TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Cam Skattebo rushed for a career-high 262 yards, quarterback Sam Leavitt ran for two touchdowns and Arizona State held on in the final minutes for its first win over a Southeastern Conference opponent by beating Mississippi State 30-23 on Saturday night.
Misssissippi State nearly rallied from a 30-3 deficit midway through the third quarter, cutting the score to 30-23 with 5:27 left in the fourth. Arizona State was able to run out the clock on its ensuing offensive drive.
Skattebo sealed the win with a 39-yard run with less than two minutes left. His 262 yards on the ground ranked second in school history.
“Today was fun,” Skattebo said. “That’s the most fun I’ve had in a football game in a long time. We had our ups and downs, but that was fun. You can ask these guys up front. Bullying dudes, grown men, who are 300 pounds, that’s fun to us.”
It was the first meeting between the two programs and an intriguing early-season test. Arizona State (2-0) was picked near the bottom of the Big 12 in preseason polls while Mississippi State (1-1) is rebuilding in the SEC as well.
Skattebo and Leavitt took turns bullying the Mississippi State defense on the way to a 27-3 halftime lead, combining for 193 yards rushing before the break. The 215-pound Skattebo punished the Bulldogs’ defense, averaging more than nine yards per carry in the first half and almost eight for the game, finishing with 33 carries.
“Blocking for him gives us the advantage,” Arizona State center Leif Fautanu said. “We just have to get in the way and he does the rest.”
Arizona State took a 30-3 lead midway through the third quarter, burning about 8 1/2 minutes of clock with a 14-play drive.
That’s when Mississippi State responded with back-to-back touchdown drives, cutting the margin to 30-16 with 13:09 left in the fourth quarter after Blake Shapen found Davon Booth for a 13-yard touchdown.
“We started executing better, doing our job, playing the next play and we found a way to string some touchdowns together,” Shapen said.
The Bulldogs’ pulled within 30-23 when Kevin Coleman Jr. caught a pass, broke a tackle and sprinted to the end zone for an 80-yard TD.
Shapen completed 18 of 28 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns. Coleman led the Bulldogs with 103 yards receiving.
The Sun Devils scored a defensive touchdown for the second straight week when C.J. Fite picked up a fumble from Shapen and ran 1 yard to the end zone — reaching the ball over the pylon as he was falling out of bounds.
That made it 20-3 and Mississippi State couldn’t recover until it was too late.
“I’ve got to take care of the football there,” Shapen said. “That’s totally on me.”
Arizona State pushed ahead 27-3 at halftime on Leavitt’s 1-yard run with 34 seconds left in the second.
Leavitt put the Sun Devils up 7-0 on their first offensive drive, running 17 yards and diving just inside the left pylon for the touchdown. It capped an impressive drive for the offense, which moved 79 yards on 10 plays, including 58 yards rushing.
THE TAKEAWAY
Mississippi State: It was a sobering night for the Bulldogs, who have a lot of work to do under first-year coach Jeff Lebby. Mississippi State was pushed around on both sides of the line of scrimmage, particularly early. The good news is they showed some life in the second half with a fast-paced offense that caused Arizona State problems.
Arizona St: The Sun Devils have turned a 180 so far this fall after two straight 3-9 seasons. But second-year coach Kenny Dillingham will have some fodder for teachable moments after the team nearly wasted a 27-point lead.
UP NEXT
Mississippi St: Hosts Toledo on Saturday.
Arizona St: Plays its first road game of the season at Texas State on Thursday.
