TEMPE — When Sam Leavitt was ruled out for the season with a foot injury, the Sun Devils were 3-2 in conference play and all but certainly needed to win out with backup quarterback Jeff Sims to keep any hopes of another Big 12 championship alive.
So far, Sims has led the team to two wins, and while the chances are slim, Arizona State has paths to the conference title game.
Sims is a redshirt senior in his sixth year of college eligibility. As he has not had regular starting reps since 2022 with Georgia Tech, offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo is thrilled that Sims is getting a chance.
“You couldn’t be more excited about anybody,” Arroyo said. “I haven’t been excited about someone (who’s waited) this long, who’s put in that much work in their entire career to go out and, at this stage, (to) have an opportunity.”
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In two seasons at Arizona State, Sims has appeared in 11 games, starting four. He’s thrown for 734 yards and five touchdowns with only one interception. He also has three rushing scores and 512 yards on the ground, 228 of which came in a single game against Iowa State.
Arroyo noted that being the top quarterback on the depth chart should be beneficial for Sims from a reps perspective, particularly because he has been a backup throughout his time as a Sun Devil.
“When you go from being a backup, when you talk about percentage of reps you get … you’re going to get 30% or 40% of a practice. And so, if you put that over the entire career, it’s really hard to get really, really good at anything.
“He’s a little more tired after an entire practice, which is good. I think the results in the game and the ability for him to be able to build the bandwidth, to be able to go through and play a whole game, has been really good.”
The next test for Sims and the Sun Devils (7-3, 5-2 Big 12) will be Saturday against the Colorado Buffaloes (3-7, 1-6) on the road.
In 2023, Sims and Arizona State separately matched up with Deion Sanders’ team.
With Nebraska, Sims threw for 106 yards with one interception on Sept. 9 in Boulder, though he did have a 57-yard rushing touchdown.
The Sun Devils, meanwhile, hosted the Buffaloes on Oct. 7, where they fell 27-24 after a 43-yard field goal was made with 12 seconds left.
Arizona State and Colorado will kick off Saturday at 6 p.m. MST. Listen on 98.7 or the Arizona Sports app. It will be televised on ESPN2.
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