How long will Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt be out?
With five games left in the regular season, the Arizona State Sun Devils (5-2, 2-2) are in prime position to earn a bowl bid and make a run at a berth in the 2024 Big 12 Football Championship.
The Big 12, more than any other Power 4 conference, is a week-to-week proposition. Parity reigns. Iowa State and BYU sit atop the conference standings at 4-0, followed by four teams at 3-1 and three teams at 2-2.
BYU and Iowa State both had to stage last-minute rallies last week - at home - to stay unbeaten. Now BYU has to travel cross-country to Orlando to face UCF on Saturday afternoon - and the oddsmakers expect the game to be a coin flip. BYU opened as 1.5-point favorites.
The bottom line: By the time Nov. 30 rolls around the Big 12 standings are going to look very different.
And in order for Arizona State to capitalize on the parity, they need Sam Leavitt.
Leavitt missed the Sun Devils' 24-14 loss to Cincinnati with a rib injury suffered in the second quarter against Utah on Oct. 11. With a bye week looming he has extended time to heal before ASU's game at Oklahoma State on Nov. 2.
So will Leavitt play against the Cowboys?
"He's questionable still for the [Oklahoma State game]," Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said on Monday. "I would say it's 50-50 if he's going to return. Maybe 60-40 that he won't. ... The next week will be telling here for us."
With Leavitt at the helm, the Sun Devils went 5-1 and averaged 32.2 points over their first six games.
With backup Jeff Sims behind center against Cincinnati, ASU scored 14 points and its first-half drive chart looked like this: Touchdown, fumble, turnover on downs, punt, punt, turnover on downs, punt.
Dillingham has an extra week to prepare for the Cowboys and get Sims more comfortable in the offense. But it's clear if the Sun Devils want to make a run at a top-two finish in the Big 12, they're going to need Leavitt under center.
More Arizona State & Big 12 Analysis
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.