SALT LAKE CITY — The Arizona State Sun Devils returned to Rice-Eccles Stadium, where they have had forgettable games against Utah in recent years. Now another can be added to the list of those, as the No. 21 Sun Devils were manhandled by the Utes 42-10 in Big 12 play on a cold and wet night.
It marks the fifth time in six years ASU has lost to Utah, with three of those coming on the road.
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“I feel like this is deja vu.” Arizona State coach Keny Dillingham said, referring to the last time his team was in the same venue and lost 55-3. That was in 2023. This one wasn’t quite that bad, but it was close.
Senior quarterback Jeff Sims got the call for the injured Sam Leavitt, who made the trip but had his right foot in a walking boot. Junior running back Kyson Brown was listed as questionable but did not play. He aggravated the ankle injury suffered at Mississippi State. They were among half a dozen key players who were missing.
What went wrong
Special teams faltered: Jesus Gomez has been solid as a placekicker, but he had a 29-yard field goal attempt in the first half blocked. The snap was well off the mark, which interrupted the timing of the play. That miscue spelled the end of a drive that took 8 minutes. There was also a bad snap on a punt attempt by Matthew McKenzie in the third quarter, although he was able to get the kick off. Kanyon Floyd was unable to punt due to a quad injury, leaving the inexperienced McKenzie to hold down that job.
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Run defense was not up to par: ASU entered the game ranked second in the Big 12 and eighth among all FBS teams, allowing just 78.2 yards per game on the ground. The Utes ended up running for 276 yards, with 183 of that in the first half. The Sun Devils had a particularly difficult time containing Utah quarterback Devon Dampier, who had 120 yards and three touchdowns in the game, despite not playing much of the fourth quarter. He is the first Utah quarterback to rush for 100 yards in a game since Travis Wilson did so against Oregon in 2015.
Offensive line struggled: A change was made this week with Wade Helton going in at center and Ben Coleman returning to right guard, the position he played last season. Helton had worked some there late in fall camp, but ASU opted to go with Coleman there to start the season. Coleman was injured with 4:02 left in the first and did not return. He was replaced by Jimeto Obigbo, who was called for holding on his first play in the game. The Sun Devils ended up settling for a field goal on that possession. Obigbo was also called for a false start in the third quarter. LT Josh Atkins was called for a holding in the second quarter, and RT Max Iheanachor was called for another, although Utah took the play rather than having the penalty marched off because it resulted in a fourth down.
A bad start: We have seen this in many games this season: down 17-0 in the first half at Mississippi State, and down 17-0 in their last outing against TCU. The Sun Devils were down early again, trailing Utah 21-3 at the half. It didn’t get any better. Utah got the first score in the third quarter to lead 28-3. There was no coming back from that.
Third-down conversions: This is a metric where ASU came into the contest as the worst team from a Power Four conference, capitalizing on just 30.9% (21-for-68). They converted only 7 of 18, which was better than usual, but made only 3 of 9 in the first half.
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Pass rush nonexistent: The Sun Devils had come in with 11 sacks in the previous two games, with the pass rush one of the more improved areas of the team. The front group was facing a formidable challenge, though, with Utah boasting two of the top offensive linemen in the country, Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu. ASU did not manage even one sack and was dominated in the trenches. ASU had only one tackle for a loss after managing 13 in its last game.
What went right
Nothing: Rarely is there a game where there isn’t one thing that can be singled out as a bright spot, but that was indeed the case here.
Arizona State Sun Devils running back Raleek Brown (3) runs against Utah Utes cornerback Smith Snowden (2) and linebacker Johnathan Hall (7) during the second quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, on Oct. 11, 2025.
Personnel
QB Sam Leavitt, RB Kyson Brown, LB Zyrus Fiaseu, and S Xavion Alford were the most notable players who did not see action due to injuries. Sims got his first start of the season in place of Leavitt, while Adrian “Boogie” Wilson continued occupying Alford’s spot . . . True freshman TE A.J. Ia had his first career catch, which went for 10 yards in the second half.
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Grades
Offense (F): The Sun Devils managed 259 yards, well under the 423 they had been averaging. Sims was only 18-for-38 for 124 yards, but did run for 52 yards, and that included sack yardage losses. Raleek Brown was held to 67 on 14 carries. The normally dangerous Jordyn Tyson was held to 40 yards on eight catches despite being targeted 16 times and was a non-factor. The offensive line had a lot of issues (see above).
Defense (D): The defense came in, giving up an average of 78.2 on the ground and 248 through the air. In this game, the Sun Devils gave up 276 yards on the ground and 136 passing for a total of 412 yards. Dillingham also noted how poorly his team tackled, something that had not been a problem previously. Wilson and LB Keyshaun Elliott each had seven tackles while Myles Rowser had six. There were no takeaways or sacks, and just one tackle for a loss.
Special teams (D+): Gomez made a field goal from 38 yards and had one from 29 yards out blocked after a bad snap. McKenzie averaged 41 yards on three punts, none downed inside the 20. The Sun Devils allowed a 24-yard kickoff return. Jaren Hamilton had a kick return for 23 yards, which was a positive.
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They said it
“We trust those boys up front. That front five, I trust those guys over anybody. We take whatever that defense gives us, and our run game was moving. We were moving the ball efficiently and stuck to it.” — Utah quarterback Devon Dampier on the run game
“They got us physicality-wise. They outphysicaled us. We were thinking too much. Once you start doing that too much, that throws you off your game. They got us tonight. We have to go back to the drawing board and get back to the process.” — Arizona State defensive tackle C.J. Fite
“They beat us as a whole program. They just beat us top to bottom. The best part of football, it’s it’s only worth one. They don’t add up the scores at the end of the year and say, `What was your total score? They just put one L. Now we have to let them beat us twice.” — ASU coach Kenny Dillingham on getting beat and trying to bounce back
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Next up
The Sun Devils return home for an Oct. 18 matchup against No. 9 Texas Tech (6-0, 3-0), which defeated Kansas 42-17.
Four teams started the night tied at the top of the Big 12 with 2-0 records, but it is the Red Raiders who have steamrolled the competition. Texas Tech has outscored its six opponents 285-73. Included in that tally was a 34-10 win over Utah.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State fails in all three phases, gets manhandled by Utah
