IRVING, Texas — After wins over Kansas State and Houston, respectively, Arizona State and Arizona played a big part of the Big 12 Conference's weekly Player of the Week awards on Monday.
The Big 12 named ASU wide receiver Jordyn Tyson its offensive player of the week, ASU quarterback the newcomer of the week and Arizona cornerback Genesis Smith one of the three co-defensive players of the week.
The duo of Leavitt and Tyson absolutely lit up the stat sheet during Saturday's upset of then-No. 20 Kansas State. Leavitt completed 21 of his 34 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to Tyson, who had a total of 12 catches for 176 yards.
Tyson's receptions and yards were both career highs. It was also the most receiving yards for a Sun Devil since current San Francisco 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk had 196 yards in a game against Washington State in 2019.
This was Tyson's first weekly honor from the Big 12 this season and it was the third time Leavitt has been named the Newcomer of the Week.
Running back Cam Skattebo has the most weekly awards for both the Sun Devils and the Big 12, as he has been named the offensive player of the week four times.
In total, this was the 10th individual weekly honor for a Sun Devil this year. Along with Skattebo's four awards, Leavitt's three and Tyson's one, linebacker Martell Hughes was named the special teams player of the week on Nov. 11 and linebacker Caleb McCullough was named the defensive player of the week on Oct. 14.
"And I think it’s just a great testament that our guys have really bought into the team mentality," ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said Monday. "You see guys getting individual rewards for that team mentality because nobody’s out there playing this game selfish right now on our football team. Are them making, I mean, did Jordyn have an incredible night? Yes he did. And he deserves all the awards he deserves, but if you asked Jordyn, he'd give away the award to make sure we won the football game. And that’s kind of the mindset of our team."
As for Smith, the former Friday Night Fever star who played high school football at Hamilton High School in Chandler is the fourth Wildcat to earn player of the week honors, along with wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (offensive player of the week, Sept. 2), cornerback Tacario Davis (defensive player of the week, Sept. 30) and kicker Tyler Loop (special teams player of the week, Oct. 7).
Smith had seven tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, an interception, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup in Arizona's 27-3 win over Houston on Friday night.
"I think it’s so cool how that young man has just continued to accelerate his growth and development," Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said. "He just continues to show up every week. I mentioned it at the end of the game or in my press conference after the game, just the amount of energy and enthusiasm that he brings to practice every day and it shows up in him playing good football. And I think that’s a really cool part of it is he’s a great demonstration of when you put in the effort and the energy into the practice environment into the process that gives you the chance to have the result you want to have on gameday."
Smith was named the co-defensive player of the week along with Colorado's Amari McNeill and West Virginia's Reid Carrico.
The No. 21 Sun Devils return to action on Saturday when they take on No. 14 BYU at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
Arizona plays TCU on Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to four major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events every year, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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