Mississippi State Bulldogs at Arizona State Sun Devils
· NCAA - FootballSkattebo runs for 262 yards, Arizona State hangs on for 30-23 win over Mississippi State
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.
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.
Arizona St: Plays its first road game of the season at Texas State on Thursday.
How To Watch
How can I watch Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Arizona State Sun Devils?
- TV Channel: Bulldogs at Sun Devils 2021 College Football, week 2, is broadcasted on ESPN.
- Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.
Matchup Prediction
Scoring Summary
TD | 1st Period 9:31 | Sam Leavitt 17 Yd Run (Ian Hershey Kick) | |
FG | 1st Period 2:00 | Ian Hershey 27 Yd Field Goal | |
FG | 2nd Period 13:16 | Kyle Ferrie 32 Yd Field Goal | |
FG | 2nd Period 9:33 | Ian Hershey 47 Yd Field Goal | |
TD | 2nd Period 8:23 | C.J. Fite 1 Yd Fumble Return (Ian Hershey Kick) | |
TD | 2nd Period 0:34 | Sam Leavitt 1 Yd Run (Ian Hershey Kick) | |
FG | 3rd Period 6:33 | Ian Hershey 46 Yd Field Goal | |
TD | 3rd Period 2:29 | Keyvone Lee 6 Yd Run (Kyle Ferrie Kick) | |
TD | 4th Period 13:09 | Davon Booth 15 Yd pass from Blake Shapen (Kyle Ferrie PAT failed) | |
TD | 4th Period 5:27 | Kevin Coleman 80 Yd pass from Blake Shapen (Kyle Ferrie Kick) |
Statistics
MSST | ASU | |
---|---|---|
18 | 1st Downs | 26 |
3-11 | 3rd down efficiency | 5-15 |
1-2 | 4th down efficiency | 3-3 |
292 | Total Yards | 415 |
268 | Passing | 69 |
18/28 | Comp/Att | 10/20 |
9.6 | Yards per pass | 3.5 |
24 | Rushing | 346 |
27 | Rushing Attempts | 57 |
0.9 | Yards per rush | 6.1 |
3-35 | Penalties | 9-85 |
1 | Turnovers | 0 |
1 | Fumbles lost | 0 |
0 | Interceptions thrown | 0 |
19:47 | Possession | 40:13 |
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