Defending Big 12 champion Arizona State wins league opener 27-24 at Baylor on game-ending Gomez FG

WACO, Texas — Jesus Gomez kicked a 43-yard field goal on the game’s final play to give defending Big 12 champion Arizona State a 27-24 win over Baylor on Saturday night in the conference opener for both teams.

It was the fourth field goal of the game for Gomez, a left-footed senior transfer from Eastern Michigan. He also made kicks of 31, 21 and 33 yards, and is 9-of-10 for the Sun Devils (3-1, 1-0 Big 12).

“It’s awesome,” Gomez said. “I don’t think I watched it go through the uprights because I knew it was in. So, I just turned and started celebrating.”

Sam Leavitt completed 22 of his 32 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for a score for Arizona State.

Baylor (2-2, 0-1) tied the game 24-24 with 1:52 left on Sawyer Robertson’s 33-yard TD strike to Ole Miss transfer Michael Trigg, whose 1-yard catch and stretch for a touchdown had put the Bears up 17-16 with 9:02 left.

The Sun Devils responded to Trigg’s second TD with an 11-play scoring drive, and Gomez booted the go-ahead kick right down the middle as time expired.

“Can we not just play a little bit better earlier?” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said. “Golly. Great kick, but that’s what was going through my head (during the kick) was like, ‘Do we really need this every single week?’”

Robertson was 25-for-39 passing for 251 yards and three TDs and an interception. Bryson Washington ran 17 times for 111 yards for Baylor.

“I’m disappointed with the execution,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. “Whether it’s the (three) turnovers on offense or the penalties on defense, the busted plays on big third downs. It’s just inopportune times shooting yourself in the foot. Can’t do that at home against a really good team.”

The Takeaway

Arizona State: While it wasn’t pretty, the Sun Devils heated up when it mattered most, scoring points on four of their final five drives.

Baylor: The Bears’ defense, which had given up 30 points a game, held a potent Arizona State offense to two touchdowns on six red zone trips.

Praising his kicker

While Arizona State players were conducting postgame interviews, Dillingham walked in and shouted, “Jesus!” in celebration of Gomez. Dillingham said Gomez made a strong first impression on the team when he arrived this offseason.

“He’s so calm and confident,” Dillingham said. “There was a meeting about (how) you’re going to be interviewed now and all this stuff like they’d do in front of the entire team. And they asked him some hard questions. … I can’t remember his response, but the whole room cheered because he was like, ‘I go out there, I take my steps and I kick the ball.’

‘Bang-bang play’

Arizona State moved into Baylor territory on its game-winning drive after a personal foul penalty followed a 3-yard catch by preseason All-America receiver Jordyn Tyson. Bears defensive back DJ Coleman hit Tyson after catching a third-down pass in stride and sliding to the ground.

Aranda said he didn’t have a great view of what he called a “bang-bang play,” that he wanted to look at.

“DJ was one of our captains today. He’s been really playing well and has been kind of a stalwart for us, kind of an emerging guy,” Aranda said. “I talked to him after the game — ‘Keep your head up!’ He’s going to get better because of all of this.”

The penalty moved the ball from the Arizona State 44 to the Baylor 38. The Sun Devils gained 12 more yards before the game-ending kick.

Up next

Arizona State is home Friday night against TCU (3-0), which is coming off a 35-24 win over SMU.

Baylor plays at Oklahoma State (1-2) next Saturday.