TEMPE — Through four weeks of play, Arizona State’s football team is still trying to recapture some of the offensive magic that led to a Big 12 Conference title and College Football Playoff appearance last season.

Still, despite a ground attack that took a step back and a passing game still out of rhythm, the Sun Devils escaped with a 27-24 victory at Baylor to open conference play.

Now, coach Kenny Dillingham is expecting quarterback Sam Leavitt and the Sun Devils offense to build on a 22-of-32 passing performance for 221 yards and a touchdown against the Bears. Leavitt used his legs to extend more plays in Waco and scrambled for an additional 62 yards and a score.

Dillingham returned to Tempe with his usual optimism, citing a few key performances, including Leavitt’s, that inspire hope for the tough stretch in the schedule coming up.

“Sam played one of his best games since he’s been here,” Dillingham said. “He played phenomenally. (He) extended drives, he ran more than we usually like to run quarterbacks, but he did because it was needed in the game.”

Dillingham also had a request.

He wants Mountain America Stadium to be “the place to be” Friday night when that difficult stretch in the schedule begins with the Sun Devils (3-1, 1-0) hosting nationally ranked TCU (3-0, 0-0).

“We need the fans there,” Dillingham said. “We don’t just need you there. I need you loud. We need to make an impact on Friday night for our players because we’ve been showing up. The atmosphere has been awesome. Let’s continue to build on that on Friday night.

“Let’s make this the place to be on Friday night.”

The Sun Devils offense sputtered through much of the Baylor game, despite an ASU defense that managed to turn over the Baylor offense three times, giving the offense great field position.

The Sun Devils managed just three points off those turnovers. Yet, in the fourth quarter, Leavitt came through to ice the game.

A 19-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jordyn Tyson (and a subsequent two-point conversion pass to him) gave ASU the lead with less than six minutes to play.

Then in a two-minute drill, Leavitt led the Sun Devils down the field for the game-winning 43-yard field goal by kicker Jesus Gomez.

It was the fourth field goal of the game that Gomez booted, earning him Big 12 Co-Special Teams Player of the Week honors along with Kansas returner Emmanuel Henderson Jr.

Dillingham had high praise for his sophomore leader, Leavitt.

“He was his best in the biggest moments,” Dillingham said. “He’s starting to learn how teams are going to play him. When you’re a quarterback, you go through that ‘Nobody knows me’ phase, and you get to play your game.

“Then you go through the ‘Woah! Somebody learned me’ (phase), and then it’s copycat. Everybody learns you … He’s getting to that point where he’s seen so much now that we know how teams are going to attack him, for the most part. He’s done an awesome job.”

One of the bigger points of emphasis for the offense recently has been spreading the ball to playmakers other than Tyson. Leavitt did a much better job of that in Waco. Seven players caught passes in the win.

And one undersized, often overlooked player made an oversized impact that nobody could overlook late in the game.

Wide receiver Derek Eusbeio arguably made the biggest play of the game, hauling in a 61-yard catch-and-run from Leavitt in the fourth quarter to set up a touchdown. He also was effective on a couple of jet sweeps ASU ran against the Bears.

The former walk-on from Plano, Texas, earned a scholarship last season for his work as a reserve. With Fresno State transfer receiver Jalen Moss “doubtful” to play once again, per Dillingham, Eusebio could see an expanded role in the offense this week against TCU.

“You know how many times we practiced jet sweeps with him last week? Zero,” Dillingham said.

“Guess what? He’s done it in the past, and we trust him,” Dillingham continued. “We just put him in there after he got momentum. We’re like, ‘You know what? We can trust this dude. Let’s keep playing him. Let’s underthink the coaching and overthink the player.’”

Eusebio could also help in the running game, where Dillingham stressed the importance of receivers blocking on the outside. Without former Sun Devils wideouts Melquan Stovall and Xavier Guillory, the ASU offense has not been able to create as many explosive gains on the ground.

ASU ran for 179 yards against a Baylor defense that is allowing an average of 186 rushing yards a game. Running back Raleek Brown led ASU with 81 yards, while Leavitt had the longest rush of the night on a 27-yard scramble. The Sun Devils had just four runs of 10 yards or more Saturday.

“We weren’t getting vertical enough with some of the runs,” Dillingham said. “We could have done some better stuff as a staff, creating better leverage for the offensive line … We’ve got to be better at our perimeter blocking. We’re not having as many explosive plays. Whether it’s running backs, tight ends (or) wide receivers.”

Getting the ground game going again will be a must against the Horned Frogs. Though TCU is the worst passing defense in the Big 12 so far, allowing 246 yards a game, they have been stout on the ground, surrendering just 107 yards per contest.

Controlling the ground in front of an energized crowd could allow the Sun Devils to control the tempo of the game.

Owning the pace of the game, however, means converting on third down, which the Sun Devils have struggled to do this season. ASU has converted just 30.2% of third downs this season, second-worst in the conference ahead of only West Virginia.

The Sun Devils will also need more disciplined play on Friday. Dillingham’s offense has seen several big gains brought back because of offensive penalties this season. The Sun Devils committed seven penalties in total against Baylor, which both stalled the offense and created second chances for the Bears.

Facing a TCU offense averaging 41.7 points per game, Dillingham understands the importance of playing clean football moving forward. The challenge for his staff will be finding solutions in a short week of practice.

“I think there’s a balance of wanting your guys to play aggressive and teaching them to never get penalties,” Dillingham said. “There’s some penalties you can’t live with.

“But other penalties, if we’re getting penalties attacking and playing the game in an aggressive mindset in terms of blocking, cool. As long as we’re not doing it recklessly. I want to see violence and passion and aggressiveness. That’s what football is.”

While the Sun Devils remain unranked, TCU jumped into the AP Poll Top 25 this week at No. 24, following a 35-24 win over SMU. A win on Friday would give ASU its first win against a ranked opponent this season.

The Horned Frogs have a dynamic quarterback-receiver combination to rival ASU’s duo of Leavitt and Tyson in quarterback Josh Hoover and wide receiver Eric McAlister.

The pair turned in massive performances last week. Hoover threw for 379 yards and five touchdowns, with McAlister catching eight passes for 254 yards and three scores. McAlister was named Big 12 Co-Offensive Player of the Week for his performance, alongside Texas Tech quarterback Will Hammond.

Dillingham is confident his team can put together a complete performance and regain the Big 12 spotlight with a ranked win.

“I think how badly somebody wants something, the odds of succeeding are higher,” Dillingham said. “I want people that it absolutely matters (to). Everything matters.”