5 Arizona State football players to know on Saturday against Iowa State

AMES — Injuries have piled up at key positions. A once-promising season now seems to be in shambles.

Sound familiar?

The two sentences above aptly describe where both Iowa State and Arizona State find themselves entering Saturday’s noon rematch of last season’s Big 12 title game at Jack Trice Stadium.

The favored Cyclones (5-3, 2-3) have lost three straight games because of a combination of bad breaks, critical failures in game-changing moments and the impact of those injuries. The Sun Devils (5-3, 3-2) have been singed by similar issues — and, as of now, enter Saturday’s TNT-televised game uncertain about the availability of their star quarterback, Sam Leavitt, and ace receiver, Jordyn Tyson.

So suffice it to say, there’s little luster remaining around this game, even though both teams have plenty to play for in terms of either the conference championship race, or positioning for a higher-tier bowl game.

So while there’s little hype, both ISU and Arizona State have plenty on the line — and not just in terms of pride. With that in mind, here are five Sun Devils to know (if healthy, in some cases) ahead of Saturday’s matchup:

QB Sam Leavitt

The former Michigan State transfer became an instant sensation for Arizona State last season while guiding his team to a Big 12 championship and a near-upset of Texas in the College Football Playoff.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Leavitt has been solid again this season, throwing for 1,628 yards, 10 touchdowns and just three interceptions. But he’s also banged up. Leavitt left the field with an apparent injury late in last week’s 24-16 home loss to Houston. He’d also gone to the locker room to be evaluated early in that game — and has been sacked 10 times in the past three weeks.

All that said, if Leavitt is cleared to play, he undoubtedly will, and he gave the Cyclones fits in last season’s league title game by throwing three touchdown passes and adding a rushing score. His touchdown-to-interception ratio is 7-to-0 since throwing two picks in the early-season, last-second upset loss at Mississippi State. If he can’t play, former Nebraska (and Georgia Tech) quarterback Jeff Sims likely will start.

WR Jordyn Tyson

The 6-2, 200-pound former Colorado transfer has caught 18 touchdown passes in the past two seasons, but he sat out last week’s game because of a hamstring injury.

It’s currently unclear if Tyson will be available this week, but if he is, he’ll present a panoply of problems for an ISU defense that gave up 307 yards through there air and two passing touchdowns in last week’s 41-27 home loss to No. 10 BYU. Tyson caught four passes for 55 yards in the Sun Devils’ game-winning drive at Texas Tech two weeks ago and boasts four 100-yard receiving games this season.

LB Keyshaun Elliott

The 6-2, 235-pound senior from Richmond, Mo., leads Arizona State in tackles with 67 and is tied for the team lead in sacks with four.

Elliott, a former New Mexico State transfer, is averaging 9.7 tackles in five Big 12 games — and has collected double-digit stops in three of those contests. He totaled 65 tackles last season after tallying a whopping 111 in 2023 as an Aggie. He has 8.5 career sacks, one forced fumble and one interception in his long career.

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RB Raleek Brown

What the 5-9 junior lacks in height, he makes up for with strength and speed. Brown, a former USC transfer, has rushed for a team-best 706 yards this season and his three touchdowns on the ground ranks second to Leavitt’s five.

Brown ran for a career-high 134 yards on 21 carries in the Sun Devils’ 27-24 win at TCU — helping his team secure one of its three one-score conference wins this season.

S Myles Rowser

Rowser’s nickname is “Ghost” but he’s not hard to find on the football field.

The 6-1, 195-pound senior from Detroit led Arizona State in tackles last season with 98, and his 57 stops this season are the third most on the team. He’s one of the Sun Devils’ hardest-hitting players and is strong against both the run and the pass.

Comments: robgray18@icloud.com