Sam Leavitt’s 3 TD passes help Arizona State beat UCF 35-31

Sam Leavitt threw three touchdown passes, two to Jordin Tyson, and Arizona State beat UCF 35-31 on Saturday.

In a game that went through five lead changes, the Sun Devils (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) took the lead with 4:55 left on a 13-yard pass from Leavitt to Tyson.

“It’s an incredible bond right now,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said. “Sam knew they were covering one on one. He bought a little bit of time and then he realized there was a one-on-one in the corner, started him up, gave him a jump ball and Jordin did a great job on him.”

Arizona State was without star running back Cam Schattebo, who was out with a shoulder injury.

R. J. Harvey rushed for 127 yards and three touchdowns for UCF (4-6, 2-5). But he was stopped on fourth-and-2 with 3:18 to play, and the Knights didn’t get the ball back with 5 seconds left, and they could only complete a short pass as time expired.

“I felt like our defense got a little tired,” UCF coach Gus Malzahn said. “We put the ball in the hands of our best player, but it didn’t work.”

“Another unfortunate loss. We didn’t play well enough to win.”

Arizona State scored two touchdowns with 9 seconds left in the first half to take a 21-17 halftime lead.

The Sun Devils scored with 56 seconds left in the half on a 4-yard pass from Leavitt to Chamon Metayer to cut the Knights’ lead to 17-14.

Tyson finished with 99 receiving yards on seven catches. Leavitt, a redshirt freshman, was 16 of 25 for 161 yards and ran 11 times for 22 yards.

“People should be excited to be able to build around that, and I’m just glad he’s here,” Dillingham said of Leavitt. “Helps me look good.”

UCF’s Christian Peterson took a kickoff in the end zone that missed a knee, attempted to complete it and was intercepted at the 1-yard line. In the next game L. T. Welch intercepted a Dylan Rizka pass and returned it 9 yards for a touchdown with 47 seconds left in the half for a four-point lead.

The Sun Devils scored earlier when Martell Hughes blocked a punt and Montana Warren returned it 46 yards for a TD.

UCF outgained Arizona State 406-260, but five false start penalties and a 46-yard field goal that bounced off the goal post in the fourth quarter helped dash the Knights’ hopes.

UCF (4-6, 2-5) dominated time of possession in the first half, controlling the ball for 19 minutes and outgaining Arizona State 227-103. Rizk was 8-for-8 on the opening drive, which went 13 plays for 75 yards and 7:14. R. J. Harvey scored on an 8-yard run.

The Knights’ other first-half TD came when backup running back Jacurry Brown ran around the left end for 6 yards with 4:56 left in the second quarter.

Schattebo, a senior running back who rushed for 1,001 yards this season, is out with a shoulder injury. Harvey entered the week third in the nation in rushing with 1,201 yards. Schattebo is the seventh.

Kyson Brown replaced Schattebo on Saturday and had 18 carries for 73 yards.

Rizk was 24-for-34 for 229 yards. He made his second career start for UCF in last week’s home win over Arizona. Rizk became the fourth defenseman to start for the Knights this season.

Takeout

UCF: The Knights must win their final two games to become bowl eligible.

Arizona State: Picked up a few votes in last week’s AP poll and will be closer to consideration with a narrow win at home.

Further

UCF: Off next week before traveling to West Virginia on Nov. 23.

Arizona State: No. 22 Kansas State, Saturday.

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