Michigan State football: Sam Leavitt makes CFP in first year as QB1

When players leave Michigan State football, it’s always fun to see where they end up and how they perform at their new schools.

While the transfer portal era has “ruined” a lot of what we liked about college football with a lot of the same players on the move every offseason, you can’t blame kids for wanting to better themselves and their families.

Sam Leavitt was one of the players who fans didn’t quite want to lose this past offseason during the coaching change but he decided to leave the program to move back out west. He chose Arizona State because of Kenny Dillingham’s track record for developing really good quarterbacks (Bo Nix comes to mind) and that decision has paid off as the Spartans got their guy (Aidan Chiles) and he got to start right away.

Leavitt didn’t exactly get handed the starting job at Arizona State despite the program winning just three games last year. He had to beat out a former five-star quarterback during the spring, forcing him into a transfer. So when the 2024 season began, Leavitt was the Sun Devils’ QB1.

And he hasn’t disappointed.

The former Michigan State football backup has started all season for the Sun Devils, passing for 2,663 yards and 24 touchdowns with five interceptions. And if that wasn’t impressive enough, he led the Sun Devils to a Big 12 title and a College Football Playoff in his first season as a QB1. To put it bluntly: Leavitt is a winner and he’s showing it on the big stage.

In the Big 12 title game on Saturday, Leavitt passed for 219 yards and three touchdowns on 12-of-17 passing as Arizona State beat Iowa State 45-19 to lock up a playoff spot and a bye.

Because of Leavitt stepping up as QB1, Arizona State went from 3-9 last season to a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff with a No. 4 seed, playing the winner of Clemson vs. Texas on Jan. 1.

Like the way he left or not, you have to be happy for Leavitt. He didn’t expect a coaching change in East Lansing.