TEMPE – On Halloween morning, Arizona State football fans weren’t spooked by ghouls or goblins.
Rather, it was the news that starting quarterback Sam Leavitt will miss the remainder of the 2025 season after undergoing season-ending surgery.
The procedure will deal with the same foot injury that has haunted Leavitt since ASU’s road win against Baylor.
“So it’s been something that’s been lingering … he’s been battling and fighting,” ASU coach Kenny Dillingham said on on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Friday. “He’s the ultimate competitor. This is like the worst, obviously, news that he wanted to hear because it means he can’t play football. He loves the game of football. He loves this place. So, it’s definitely unfortunate for him.”
The injury occurred early in the Baylor game Sept. 20, Dillingham said.
Leavitt battled the injury for four weeks. He played through it in starts against No. 24 TCU, No. 7 Texas Tech and Houston.
Against Houston, Leavitt left the game twice with a “scare” that required imagining in the first half and a “re-tweak” in the fourth quarter that put him out the rest of the game, Dillingham said.
He wore street clothes and a walking boot on his right foot throughout the week of practice gearing up for Iowa State. It was the same boot he wore when he sat out in the rainy road loss to Utah.
Leavitt finished his stunted sophomore campaign with 1,628 passing yards on a 60.7% completion rate with 10 touchdown passes. He also rushed for 300 yards on 73 attempts with five touchdowns.
Whether Leavitt returns to ASU for another season or makes himself available for the 2026 NFL Draft remains to be seen.
“ I wish I could answer that question,” Dillingham said. “I’m not even beginning to process what are his next steps. I haven’t even asked him that. I just feel bad for him that he has been dinged up all year and he’s been battling for our football team. It’s unfortunate that it just hasn’t gotten any better.”
Veteran quarterback Jeff Sims will start for the Sun Devils with true-freshman and four-star recruit Cameron Dyer as the backup.
ASU recently removed Dyer from the injured list after tending to an ACL injury sustained his senior year at La Cueva High School.
For Sims, Saturday’s game against Iowa State will be the first time he sees the field three weeks in a row in three years.
The last time that happened, he was the starting quarterback at Georgia Tech.
Coincidentally, that season was cut short by a foot injury.
Sims has played in nine games (started in two) and thrown for 350 yards on a 50% completion rate in his two years at ASU.
He threw his first touchdown pass for ASU to tight end Cameron Harpole Saturday in a loss to Houston.
Sims looks to earn his first road win in over 1,100 days as he and the Sun Devils take on Iowa State at Jack Trice Stadium Saturday at 10 a.m. MST in a 2024 Big 12 Championship rematch.
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