that can do some really good stuff for us, and he's a big guy. People don't really want to tackle him, and so I just got to get in the ball. And we did a good job of that. I'm going to continue to get our tight ends involved."

Read more on major takeaways from players discussing the victory over Texas State in the post-game press conference here, and on how Arizona State fans should be feeling about the team heading into Big 12 play here.

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