STARKVILLE, Miss. — College football delivered every high and low imaginable on Saturday night, as Mississippi State upset No. 12 Arizona State, 24-20, under the lights of Davis Wade Stadium.
With 1:38 left in regulation, the Sun Devils (1-1) marched 95 yards in nearly nine minutes to grab their first lead of the night.
It lasted just 68 seconds.
On third-and-long, graduate quarterback Blake Shapen found senior wideout Brenen Thompson on a 58-yard strike, as he raced to the end zone to put the Bulldogs (2-0) back up for good.
“That is what college football is supposed to be about,” ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham told reporters after the loss. “Unfortunately, we were on the other side of it.”
The home team gave its fans a reason to clank their cowbells early. On the fourth play from scrimmage, junior receiver Anthony Evans III hauled in a 48-yard touchdown from Shapen to get Mississippi State on the board.
The Bulldogs struck again early in the second quarter. Thompson blew past the Arizona State secondary for a 47-yard touchdown, giving MSU a 17-0 lead.
“They are looking for one guy to make a mistake and then you are getting disciplined for it,” ASU senior linebacker Keyshaun Elliott said. “There were a few too many explosive (plays) we gave up, but … Overall, I thought when we stopped them on first down, we were getting off that field.”
Big plays haunted the Sun Devils all night, while they struggled to create one of their own. After falling behind 17-0, ASU began to flip the script.
A roughing the passer penalty at the end of the half put the Sun Devils in field goal range. In the lone positive of the half, senior kicker Jesus Gomez drilled a 51-yard field goal as the clock expired to send ASU into the break on a positive note. After four punts, an interception and a turnover on downs, Arizona State went into halftime trailing 17-3.
Out of the half, the Maroon and Gold came out with renewed energy. ASU started with the ball and established a physical tone with its ground game.
In relief of junior running back Kyson Brown, who went down in the first half with a leg injury, junior running backs Kanye Udoh and Raleek Brown combined for 161 rushing yards in the second half. The duo powered an eight-play, 75-yard drive with eight consecutive runs. Udoh capped it with a 6-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to just one score.
Arizona State’s defense also tightened. After letting up over 200 yards of offense in the first half, the Sun Devils allowed under 40 in the third quarter, shifting the momentum. A fourth-down stop gifted ASU the ball inside Mississippi State territory.
Offensive play caller Marcus Arroyo continued to pound the rock all the way down to the goal line. However, on fourth-and-goal from the one, redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt zipped it to redshirt junior wide receiver Jordyn Tyson for the touchdown. Gomez’s extra point tied it at 17 with 13:07 left in the fourth.
Tyson ended the night with six grabs for 68 yards and a score.
Defensively, Arizona State continued to apply pressure. The unit quickly forced a punt, leaving the Sun Devils starting from their own 4-yard line.
Sparky drove all the way down to the Mississippi State 1-yard line, but ultimately had to settle for a field goal. Dillingham sent out Gomez for the 18-yard field goal to put ASU up 20-17.
“You’ve got to take the lead,” Dillingham said on his decision to kick a field goal instead of keeping his offense on the field. “You can’t not take the lead there.”
Dillingham’s decision to take the three instead of going for six left the door open for Mississippi State. Thompson’s last-second touchdown slammed that door and sent David Wade Stadium into a frenzy.
Arizona State had 30 seconds and two timeouts for a final chance. With cowbells echoing across Starkville, Leavitt tossed a ball into the arms of Mississippi State senior safety Hunter Washington to end the game.
“Our guys responded great,” Dillingham said. “We were one play away from this press conference being on an unbelievable comeback.”
The Bulldogs snapped a 13-game losing streak to Power Four teams, giving second-year head coach Jeff Lebby his first win over a ranked opponent. For Arizona State, this could serve as a wake-up call for the squad that hopes to go back to the Big 12 Championship.
“We talk about facing adversity and responding to failure all season and all camp,” Dillingham said. “Because I know when you have success, it is not about everyone telling you how good you are, it is what happens in the moments when you fail.”
Next week, Arizona State returns to Tempe to face Texas State (2-0), aiming to get back in the win column.
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