Up against a Big 12 powerhouse in No. 16 Kansas State, ASU produced an offensive explosion in the first half that was enough for the Sun Devils to hold on for a massive 24-14 win on Saturday night.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Between Sam Leavitt completing 21-of-34 passes for three touchdowns and 275 yards and crucial defensive stops going in their favor, the Sun Devils improved to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the conference. With Colorado (8-2, 6-1) crushing Utah 49-24 in the afternoon and BYU (9-1, 6-1) suffering its first loss of the season 17-13 to Kansas, this was a big result for ASU who still has a chance at the Big 12 title game.
Here are some takeaways from ASU’s gigantic victory:
-On only the second play of the game, Avery Johnson intended on passing to Jayce Brown before Shamari Simmons contested him. The ball fluttered up in the air as Xavion Alford swooped in and leaped up for an interception.
-Arizona State’s defense continued to frustrate the Wildcats who had next to no answers offensively in the first quarter. The Sun Devils had two interceptions, causing Kansas State to have two turnovers on downs while on fourth down and a fumble.
-Making a massive statement against K-State, Simmons caused Alford’s interception and the fumble as well as catching the game-sealing pick. He ended up with three tackles.
-Cam Skattebo came back from a shoulder injury and produced 73 yards from 25 carries. The Sun Devils star missed their last game against UCF last Saturday due to an injury he had suffered the week prior against Oklahoma State.
-The strong, season-long connection between Leavitt and Jordyn Tyson was on full display in Manhattan, with Tyson amassing 12 catches for two touchdowns and 176 yards.
-Xavier Guillory almost caught a deep touchdown pass by himself, but the ball slipped away from his fingertips and couldn’t extend ASU’s lead even more in the first half. The redshirt senior receiver recorded one 11-yard reception.
-While Skattebo was the player Kansas State was pinpointing on defense, this led to the receivers getting more and more open for receptions. As a team, the Sun Devils put up 275 receiving yards and 21 completions.
-After a 21-point first half, ASU’s offense went cold in the second half.
-Going 0-for-1 on his lone field goal attempt before the game, Parker Lewis’ 47-yard kick was good. With Arizona State’s kicking room being arguably the worst position group on the team, Lewis replaced Ian Hershey as the starting kicker. Hershey is 7-for-12 this season.
-With two touchdowns beforehand, Tyson caught another reception in the third quarter but extended his arm out as he was running and fumbled the ball. Austin Romaine tackled the wideout and the ball fell loose.
-Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson, who had suffered a non-contact injury against Colorado on Oct. 12, didn’t show off his electric running ability as much as he had at the beginning of the season. Maybe dealing with the lingering effects of the injury, he still completed 24-of-40 passes for 258 yards and scored an 11-yard touchdown rush. Johnson threw two interceptions.
-Down as much as they were, the Wildcats kept fighting and flipped the momentum into their favor. Following Johnson’s rushing touchdown down the middle, Joe Jackson did the same by taking advantage of the Sun Devils defense not being set in position and he ran between the defensive line. Johnson found Tre Spivey for a two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 24-14.
-ASU strategically took multiple delay of game penalties to back up, helping punter Kanyon Floyd have a better distance to launch the ball and give Kansas State as minimal of yards to get away from its end zone.
-Kansas State was hard done by poor snapping. On two field goal attempts, the Wildcats had two horrid snaps that caused Chris Tennant to both pick up the ball in the air before being tackled and miss a crucial field goal kick when trying to get within a touchdown. Tennant’s timing was off on the second one because the ball bounced on the ground before the placeholder received it.
-Kansas State ended with 412 yards compared to 398 from Arizona State. K-State running back DJ Giddens rushed 14 times for 133 yards.
-This victory gives ASU eight wins from its first 10 games in a season for the first time since the program finished 10-2 in 2013, and gave K-State just its fourth loss at home in three seasons. ASU has now beaten both ranked opponents it has faced this season, defeating No. 16 Kansas State and Utah who was No. 16 on Oct. 11.
Kansas State coach Chris Klieman praises ASU before high-stakes matchup
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers the Phoenix Mercury, Suns and ASU Athletics for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
