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Arizona State Sun Devils

Jordyn Tyson scores last-minute touchdown to propel ASU to wild 35-31 comeback victory over Kansas

Oct 5, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils wide receiver Jordyn Tyson (0) celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown against the Kansas Jayhawks in the fourth quarter at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

TEMPE – Despite an injury scare and a massive mistake early on, ASU wide receiver Jordyn Tyson responded with a pair of touchdowns, including the game-winner with 16 seconds in the game, to help pick up a jaw-dropping 35-31 victory over Kansas on Saturday.

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Tyson scored twice courtesy of six receptions for 76 yards while running back Cam Skattebo had 25 carries for 186 yards and a touchdown for ASU (4-1, 1-1 B12). Sam Leavitt completed 14-of-24 passes for 157 yards and four touchdowns in the Sun Devils’ first Big 12 Conference win in program history.

Quentin Skinner gathered six catches for two touchdowns and 130 receiving yards in Kansas’ (1-5, 0-3 B12) fifth straight loss. Coming into the matchup, Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels threw eight turnovers in the first five games but kept it relatively clean vs. ASU by throwing for 260 yards and two touchdowns from 18-of-31 passing.

Multiple mistakes fill up first half

Quieting down the rowdy crowd in Tempe almost instantly, Tyson was crunched by a tackle right after a reception and struggled to get back up. By his own power, though, the redshirt sophomore stood up and was good to go.

On that same opening drive, Leavitt launched a 28-yard pass in front of Sun Devil wide receiver Xavier Guillory who was at the right place at the right time.

Looking up in the sky, Guillory corralled the ball within his grasp for a touchdown and a 7-0 Arizona State lead 3:16 into the game.

“I just thought if he has eyes on three, I am going to one. When I took my eyes to one, he ended up winning [his battle], so I let him go make a play,” Leavitt said on finding Guillory.

After his team just eeked out a first down off of three third downs on the Jayhawks’ first drive, Daniels slipped between the middle of the ASU defense and ran into the end zone to tie the game 7-7.

Kansas carried over the momentum into the second quarter with a 30-yard dart from Daniels to a wide-open Skinner, giving the Jayhawks a 14-7 lead 3:15 into the frame. ASU’s defense was discombobulated and were only able to find Skinner when it was too late.

Just when they were able to create an opportunity to score, back-to-back blunders disrupted a possible scoring drive.

Trying to convert a fourth down, ASU offensive lineman Leif Fautanu was penalized with a false start. Electing to settle for a field goal after the penalty, Ian Hershey’s 38-yard kick was blocked by Kansas defensive tackle Kenean Caldwell.

The second quarter went from bad to worse as Leavitt passed to Tyson before Jayhawks cornerback Mello Dotson tackled him and forced a fumble. Once the massive pile-up was cleared, Dotson was the one who pounced on the ball and handed Kansas back possession.

But to bounce back on the cusp of halftime, Leavitt faked a handoff to Skattebo and passed the ball to tight end Chamon Metayer to knot up the game once more, 14-14.

“Sam has unbelievable poise, I keep saying that the dude’s mindset is a professional mindset. He prepares every week like a pro, he shows up every day and he is getting better and better,” ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said about Leavitt remaining calm through tough stretches of the game. “Today was him just doing what we had to do. There were some things that we would have wanted to have back earlier in the game, but when the game was on the line, he showed up.”

2 Sun Devils ejected, Tyson became late-game hero

With some new life instilled back into the group, ASU saw one of its most integral players be ejected.

Daniels saw Skinner for a pass right before two Arizona State defenders closed in on him. One of those was linebacker Keyshaun Elliott who prevented Skinner from completing the catch with a massive hit. The officials then called a targeting penalty on Elliott and after review, he was out for the rest of the game.

“You can’t prevent Keyshaun’s from hitting the ball which also knocked it out. You can give them seven points and not give him targeting, I don’t know what the trade-off is,” Dillingham said.

Arizona State got into the red zone twice at the halfway point of the third quarter and was distraught after not taking advantage of their opportunities.

Following a pass from Leavitt to Tyson saw the bobbling off of multiple players’ fingertips, it fell into the hands of the Jayhawks’ Devin Dye for an interception. Dye finished with two tackles and the pick.

Seeing its previous drive squandered at the goal line, Arizona State made sure the next one counted.

Just four seconds into the final quarter and at the one-yard line, Skattebo converted on an easy direct snap to his left for a touchdown, making it 21-17 ASU.

Having a relatively quiet game to his standard, Kansas running back Devin Neal eyed a pocket of space and took advantage of it, rushing for a 31-yard touchdown. With 71 rushing yards against ASU, Neal is at 584 in just six games this year and is on pace for three consecutive seasons with 1,000-plus. The Kansas native notched 1,090 rushing yards in 2022 and a career-high 1,280 last year.

The back-and-forth affair has swung back to the Sun Devils’ favor, with Leavitt connecting on a 31-yard touchdown pass to Tyson who made up for his two mistakes.

“The program is about the response. Talk about a bad beginning of a game, he was upset as much as you could possibly be, and the fact that he could regather himself to go execute and finish with a positive attitude is everything that we are trying to build here,” Dillingham said on Tyson.

Down Elliott already, the officials went to review for another targeting penalty, this time on ASU defensive lineman Clayton Smith after he tackled Daniels even though there was already a flag down for defensive offsides beforehand. Once again, the referees ruled it targeting, however, and Smith was ejected.

Without two players of Smith and Elliott’s caliber available, the Sun Devils never let their heads down and continued to fight no matter the circumstances they had to endure.

“The way we practice, it is the next man up mentality. We practice with the same intensity all the way down from the top of the team to the bottom. I have full confidence in whoever the next guy is, they are going to come in and do their job executing,” ASU defensive back Xavion Alford said.

Being a problem for Arizona State’s defense all night, Skinner kept terrorizing whoever was surrounding him and after making a 34-yard touchdown catch, he flipped the score to 31-28 Kansas with just 2:04 left in the game.

Coming up large for his team in the fourth quarter, Tyson put his team on his back and executed.

Having only 16 seconds left on the clock and within striking distance, Leavitt fluttered a three-yard pass to Tyson and he caught it in the end zone, a last-gasp play that erupted a gargantuan roar all around Moutain America Stadium.

“We talked about it at halftime, it’s not about stopping them on the first drive of the second half, it’s about winning every single play. Doesn’t matter how many plays that it takes, and that’s what it was,” Dillingham said. “Once again, we played an ugly game but we played so hard that we made plays in the fourth quarter.”

Though it wasn’t perfect by any means, Arizona State won its first game in the new conference and has surpassed the last two seasons’ win total of three. The Sun Devils were 3-9 back-to-back seasons.

Next Games

ASU: Home vs. No. 18 Utah (4-1, 1-1 B12) | Oct. 11 | 7:30 p.m. PT

Kansas: Home vs. Houston (1-2, 2-4 B12) | Oct. 19 | Time TBD

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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers the Phoenix Mercury, Suns and ASU Athletics for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini

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