PHOENIX — If the postgame pictures spoke loudly after Arizona State beat Kansas State on the road, the press conference comments were piercing.
"College Gameday said, 'Why are we even picking this game?' which is super disrespectful," ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt said. "And then we go out and put on a show."
Sam Leavitt's love for winning is deeply rooted in the disrespect he feels the rest of the country has shown both his team and himself.
"The QB discussion," he said. "I wasn't rated higher than Avery (Johnson) in high school and he had more offers than me. It was kind of a point to prove that I was a better player."
Consider one of the receipts read and another one printed for this week. Sam Leavitt's redemption tour continues against a school that surprisingly didn't offer him a football scholarship out of high school.
"Every team that didn't offer me bothered me growing up," he said.
A matchup against No. 14 BYU goes deeper than just Sam. The entire Leavitt lineage knows what is on the line.
"I don't have any feelings towards wanting BYU to do anything right," Sam's dad, Jared Leavitt, said. "I hope it's a complete disaster for them, that we throttle those guys."
The elder Leavitt has a past in Provo, having played linebacker for the Cougars in the early 1990s. He was a part of two teams that were loaded with talent.
"We had great teams at BYU. We were really really good," Jared Leavitt said.
Jared Leavitt said most of the credit should go to his quarterback.
"Let's just be honest. Ty was the magic man. He was doing some pretty incredible things," he said.
The quarterback himself is quick to deflect to the defense.
"We beat No. 1 Miami," said Ty Detmer, a former BYU quarterback and current ALA Gilbert North head coach. "We had five turnovers on offense. Held them to 21 points. Probably a big reason I was able to win the Heisman Trophy is because the defense played so well in our biggest game that year."
Detmer knows a big game when he sees one.
ALA Gilbert North plays in the second round of the high school football playoffs on Friday. He is then taking his team to the Saturday showdown in Tempe. They were able to score cheap seats in the upper deck of the stadium.
From one quarterback to another, Detmer will have his sights on Sam Leavitt.
"He's become that guy. As a former quarterback, you can appreciate that and appreciate the way he handles himself during the games," he said.
Detmer said the confidence of Sam Leavitt is not in question, and that it's understandable his family has questions about the radio silence during the recruiting process.
For his part, Jared Leavitt said he was sure Sam Leavitt would eventually receive an offer from BYU, but another quarterback had committed to the Cougars before his son did.
"Kind of a big mistake, don't you think?" Jared Leavitt added.
The answer will soon be loud and clear—whether disbelief from BYU is a disadvantage on Saturday against Sam Leavitt and the Sun Devils.
"That's natural to have a little chip on your shoulder. Sometimes that's good for you too, to really lock in and make this week important," Detmer said.
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