Dorbah, Gomez, Defensive Line receive weekly awards from Big 12

Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Week - Prince Dorbah

• They are calling it the 'Prince Dorbah Game' in Tempe after a historic performance from the Sun Devil defensive end.
• In Arizona State's 27-24 win over TCU, nobody had a bigger impact than Dorbah, as he was nearly un-blockable throughout the contest.
• He finished with four tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble and fumble recovery for the ages, putting together one of the most productive days by a Big 12 defensive lineman in recent history.
• In what might go down as the biggest play of the season, he sacked and ripped the ball away from TCU quarterback Josh Hoover with under two minutes to go in a tie game, setting the Sun Devils up for a game-winning field goal.
• His 4.0 tackles for loss are tied for the second-most for any FBS player this season and he is the only Big 12 player to do so.
• He is first Big 12 player with 4.0 tackles for loss in a game since Amier Washington (TTU) in their 2023 bowl game and the first Big 12 player to do it against a conference opponent since Felix Anudike-Uzomah (KSU) against TCU on Oct. 30, 2021 (also 4.0).
• PFF tabbed him as the highest graded defender in the entire country for the week with a 95.2 overall defensive mark (min. 25 snaps). It is the fifth-best single week grade for any defensive player in the FBS this season.
• His three sacks were tied for the most among all FBS players for the week.
• The four tackles for loss are the most by a ASU defender since Dashaun Mallory did so at Cal on Sept. 30, 2023.

It’s DORBAH ‼️@prince_dorbah pic.twitter.com/fMN1TulfJt

— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) September 27, 2025

Big 12 Co-Special Teams Player of the Week - Jesus Gomez

• Reigning Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week Jesus Gomez played hero once again in Arizona State's dramatic come from behind 27-24 victory over No. 24 TCU on Friday.
• Gomez made two field goals, the second of which represented the game-winning score from 23 yards out to give ASU a 2-0 start in league play.
• Gomez becomes just the fifth FBS player since 2015 to make game-winning field goals in back-to-back games and the first Big 12 player since Oklahoma State's Ben Grogan in 2015. He is the first to accomplish the feat since Kent State's Matthew Tricket in Nov. of 2023.
  
  FBS Kickers with GW FG within Final 2 Minutes of 4^th Quarter in Back-to-Back Games (since 2015)
  Jesus Gomez, ASU (Sept. 20 & Sept. 26, 2025)
  Matthew Trickett, Kent State (Nov. 14 & Nov. 23, 2023)
  Peyton Henry, Washington (Nov. 4 & Nov. 12, 2022)
  Chris Blewitt, Pitt (Oct. 17 & Oct. 24, 2015)
  Ben Grogan, Oklahoma State (Sept. 26 & Oct. 3, 2015)

• Gomez also converted on all three of his extra points and now has 48 points on the season, the seventh-most of any kicker in the nation. His 281 career points are the 10th-most among active FBS players.

Big 12 Defensive Line of the Week - Arizona State

• Arizona State's defensive line put together a historic performance in ASU's 27-24 victory over TCU on Friday night.
• The unit sparked the comeback effort with a relentless pursuit of TCU quarterback Josh Hoover and stingy run defense.
• ASU recorded 13 tackles for loss, its most in a single game since recording 15 vs. UTSA in 2018.
• The team’s six sacks were the most since it also had six against Fresno State in 2023.
• TCU entered the game averaging 174.7 rushing yards per game before finishing with just 10 on Friday night on 25 carries (.4 yards per rush).
• The 10 rushing yards were the 17th-lowest for a single game by an ASU opponent since the 1996 season and the lowest since holding UTSA to 2 yards in 2018 and the lowest against a current Power Four team since UCLA (-1 yards) in 2016.
• TCU’s 10 rushing yards were its third-lowest tally since the 1996 seasons - a span of 365 games with only a -7 yard effort against West Virginia in 2018 and -26 against Texas A&M in 2001.
• It was the 15th time in 31 games under Brian Ward’s defense it had held a team under 100 rushing yards and the sixth time in the last nine games dating back to last season. Between the 2018-2022 seasons, ASU had managed the feat just 13 times in 55 games.
• TCU standout quarterback Josh Hoover was held largely in check in the contest thanks in large part to the ASU defensive line.
• Hoover entered the game leading the nation in passing yards per game at 333.3 yards per game and 12 in the country with 11 passing touchdowns and just two picks. Hoover finished the game with 242 on 20-32 passing with two interceptions.
• Hoover was sacked six times on Friday - three more than his previous career high mark of three sacks.
• Prior to Friday, Hoover had been sacked just 26 times in 25 games. Hoover had been sacked just 26 times on 931 career dropbacks - 2.8 percent of the time. He was sacked on 15.4 of his dropbacks on Friday night (6-of-39).
• The five sacks credited to defensive linemen were tops in the Big 12 (two more than any other school) and second-most in the FBS.
• They accomplished this despite blitzing just 20 percent of the time (8th-lowest in the FBS) and bringing a four-man rush or less on 37 total snaps - 11th-most in the FBS.
• The team's average time to cause a QB pressure was 2.34 seconds, 19th-fastest in the FBS.
• The Sun Devils already have 19 sacks in five games this season after posting only 24 TOTAL sacks a year ago. ASU has 42 tackles for loss and is well on pace to eclipse its total of 66 from last year.
• ASU entered the game ranked 16th in the FBS in tackles for loss and 11 in sacks with those rankings almost certainly improving after this weekend’s games were completed.
• That’s notable as the Sun Devils finished 83rd and 96th in TFLS in 2024 and 2023 and 73rd and 70th in sacks.
• TCU was 14th in the country in averaging 516.0 total yards of offense per game before being limited to just 269 total yards on Friday.
• ASU has held its four opponents after the opener to fewer points than they were averaging per game coming into the contest (Miss St. 24/34.0, Texas State 15/47.5, Baylor 24/38.0, TCU 24/41.7). 

Conference Players of the Week under Dillingham (22)
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 six weekly awards. The Maroon and Gold has six 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 22 times total in the three years of the Kenny Dillingham era (five ST, four D, six O, three newcomers, three DL, one OL).

Big 12 Era
2025 (6)
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, 18
Baylor, 12
Texas Tech, 11
Iowa St, 10
Cincinnati, 9
Colorado, 8
Utah, 7
West Virginia, 6
Arizona, 6
Kansas, 6
TCU, 6
Houston, 5
BYU, 5
Oklahoma St, 4
UCF, 3
Kansas St, 2

The ASU victory…

• Marked ASU’s first official 2-0 start in conference play since 2012 in the Pac-12 (all ASU’s victories in a 3-0 Pac-12 start in 2021 were later vacated).
• Gave ASU its second consecutive 4-1 start to a season, marking the first time the Sun Devils have done it in back-to-back years since the 2011 and 2012 campaigns.
• Extended ASU’s home winning streak to nine consecutive victories, which would matches its longest in the regular season since a nine-game stretch between the 2012-14 seasons (lost to Stanford in 2013 Pac-12 Championship game at home). It is the longest overall home win streak since a 14-game run spanning the 1980 and 1982 seasons.
• Gave ASU its eighth straight victory over an opponent from the Big 12
• Moved ASU to 8-6 against schools from the state of Texas since the 2000 season, while giving the Sun Devils their third victory over a Texas school in as many weeks.
• Ended TCU’s seven-game winning streak dating back to last season, which was currently tied for the second-longest active winning streak in the nation behind Memphis (8).
• Gave the Sun Devils their sixth win over a Top-25 program in a home Blackout game since the 2011 season.
• Became the first win in the Dillingham era while trailing at halftime. 
• Is the first time the program has won with the exact same score in back-to-back weeks (2025, 27-24, 27-24) since 1963 (35-6, 35-6)
• Was the largest come-from-behind win against a ranked opponent at home in school history

Biggest comebacks for Sun Devil Football (1965-present)
22- ASU 39, at San Diego State 28 (Sept. 14, 2002)/trailed 22-0 in the second quarter
21- ASU 45, at No. 6 Oregon 42 (Oct. 19, 2002)/trailed 21-0 9:15 left in the second quarter
21- ASU 42, at UCLA 34 (Oct. 12, 1996)/trailed 28-7 in the first quarter
21- ASU 26, Colorado State 21 (Nov. 23, 1974)/trailed 21-0 at halftime
21- ASU 63, New Mexico 28 (Nov. 2, 1968)/ASU trailed 28-7 at halftime
19- ASU 41, at Arizona 40 (Nov. 24, 2018)/ASU trailed 40-21 entering the fourth quarter
19- ASU 44, Oregon State 24 (Sept. 22, 2007)/trailed 19-0 6:20 in the first
17- ASU 27, No. 24 TCU 24 (Sept. 26, 2025)/trailed 17-0 6:24 in second quarter

Milestone watch

• Jesus Gomez now has 57 made field goals in his career, the seventh-most of any active FBS kickers. He is one of only four kickers with 57 or more made field goals in 43 games or less.
• Gomez is 19 points shy of 300 career points (currently at 281 career points). He has the 10th-most points of any active FBS kicker. He is one of only five kickers to reach 280+ points in 43 games or less.
• Defensive lineman Prince Dorbah surpassed 10 career sacks with a career-best three sack performance (now at 12 career sacks)
• Dorbah four tackles for loss in the game helped him surpass the 20 career TFL mark (now at 20.5 career TFLs)
• Gomez is 19 points shy of 300 career points (currently at 281 career points). 
• Defensive lineman Clayton Smith is two sacks away from 15 career sacks (currently at 13.0).

Quotables
Prince Dorbah on his game-winning strip-sack:
“We knew all game that we had an advantage up front, so we liked our matchups. Coach just told us to go rush and communicate with each other. My mindset was just to trust my teammates, go out there, give it all and at the end of the day, we're gonna come out on top. That's just my whole mindset. I'm just playing football, man.”

Kenny Dillingham on the performance of the defensive line
“I know everybody wanted us to go get transfers to come. We can't sack the quarterback, just take a transfer. No, we have good players. Who develop, get bigger, understand the scheme, understand our twist games better. Those guys as a whole being able to come back, being in the system, they're rushing together in team rush. Our twist games are really good right now.  They're winning one on ones when needed. They're containing the quarterback, keeping him in the pocket. Then in the run game our defensive tackles recorded no stats. They kept the guys off the backers, sometimes defensive tackles can get lost in the shuffle of the statistic game. Those guys are playing absolutely critical for us to get our linebackers free on running backs in the zone and the gap scheme world, and they're doing a great job. What separates it, our guys are bigger and stronger than they were last year. They understand how to work together as a team, they understand the value of that and it's starting to show up. We saw it in camp, we saw it in spring ball. I anticipated this happening, not to this level. Second in the country in sacks, that's almost as good as it gets. I definitely expected a much improved pass rush because we saw it.”

Dillingham on what Prince Dorbah provides to the defensive line
“He's (Prince Dorbah) just steady Eddie. He comes every day, he works, he brings a smile. He works, he brings a smile, he works, he brings a smile. It's the same guy every single day, he's an unbelievable kid… We showed all of the fumble tape from the prior year, from the opposing quarterback last week. He said, listen, we can create a sack fumble. I was running around on the field on Wednesday saying we can create a sack fumble. For him to be able to take that into the game and rip at the ball in the most critical moment, take what we were yelling, take what we were coaching is just an unbelievable job. By him winning and then taking the little detail of how to attack the football, most critical playing the game.”

Dillingham on ASU’s resilience in big moments
"It's amazing. I don't know, never seen a strip fumble in a two-minute drill on our own 3, and then a quarterback sneak that works that doesn't work because it's a false start, and then there should be 30 seconds on the clock at the end of the game because there's a holding flag. It gives them a free time out again like Mississippi State. So now there's 1 minute and 10 left instead of 30 seconds on their final possession. It's like, holy cow. It's like the ebbs and flows of the game. It's incredible that our team continues to find ways to get it done in the big moments and is a  testament to the character of the guys we have on the team."