Sam Leavitt accounts for 4 TDs, No. 11 Arizona State grinds out 38-19 win over Northern Arizona

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Sam Leavitt accounted for 330 yards and four touchdowns, Jordyn Tyson caught two touchdown passes and No. 11 Arizona State overcame a slew of mistakes to beat Northern Arizona 38-19 on Saturday night.

“When you get to coach special players you’re constantly amazed,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said. “It’s always good to win ugly — it wakes people up a little bit.”

The Sun Devils reached the College Football Playoff for the first time last season despite being picked last in the Big 12, sparking an interest that led to a school-record 14,280 students among the sold-out crowd.

Arizona State fed off the energy by jumping out to a quick 14-0 lead against the Football Championship Subdivision Lumberjacks, but bumbled through the rest of the first half.

Leavitt picked the Sun Devils back up, scoring on runs of 52 and 18 yards in the third quarter. He later hit Tyson on an acrobatic 16-yard TD that put Arizona State up 38-13.

Leavitt threw for 257 yards and three TDs on 25-of-39 passing with an interception, adding 73 yards and a TD on the ground. Tyson had 12 catches for 141 yards and Raleek Brown added a 6-yard touchdown run.

“We did some good stuff overall, but we got to take care of some of the little things,” Leavitt said.

NAU’s Ty Pennington threw for 204 yards and hit Nason Coleman on a 3-yard touchdown early in the third quarter. Pennington was replaced by Lathan Boone in the fourth quarter after taking several hard hits.

Third down woes

Northern Arizona had a rough time converting third downs all night.

The Lumberjacks didn’t convert their first one until the fourth quarter and finished 2 of 15.

Arizona State had its own third-down problems, finishing 2 of 10.

Penalty problems

First games are typically filled with penalties and the Sun Devils had plenty, particularly after scoring the two quick touchdowns.

Arizona State had consecutive plays of 60-plus yards — one was a TD — erased by penalties in the third quarter and finished with 12 for 93 yards.

“We can’t have 12 penalties for 93 yards that cost us probably an additional 150 yards of total yardage,” Dillingham said. “We’ve got to clean that up.”

The takeaway

Northern Arizona: The Lumberjacks, No. 18 in the FCS coaches preseason poll, bounced back from a shaky start to keep Arizona State within reach before fading in the second half.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils had a hard time getting out of their own way at times, but did just enough right win their 26th straight home opener.

Up next

Northern Arizona hosts Utah Tech next Saturday.

Arizona State plays at Mississippi State next Saturday.

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