Kenny Dillingham and ASU (5-3) are coming off a tough loss. To make matters worse, the team is battling with multiple injuries. Prince Dorbah and Tate Romney in the D line are injured. Not to mention, players like Zac Swanson, Xavion Alford, and Kyson Brown are already ruled out for the long term. To add salt to ASU’s wounds, Kenny Dillingham’s ace wide receiver, Jordyn Tyson, is also doubtful for the next game.

“Star wide receiver Jordyn Tyson is viewed as doubtful for Saturday at Iowa State and is trending toward being out,” reported Pete Nakos of ON3. Apart from Tyson, Prince Dorbah and Tate Romney are also doubtful, although their estimated return date was 1st November. That said, Tyson’s absence will be a big blow for ASU against Iowa State.

Iowa State, just like ASU, was once a Big 12 contender. However, recently the team has been on a three-game losing streak and would fight hard to win on 1st November. Arizona State, too, is in a similar situation. The team has lost three games, against Mississippi State, Utah, and, most recently, Houston. Kenny Dillingham will then want to win his remaining games to end up with a respectable 9-win season. That starts by winning the Iowa State game, but without Tyson, it won’t be easy.

“Probably the first wide receiver taken in the draft, and he’s battling for his team. What NFL team wouldn’t want that kid who battled through that? He wasn’t thinking about his personal career. He was thinking about winning that football game for his teammates. If that’s not somebody that you want in your football team, I don’t know what is,” said Kenny Dillingham about Tyson’s importance for ASU.

Tyson was injured during ASU’s win against Texas Tech when he was making a cut route on a 12-yard interception. The WR injured his right hamstring and fell quickly on the field. Later attended by the trainer, Tyson did come for several drives, but as the game ended, the injury turned out to be quite gruesome. So far, the 6’2″ and 200 lbs playmaker has received 628 yards for 8 touchdowns and is the leader in the WR room.

Without Tyson, it would be tough for ASU to win against Iowa State. That said, other players like TE Chamon Metayer and Malik McClain might step up in Tyson’s absence. But Tyson’s blow isn’t the only one for Kenny Dillingham. The head coach would also be without his QB1, Sam Leavitt, after a major injury setback.

Kenny Dillingham makes tough Sam Leavitt announcement

Sam Leavitt was playing exceptionally in the 2025 season. The QB had accumulated 1,628 passing yards for 10 TDs and also rushed for 306 yards for 5 TDs. With Leavitt under center, a Big 12 championship was looking to be within reach for Dillingham. But then an unexpected injury happened to Leavitt against Houston recently. The QB suffered a foot injury against Houston after missing the Utah game due to an earlier injury. Now, Kenny Dillingham has announced it to be a season-ending injury.

“The first one was just kind of a scare, hopefully, based on what we saw. The second one, we gotta look into it more before I really comment on it,” said Dillingham after the game. Now, it has been reported that Leavitt will require surgery and will miss the remainder of the season. “I just feel bad for him that he has been dinged up all year, and he’s been battling for our football team. It’s unfortunate that it just hasn’t gotten any better,” said Dillingham.

All in all, ASU will need to work with QB2 Jeff Sims in the absence of Leavitt. Sims did appear against Utah and passed for 124 yards, as the team lost. ASU fans will hope that Sims can finally wade through the remainder of the season. The QB2, though, is a veteran and has 5,906 passing yards and 1,558 rushing yards to his name. So, with some creativity, we can certainly see Jordyn Tyson and Sims connecting those passes later in the season.