IRVING, Texas - A pair of Sun Devil Football players were recognized by the Big 12 Conference for their performance on Saturday.
The Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week is Sun Devil quarterback Jeff Sims, while the offensive line was recognized as the Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week. In Arizona State's 24-19 road win over Iowa State, Sims and the offensive line combined for critical contributions.
In the Kenny Dillingham era, a Sun Devil has now won a conference player of the week award 26 times. ASU led the Big 12 and was third nationally with 12 conference player of the week selections last season. They are in contention to do the same this year, already up to ten selections through ten weeks. Sims is the second Sun Devil this season and eighth in the Dillingham era to earn Offensive Player of the Week. ASU's offensive line is the second Sun Devil unit to be recognized under the updated process, joining the defensive line which received the nod after the TCU game.
Big 12 Co-Offensive Player of the Week - Jeff Sims
- A big reason why was the play of quarterback Jeff Sims. He put together a historic performance in helping ASU become bowl eligible thanks to a 24-19 win in front of a packed house at Jack Trice Stadium.
- Sims finished with 405 total yards of offense (228 rushing and 177 passing) while accounting for three touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 passing).
- Sims' 228 rushing yards were the most for an ASU quarterback in a single game in program history, topping Mark Malone’s 1978 previous school record of 139 yards against USC.
- It is just the seventh 100-yard rushing game for an ASU quarterback in program history. Notably, the six previous instances came in Sun Devil home games played in Tempe.
- The 228 rushing yards by Sims are the 8th most in program history regardless of position, as he joins an exclusive list of some of the program’s legendary players.
Sun Devil 220-yard rushing games
312, Eno Benjamin vs. Oregon State (Sept. 29, 2018/30 carries, 3 TDs)
262, Cam Skattebo vs. Mississippi State (Sept. 7, 2024/33 carries)
251, Ben Malone at Oregon State (Oct. 27, 1973/24 carries, 5 TDs)
243, Leon Burton vs. Hardin-Simmons (Oct. 10, 1955/5 carries)
239, Art Malone vs. New Mexico (Nov. 2, 1968/29 carries)
236, Wilford White at Brigham Young (Sept. 23, 1950/30 carries)
232, Wilford White at Northern Arizona (Oct. 7, 1950/18 carries)
—--> 228, Jeff Sims at Iowa State (Nov. 1, 2025/29 carries)
226, Delvon Flowers vs. Oregon State (Oct. 20, 2001/23 carries, 2 TDs)
221, Darryl Clack vs. Wichita State (Sept. 24, 1983/22 carries, 3 TDs)
220, Max Anderson at Wisconsin (Sept. 30, 1967/21 carries, 1 TD)
- He is just the sixth player in program history to go over 220 yards on 30 carries or less.
- It is the 23rd 200-yard rushing performance in program history.
- Sims’ 88-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was the second-longest rush for an ASU quarterback in program history behind Malone’s 97-yard rush against Utah State in 1979.
- It was the longest run for a Sun Devil since Rachaad White’s 93-yard touchdown run at Arizona in 2020.
- Sims’ previous career high for rushing yards was 128 while at Nebraska against Minnesota in 2023.
- He became just the 40th FBS quarterback since 1996 to rush for 225 or more yards in a game. Of those 40, 16 were quarterbacks operating a triple option offense. Of those 40, only 13 occurrences occurred on the road (5 triple option offenses).
- Only seven of those road instances also happened against a power five team.
- Sims’ 88-yard touchdown run was tied for the 16th-longest for a quarterback since 1996. It was tied for the fifth-longest against a power five school (at the time of the contest).
- Sims had the most rushing yards of any FBS player in Week 10.
- Sims' 228 rushing yards were the most by an FBS quarterback this season and 48 more than the next closest player.
- It was the sixth-most for a quarterback in a road game in the last 10 seasons of FBS football (three of the players in front of him were from Army or Navy).
- It was the most for an FBS quarterback in a road game since Army's Ahmad Bradshaw had 244 at North Texas on Nov. 18, 2017.
- His 405 yards of total offense were the 13th most for an FBS quarterback in a ROAD game this season (and eighth-best at a Power Four conference opponent)
Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week - Arizona State
- In Arizona State's 24-19 win on the road over Iowa State, the Sun Devil offensive line was outstanding, paving the way for a historic rushing performance by Jeff Sims.
- Despite playing without starting quarterback Sam Leavitt and leading wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, ASU pulled off a victory in a hostile environment.
- A big reason why was because of the play of the ASU offensive line, who stepped up to control the line of scrimmage against the Cyclones.
- Battling injuries of their own, the Sun Devil offensive line unit held ASU finish with 290 rushing yards and 467 total yards on the road.
- They also did not allow a sack, keeping the pocket clean for Jeff Sims to operate.
- Sims put together the greatest rushing performance by a quarterback in program history (228 yards) behind the strength of the Sun Devil offensive line.
Conference Players of the Week under Dillingham (26)
Arizona State finished with 12 Player of the Week selections in the 16-team Big 12 last season, the highest total of any team in the league. The success has continued into this season, with ASU already claiming ten weekly awards. The Maroon and Gold has three more selections than any other program in the league since the start of the 2024 season. A Sun Devil has now earned a conference player of the week award 24 times total in the three years of the Kenny Dillingham era (six ST, four D, seven O, three newcomers, three DL, one OL).
Big 12 Era
2025 (10)
Offensive Line, Nov. 3
Jeff Sims (Co-O), Nov. 3
Jordyn Tyson (Co-O), Oct. 20
Jesus Gomez (Co-ST), Oct. 20
Prince Dorbah (Co-D), Sept. 29
Jesus Gomez (Co-ST), Sept. 29
Defensive Line, Sept. 29
Jesus Gomez (Co-ST), Sept. 22
Jordan Crook (Co-D), Sept. 15
Kanyon Floyd (Co-ST), Sept. 2
2024 (12)
Cam Skattebo (O), Dec. 2
Javan Robinson (D), Nov. 25
Jordyn Tyson (O), Nov. 18
Sam Leavitt (Newcomer), Nov. 18
Martell Hughes (ST), Nov. 11
Sam Leavitt (Newcomer), Nov. 11
Cam Skattebo (O), Nov. 4
Caleb McCullough (D), Oct. 14
Cam Skattebo (O), Oct. 14
Sam Leavitt (Newcomer), Oct. 7
Cam Skattebo (Co-O), Oct. 7
Cam Skattebo (O), Sept. 9
Pac-12 Era
2023 (4)
Dashaun Mallory (DL), Nov. 13
Leif Fautanu (OL), Oct. 30
B.J. Green (DL), Oct. 30
Dario Longhetto (ST), Oct. 30
Big 12 Player of the Week by School since start of 2024
Arizona State, 22
Texas Tech, 19
Baylor, 13
Utah, 13
Cincinnati, 12
Houston, 12
BYU, 11
Iowa St, 10
TCU, 10
Colorado, 8
West Virginia, 8
Arizona, 8
Kansas, 6
Oklahoma St, 4
UCF, 4
Kansas St, 3
The ASU victory…
- Kept ASU from losing back-to-back games for the first time since the end of the 2023 season.
- Handed Iowa State just its third loss at Jack Trice Stadium since the start of last season and marked the first time the Cyclones lost consecutive games in Ames in consecutive weeks since Oct. 29 and Nov. 3, 2016 against Kansas State and Oklahoma.
- Moved ASU to 4-2 in Big 12 play to start the conference slate for the second-straight season.
- Made ASU bowl eligible for the second-consecutive season.
Ground and Pound
- The Sun Devils rushed for 290 yards against the Cyclones, the most Iowa State had allowed all season. It is just the second time Iowa State has allowed 200+ yards on the ground. Iowa State had held seven of its eight opponents to under 160 yards rushing.
- If you combine the stats from today and the meeting in the Big 12 Championship, ASU now has 85 carries for 535 yards and five touchdowns on the ground over the past two games against Iowa State.
- The Sun Devils are 11-3 when rushing for over 200 yards in the Kenny Dillingham era.
Quotables
Coach Dillingham on Jeff Sims
“He's everything that's right with college football. He’s such a great person, to stay here for his teammates and to be able to get that opportunity and to win that game. That's such a cool thing for him, he’ll remember that game forever. I think he earned a lot of respect not just in our locker room, but nationally with how he played and how he carried himself postgame. You really got to see a little bit behind the scenes of Jeff."
Jeff Sims on the victory
"I was prepared to do whatever it was to win this game. The offensive line did a good job; they played physical. The defense went out there and held it down, so we just made sure that we played together. That was our big focus this week."
Coach Dillingham on the Offensive Line
“The offensive line gave up zero sacks and we almost rushed for 300 yards, so that's good. I wish we could do that every week. It'd be awesome.”