Arizona State and Kansas State met on Saturday in an elimination game in the Big 12 Championship race. Both teams entered with identical 7-2 overall records and 4-2 in Big 12 play. The Wildcats were coming off a bye week, which was preceded by a loss to Houston. Meantime, Arizona State was coming off a win over UCF.
The Wildcats were big favorites in this game, but it was the Sun Devils who came to Manhattan, unafraid, with something to prove and led from start to finish over K-State for a 24-14 win.
Here are the three biggest takeaways on the game.
Welcome Back, Cam Skattebo
Cam Skattebo was back from a shoulder injury suffered two weeks prior against Oklahoma State. As a result, he missed last week’s win vs. UCF. But having him back gives this Arizona State offense an entirely different look.
He finished with 25 carries for 73 yards, along with four catches for 44 yards. But it also just opens up the offense for Sam Leavitt, who was also much improved over last week, finishing 21/34 for 275 yards, with three touchdowns. He also rushed for 30 yards on four carries.
Overall, the Arizona State offense scored on four of five drives from the first half into the start of the second half, which proved to be more than enough to hold off Kansas State on the road for the win to improve to 8-2 on the season and 5-2 in Big 12 play, to stay in the Big 12 Title Hunt.
Sloppy Kansas State
Kansas State had a bye week to think about the way the Houston game ended, and it seemed like they were more intent on duplicating it. Everything was ugly for the Wildcats in this game. The offense, defense and special teams.
Bad penalties, too many turnovers (3), missed field goals and interceptions killed Kansas State all night long. It started on the first drive of the game when Avery Johnson was intercepted by Xavion Alford, which led to the first Arizona State touchdown of the evening. Jayce Brown had a fumble a couple of drives later that cost the Wildcats and led to another Arizona State touchdown to make it 21-0 Sun Devils.
Fast-forward to the final two minutes with K-State down 10 points. On fourth down, the Wildcats went for a 36-yard field goal to try and make it a one-score game with all three timeouts remaining. But a bad snap led to a miss by kicker Chris Tennant, effectively ending the game.
Everything about this game is forgettable, including Avery Johnson’s inability to pass the ball, which might be worth it’s own column later in the week.
Arizona State is in the Big 12 Race
The Sun Devils are 5-2 in Big 12 play and get BYU at home next week, which will have massive conference title implications.
Oh, and raise your hand if you predicted back in August for BYU at Arizona State in Week 13 to be one of the biggest games in the Big 12 this season? If you did, go buy a lottery ticket, like right now.
Kenny Dillingham would be the automatic Big 12 Coach of the Year, given that they were picked to finish last in the Big 12 in the Preseason Poll. But Colorado’s Deion Sanders and BYU’s Kalani Sitake are in the way, and likely to finish ahead of Dillingham.
But this team needs to beat BYU next week, and then have them either lose to Kansas on Saturday night, or Houston in their season finale, to punch a ticket to a Big 12 Championship Game.
