By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: Arizona Sports
Arizona State Sun Devils kicker Jesus Gomez saved the day for the Sun Devils as he delivered the game-winning 43-yard field goal as time expired to beat the Baylor Bears, 27-24.
The Sun Devils moved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big 12 with the win over the Bears.
Sun Devils quarterback Sam Leavitt showed fearlessness during crunch time. Leavitt went 22-for-32 for 221 yards and a touchdown.
Head coach Kenny Dillingham met with the media after the game to share his thoughts on the outcome.
“Our offense spurted. Our defense picked it up. Defense spurted. Offense picked it up, and special teams weren’t good,” Dillingham said. “That’s football. Find ways to win in this league.”
Dillingham doesn’t like to win games in the fashion they did. He knows that the team should not have let the game come down to a kick had they fixed their mistakes.
Overall, he has a lot of confidence in his kicker. Dillingham likes Gomez’s calmness and confidence in getting the job done. As for Gomez, he’s never nervous because his team has his back and he’s accustomed to delivering kicks. He constantly works on his game.
“I’ve done it my whole life,” Gomez said. “It’s another kick for me.”
The Sun Devils ran the ball a lot in this game. They won the running game 179 to 107. In the future, the Sun Devils must rely on their running game as their bread and butter to avoid close, tight games. This game against Baylor might be an eye-opener for the Sun Devils to stick to their strategy.
Overall, the team had 400 total yards. The Sun Devils had 26 first downs and converted 6 of their 16 third-down plays.
Although the Sun Devils weren’t impressive on third-down conversions, going just 5 for 13, they did convert 2 out of 3 on fourth down efficiently.
The Sun Devils’ defense was all over the place, led by linebackers Keyshaun Elliott and Jordan Crook. Elliott finished the game with 10 tackles. Other Sun Devils players stepped up, including CJ File and Adrian “Bougie” Wilson.
The Sun Devils will play the red-hot TCU (3-0) on Friday, Sept. 26.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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