TEMPE – The second half wasn’t pretty by any means, but ASU got over the line to beat Mississippi State 30-23 on Saturday night.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!In a game where fanatics of the run game were treated to high-octane offense by Arizona State (2-0), Cam Skattebo racked up 33 carries for a career-high 262 yards by himself and quarterback Sam Leavitt rushed for 68 yards on 11 attempts.
Though he had a slow start, Mississippi State (1-1) quarterback Blake Shapen got into a groove in the second half and almost helped his team pull off a massive comeback. From down 27-3 at halftime to outscoring the Sun Devils 20-3 in the latter portion of the game, the former ASU commit threw for 268 yards from 18-of-28 passing.
ASU’s offense centered around rushing, reaped rewards
After two interceptions in the first two drives in the 48-7 victory over Wyoming, ASU got off to yet another lightning-quick start.
Thanks to the defense quickly forcing Mississippi State to punt on fourth down during its first drive, Leavitt faked a hand-off, bolted toward his left and dived in the end zone for a 17-yard rushing touchdown 4:11 into the game.
Relying on its rushing skill, Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham went to Leavitt and Skattebo as the Bulldogs were bamboozled with who had the ball and who didn’t.
In the opening 15 minutes of action, Leavitt had four carries for 45 yards and a touchdown while Skattebo ran seven times for 59 yards. The Sun Devils rushed a total of 107 yards in the first quarter alone and 346 overall.
“I knew from last week coming out of a Mountain West game and beating them [Wyoming] by 40 that coach [Marcus] Arroyo and coach Dillingham were going to put this one on my back,” Skattebo said. “I am always expecting to have that in my backpack but it’s not an every week thing, and this week it was. I was glad I was able to do that and I am glad these guys trust me to be able to do that.”
Down 10-0, Mississippi State threatened further and further up the field until Keyvone Lee had a golden opportunity to score a touchdown. Pinpointed by Shapen, Lee curled up and was unable to corral the pass within his arms. Kyle Ferrie made a 32-yard field goal to save the drive, making it 10-3 in the opening moments of the second quarter.
With the Bulldogs adjusting its defense after a poor start, Arizona State went to kicker Ian Hershey for three field goals. Expanding his range and playing a bigger part of their offense than he usually gets credit for, one of his kicks was a deep, 49-yarder and another was launched from 46 yards away.
Off of a two-touchdown game in Mississippi State’s season-opening 56-7 win over Eastern Kentucky, wide receiver Mario Craver had a chance to come up big once again. Running around the pocket, Shapen fired a 61-yard pass that Craver miraculously caught. Hyped after the huge reception, he would soon be disappointed when it was instantly ruled out because MSU was charged with a pass interference penalty. The Sun Devils limited the speedy Craver to 22 receiving yards from two targets.
Like the first game of the season, ASU forced a fumble just a few yards from the end zone and took it to the house for a touchdown. Defensive lineman Clayton Smith crushed Shapen while the quarterback was rushing and the ball became loose, with C.J. Fite picking up the ball and scoring.
“In practice, we set a standard on defense. Any time a ball comes out, go pick it up. So I saw the ball, went and got it,” Fite said. “It wasn’t really too much, I just saw the ball and I was close to the end zone, so I tried to sneak between the pylon. I looked, stared at the refs and touchdown.”
Leavitt rushed for another touchdown with 34 seconds remaining in the second quarter and all of a sudden, Arizona State comfortably led 27-3 at halftime.
With the game being run-heavy from the jump, Leavitt couldn’t get into a throwing rhythm as he completed 10-of-20 passes for 69 yards.
While this could spark a cause of concern for some, Dillingham expected some struggles from his quarterback with the team’s style of play.
“When our guys are in the locker rooms saying, ‘Let’s make this inside run period,’ that’s when you know there is a mindset about it,” Dillingham said. “I think they did that, I think they played hard with a passion and we ran the ball. I feel bad for No. 10 [Leavitt] over here because part of when you run the ball like that and you have a lead like that, you get out of a rhythm at quarterback. It’s impossible to keep him in a rhythm, so we are forcing him to play out of rhythm in his second start in college football. Then people see him throw an incompletion and are like, ‘Oh, why didn’t you complete that?’ Yeah, he’s in no rhythm because we are running the ball. That’s not how you lead your quarterback to success.”
Mississippi fell just short of pulling off second-half miracle
With a nearly full section of fans cheering them on who either made the trip from Mississippi or from elsewhere to Tempe, the Bulldogs started to fight back in the second half.
Making up for his squandered catch earlier, Lee rushed between the Sun Devils’ defense for a score.
Then, Arizona State linebacker Keyshaun Elliott received a holding penalty on fourth down which gave Mississippi State a reset of downs and capitalized. As a result, Davon Booth was wide open for a 15-yard reception for another touchdown on the very next play. Ferrie missed the extra point, but Booth’s reception closed the gap to 30-16 with 13:09 left in the final quarter.
The sense around Mountain America stadium was that the Bulldogs were inching closer and closer striking each time they had the ball while ASU’s momentum was dwindling.
To mount a heap of pressure on the Sun Devils, Shapen launched a long pass to Kevin Coleman Jr. who stayed inbounds and ran until he scored a monstrous 80-yard touchdown.
Fans in the stands became quiet, with some becoming extremely nervous when there was 5:00 left of time still left on the clock.
“Really weird flow of the game because in the second half, they had such quick touchdowns that kept them in it in those last three out of the four possessions there,” Dillingham said.
But to seal the game, Skattebo ran for 39 yards and slid so Leavitt could kneel to run down the time.
“Me and the O-line had a talk on the sidelines and I didn’t think going into that anyone was going to stop us, no matter who it was,” Skattebo said. “I put my belief in those guys and I do my job behind them. We had enough time on the clock to just burn it, and we won.”
Next Games
ASU: Away at Texas State (2-0) | Sept. 12 | 4:30 p.m. PT
Mississippi State: Home vs. Toledo (2-0) | Sept. 14 | 4:30 p.m. PT
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers ASU Athletics, the Phoenix Mercury and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
