The vibes were high at Mountain America Stadium, despite the team not playing their typical gold and maroon game as they had in previous years.
The absence of a true spring game has been a growing trend nationwide. The expanded playoffs have created additional games for some of the nation’s top teams, such as Texas, which has played 30 games over the past two seasons.
The team instead opted to hold a more practice-style event, with many other amenities around and inside the stadium for families to enjoy an evening at Mountain American Stadium.
Different game stations surrounded the north half of the main concourse, with long lines forming within 15 minutes of the gates being opened. Chick-fil-A, Someburros, and other companies had tents set up, drawing in the lines as well.
Arizona State went through numerous lighthearted drills to entertain the fans, everything from Jordyn Tyson throwing passes to linemen catching punts.
Tyson remained on the field for over 20 minutes, signing items and talking with fans who came out to enjoy their first taste of football in Tempe since November.
Into the second half of practice, the Sun Devils moved into seven-on-seven scrimmages, where the Sam Leavitt-Tyson duo showed they were more in link than ever, connecting on a long touchdown down the sidelines.
Jesus Gomez, the Eastern Michigan transfer, showed off his leg, drilling a field goal from nearly 55 yards out with plenty of room to spare.
With the kicking game being the story that it was last season, going so far as to have ASU Head Coach Kenny Dillingham say he was going to hold kicking tryouts for students, it is big for the team to have a potentially more reliable leg.
The only damper on the day was during the first drive of the live scrimmage when two defenders collided going after a ball in the endzone. Both players remained down for around 30 seconds but walked off under their own power. Dillingham confirmed the players were fine.
The day ended with Dillingham bear-crawling the entire length of the field.
Exhausted, Dillingham said he “couldn’t explain why” he did the bear crawls, but said that it “had to be done.”
ASU will continue to prepare for the 2025 season where they open up at Mountain America Stadium against Northern Arizona on Aug. 30.