Tonight's game against the Bulldogs was a heartbreak for the Sun Devils after they lost in Starkville, Mississippi, 24-20.
It was an up-and-down game for ASU, which came back late after being down 17-0 in the first half. ASU's offense rushed the ball well, while redshirt sophomore Sam Leavitt struggled. After the Sun Devils took the lead late, the Bulldogs scored a 58-yard touchdown to win the game.
"That's the nature of football is you play these really, really good football games," head coach Kenny Dillingham said per SunDevilSource. "You either win them or you lose them. Last year, we won a lot of them. Unfortunate to come out on the other side of one of these."
The Sun Devils' offense got a taste of the cowbells early. ASU's offense did not have a play in Mississippi State's territory until the second quarter.
An opening drive touchdown by the Bulldogs and a controversial pickup of a flag on a chop block led to another touchdown.
Leavitt's first half struggles saw him go 5-15 for 23 yards and an interception. The Sun Devils' sole points of the half came from redshirt senior Jesus Gomez's 51-yard field goal as time expired.
"We couldn't get Sam in a rhythm," Dillingham said. "I got to do a better job getting him in a rhythm, because you can't play quarterback if you're not in rhythm."
ASU's run game commanded the offense. Both junior Kanye Udoh and redshirt junior Raleek Brown each rushed for over 100 yards. The Sun Devils ran the ball 51 times for 251 yards to finish the game.
The Sun Devils' first scoring drive came right out of the half, when Udoh scored his first touchdown as a Sun Devil.
"We had to run the ball to open up the offense," Brown said per SunDevilSource. "So that was our game plan in the second half — just to run the ball, get downhill."
The Sun Devils' defense responded well after letting up 17 points. At the end of the third quarter, the Bulldogs were 4-11 on third down and 0-2 on fourth down. Redshirt senior Clayton Smith had two of the three Sun Devil sacks. The defense finished with six tackles for loss.
"Obviously, there was a few too many explosives that we gave up," senior Keyshaun Elliott said, regarding the defense. "We got to get back together, get to work."
On fourth down, Leavitt ran to his left and connected with redshirt junior Jordyn Tyson to tie the game at 17. Leavitt connected with Tyson three times during that drive. The Texas-born receiver finished with six catches for 68 yards.
The Sun Devils took their first lead late in the fourth quarter. After being stuffed at the one-yard line, Gomez hit an 18-yard field goal to put ASU up three.
After ASU took the lead, blown coverage allowed for a 58-yard game-winning touchdown pass. The Bulldogs defeated the Sun Devils 24-20. The first points given up by ASU’s defense in the second half made the difference.
"(Mississippi State's) explosive," Dillingham said. "They made an explosive play. We had to take away their explosives in the game in the second half. We did that up until the end."
Leavitt finished the game 10-22 for 82 yards and one touchdown to two interceptions — a rough game for the redshirt sophomore after having four total touchdowns last week.
The Sun Devils will now look to return home to take on Texas State on Sept.13.
"Hopefully, we learn from this and get better," Dillingham said. "The goal is to be playing your best football towards the end of the season, not at the beginning of the season."
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, Henry Smardo and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporter at niall.rosenberg@gmail.com and follow @RosenbergNiall on X.
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Niall Rosenberg is a lead Sports Reporter at the State Press. He has previously worked with sports teams such as the Rockford Rivets of the Northwoods League. He is in his 2nd semester with the State Press with the chance to cover football and other sports.
