For a team that was picked in the preseason media poll to come in dead last, the Sun Devils with an 8-2 overall record find themselves sitting in third place in the Big-12 after knocking off No. 16 Kansas State 24-14 this last Saturday—right behind the 2nd place Colorado Buffaloes who were picked to come in 11th. No wonder folks question polls and the media. It’s probably built into the DNA of the Sun Devils that anytime you are facing a team called the Wildcats, like that of your in-state rival, that you show no mercy. It sure seemed that way through a first half that probably surprised the home crowd. I mean this was an unranked team, picked to be last in the conference, that held the No. 16 team in the country scoreless through the first two quarters while putting up 21 points of their own.
Of course the Sun Devils had a lot of help in holding them scoreless as Kansas State QB Avery Johnson, who got the ball to start the game, had his pass intercepted on their second play from scrimmage, giving Arizona State great field position to start their drive. Six plays later they were in the end zone on a Sam Leavitt 11 yard TD pass to Sophomore WR Jordyn Tyson to go up 7-0. After forcing Kansas State to turn the ball back over on downs on their next possession and then holding them to a three-and-out on the one after that Leavitt would hit Tyson again—this time for a 30 yard TD—at the end of an 11 play 67 yard drive to go up 14-0 early in the 2nd Qtr. Kansas State took over and helped the Sun Devils out again by fumbling the ball close to mid-field. Under three minutes later Leavitt would throw his third touchdown of the half—this one for 16 yards to Junior TE Chamon Metayer to go up 21-0 with both teams coming up empty over the last ten minutes of the half.
The Sun Devils would add to their lead by three on a 47 yard Parker Lewis field goal to make it 24-0 at the start the 3rd Qtr. After holding Kansas State to a three-and-out they would have a chance to extend their advantage further but fumbled the ball nine plays into their drive down at the Wildcats 22 yard line. Six plays and 78 yards later Kansas State was able to capitalize on the mistake with an Avery Johnson 10 yard TD run. They would fail to make an attempted two-point conversion making the score 24-6 with less than three minutes left in the 3rd Qtr. After forcing the Sun Devils to punt on their next possession, Kansas State would score again on a Joe Jackson 4 yard TD run and Avery Johnson pass to Tre Spivey for a 2-point conversion to make it a 24-14 game early in the 4th Qtr. Although Kansas State would force the Sun Devils to punt on their next two possessions they couldn’t take advantage, missing a field goal on their first and then throwing an interception on their next and last. With an interception to start the game, their losing effort seemed to have come full circle.