Sun Devil Football Postgame Notes - NAU

The ASU Victory…

• Is the 26th consecutive victory in a HOME opener for the Sun Devils, currently the second-longest active streak in the nation behind Illinois (27) - (2020 excluded due to unusual circumstances across country and ASU not having a home opener until December)
• Improves ASU to 83-28-2 on Opening Day in history and 65-15-1 on Opening Day at home.
• Is ASU’s 23rd consecutive Opening Day win when the game is at Sun Devil Stadium
• Extends ASU’s regular season winning streak to six-straight games dating back to last season
• Improves Kenny Dillingham to 3-0 in his career in season openers

Quick Hits:

• NAU went 2-for-15 on third downs tonight (13.3%). That is tied for the 13th-lowest conversion percentage by a Sun Devil opponent since 1997.
• Dillingham has outscored opponents 110-47 in three openers as head coach.
• Under Dillingham, ASU now has seven games in which it has surpassed 200 passing and 200 rushing yards in the same game. It had only had eight times total from 2016-2022 seasons.
• NAU only rushed for 88 yards. It is the 13th time in 27 games that an opponent was held under the century mark on the ground since defensive coordinator Brian Ward took over in 2023. Between the 2018-2022 season, it had happened 13 times in 55 games.
• ASU has scored at least 30+ points vs. NAU in each of eight games since 2003.
• Graduate student Anthonie Cooper recorded his first-career interception in his seventh season with the team. Cooper is the first seventh year player in program history and has missed much of the last two seasons with injuries. 
• The announced attendance of 56,759 represented a sellout, the first time ASU has sold out a home opener since Washington in 1998.
• The eight tackles for loss for ASU make it two straight contests with 8+ TFLs as a team. It is the first time they have accomplished the feat in back-to-back games since Sept. 30 & Oct. 7, 2023 (at Cal and vs. Colorado).
• The eight tackles for loss were split up amongst nine players who were credited with at least 0.5 a TFL.

Air Jordyn

• Jordyn Tyson recorded his fourth consecutive game with 100+ receiving yards dating back to November 16, 2024 against Kansas State. He now has six games in which he has eclipsed the century mark in receiving since becoming a Sun Devil.
• Tyson recorded the second game of his career with 10+ receptions. The first came at Kansas State on Nov. 16, 2024 (W, 24-14) where he had 12 receptions. 
• Tyson’s 141 receiving yards were the most by a Sun Devil in a season opener since Brandon Aiyuk (140) in 2019 vs. Kent State (W, 30-7)
• Tyson’s 141 receiving yards are the most by a Big 12 Receiver through week one this season.
• In his first six games as a Sun Devil, Tyson compiled 25 receptions for 369 yards and three touchdowns (61.5 ypg). Over the seven games since, he has accounted for 62 receptions for 873 yards and nine touchdowns (124.7 ypg).
• This is the fourth time he has finished with two receiving touchdowns in a game in his Sun Devil career.
  
  Sam I Am
• Sam Leavitt scored two rushing touchdowns for the second time in his career, the first coming in a 30-23 victory against Mississippi State on September 9, 2023.
• Leavitt’s 73 rushing yards were the most by a Sun Devil QB in a home opener since Manny Wilkins (112) in 2016 vs. NAU (W, 44-13). 
• It was Leavitt’s first career game with two rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns. In doing so, it was just the third time since 1997 that a Sun Devil quarterback accomplished the feat with Taylor Kelly doing it twice in 2013
• Leavitt’s 330 total offensive yards was the most in a season opener since Rudy Carpenter’s 428 against Northern Arizona in 2008. 
• Leavitt now has five games with 300+ total yards in his career, including both of his season openers as a Sun Devil.
• Tonight was just the sixth time since 1997 that a Sun Devil quarterback passed for over 250 yards and rushed for over 70 yards in a single game. Taylor Kelly accomplished the feat three times in 2012 and 2013 and Manny Wilkins did it twice in 2016.
  
  

Skattewho?

• The Sun Devil running back trio of Kyson Brown, Raleek Brown, and Kanye Udoh filled-in admirably for the Sun Devils in their first game without 2025 Heisman Trophy Finalist Cam Skattebo.
• ASU’s backfield combined to produce a combined 218 yards from scrimmage on 24 touches (9.1 yards per touch). That included 127 rushing yards on 14 carries and 91 receiving yards on 10 catches.
• Kyson Brown accounted for 145 of those yards, racking up 70+ rushing and receiving yards in the same game for the first time in his career. He now has two games with 70+ receiving and three with 70+ rushing yards. 
• Since 1996, Brown is just the 10th Sun Devil player to have 70+ rushing and receiving in the same game. Cam Skattebo accounted for two of those last year.
• Of those 10 instances, six have happened since Shaun Aguano was hired prior to the 2019 season.
• In the five games Kyson Brown has had at least eight touches in his career, he has averaged 106.2 total yards from scrimmage (66 touches for 531 total yards/8.05 yards per touch).

Milestone Watch

• Running back Kanye Udoh is 359 rushing yards away from 2,000 career rushing yards (currently at 1,641)
• Wide receiver Jordyn Tyson is 429 receiving yards away from 2,000 career receiving yards (currently at 1,571)
• Tyson is 3 receptions away from 100 career receptions (currently at 97)
• Tyson is 1 touchdown reception away from 15 career TD catches (currently at 14)
• Wide receiver Malik McClain is 5 games played away from 50 career games played (currently at 45)
• Defensive lineman Justin Wodtly is 6 games played away from 50 career games played (currently at 44)
• Linebacker Zyrus Fiaseu is 4 tackles for loss away from 20 career tackles for loss (currently at 16)
• Linebacker Keyshaun Elliott is 1 start away from 25 career starts (currently at 24)
• Defensive back Myles Rowser is 35 tackles away from 250 career tackles (currently at 216)
• Sun Devil defensive backs Myles Rowser and X Alford are 2 pass deflections away from 15 career pass deflections (currently at 13)
• Sun Devil kicker Jesus Gomez is 6 points away from 250 career points scored (currently at 244)
• Defensive ends Clayton Smith and Prince Dorbah are both 1 sack away from 10 career sacks (currently at 9.0)