By Jacob Seliga
Lead Writer
From the first play of the game, Arizona State established dominance in its matchup against the Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday night.
Wildcats quarterback Avery Johnson dropped back for a pass and threw a ball that was tipped in the air by Sun Devil safety Shamari Simmons and intercepted by a diving Xavion Alford.
That interception led to an 11-yard touchdown pass from Sun Devil quarterback Sam Leavitt to his favorite target Jordyn Tyson. Leavitt’s pass was set up after two long scrambles from him to start the drive.
And moments like that would define the Sun Devils 24-14 upset victory.
From there, the Sun Devils defense would proceed to force a turnover on downs at midfield, a punt, a forced fumble, and another turnover on downs to end the first half.
While the defense held the Wildcats to their lowest first half total in both points and yards, the offense for the first time on the road this season clicked from the jump.
The Sun Devils offense scored on three of their first four drives of the game on balanced sustained drives of six, 11, and seven plays. The key to two of the first three scoring drives for Arizona State was Leavitt’s connection with Tyson.
In the first half, Tyson pulled in six receptions for 91 yards.The second half however was where the road game struggles reared its ugly head.
Arizona State took a 21-0 lead into halftime and had the ball to start the second half with a chance to put the kill shot on the Wildcats.
Leavitt led a seven-play, 46-yard drive to set up a 47-yard field goal by kicker Parker Lewis, his longest of the season so far.
On the Sun Devils following possession, after forcing the Wildcats to punt, Leavitt and Tyson’s connection would continue once again as Tyson pulled in a short pass and proceeded to get a 30-yard gain but would fumble before going down to give Kansas State life.
That’s where things would proceed to get dicey for Arizona State.
After bottling up the Wildcats rushing attack in the first half, running back DJ Giddens and Johnson would proceed to run over the Sun Devil defense.
Giddens would get loose for a 27-yard run which would set up a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Johnson to get on the board.
And with the Sun Devil offense unable to move the ball, once again Kansas State would get the ball this time following a punt by Kanyon Floyd.
Giddens would immediately rip off a 45-yard run that would lead to a Johnson pass to Joe Jackson for a touchdown and a two point conversion to Tré Spivey to cut the Wildcats deficit to 24-14 in the fourth quarter.
However, when the Sun Devils needed it the most, the defense buckled down. As the Wildcats marched down the field to attempt a field goal to cut the deficit to 7 before the two minute warning, the defensive line bull rushed the line of the Wildcats and forced a bad snap that led to a missed field goal.
Player of the game: Jordyn Tyson, Wide Receiver
Tyson looked like one of the best wide receivers in college football on Saturday night as he pulled in 12 receptions for 176 yards and two touchdowns. Whether it was quick screens, intermediate routes at the first down marker, or deep passes into the end zone, Tyson did it all in this matchup. His connection as the season has gone on with Sam Leavitt has become arguably the best 1-2 punch in the Big 12 Conference. This is the fifth time in six games that Tyson pulled in a touchdown reception and the third time this season he’s had multiple touchdowns in a game.
Next Game: Arizona State vs No. 9 BYU, ESPN, 1:30 PM
Now the Sun Devils head home for the biggest home game in over a decade to face a highly ranked BYU team with a chance to stay alive in the Big 12 championship race. It’s a pseudo rivalry game and a senior day matchup with national implications as arguably the biggest game in all of college football next Saturday. At 8-2, the Sun Devils are in position to win 10 or more games for the first time in a decade and their outside hopes at making the college football playoff may very well get a huge boost with a victory.
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