Blake Shapen tossed a 58-yard touchdown pass to Brenen Thompson with 30 seconds left to give Mississippi State a 24-20 victory over No. 12 Arizona State on Saturday night at Starkville, Miss.
The Mississippi State defense put together a stellar goal-line stand to hold Arizona State to a field goal before the big play in which Thompson found operating room and caught Shapen’s pass inside the 25-yard line and dashed into the end zone.
Hunter Washington intercepted Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt on the next play with 21 seconds left to seal it for the Bulldogs.
Shapen completed 19 of 33 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns for Mississippi State (2-0).
Thompson had six receptions for 133 yards and two scores and Anthony Evans III caught nine passes for 108 yards and one touchdown for the Bulldogs.
Raleek Brown rushed for 110 yards on 18 carries and Kanye Udoh had 105 yards and one score on 23 carries for Arizona State (1-1). Leavitt was 10-of-22 passing for just 82 yards and was intercepted twice. He also threw a touchdown pass to Jordyn Tyson.
The game was tied at 17 with 10:32 left in the fourth quarter when the Sun Devils took over at their 4-yard line and put together a 17-play, 95-yard drive that lasted eight minutes and 54 seconds.
Udoh got the Sun Devils out of the hole with consecutive runs of 11 and 12 yards. Arizona State later had second-and-3 from the Mississippi State 29-yard line and Brown broke loose up the middle for 26 yards with the Bulldogs’ DeAgo Brumfield making the touchdown-saving tackle.
The Bulldogs’ defense then stepped up. Udoh gained 2 yards to the 1 and then was stuffed for no gain on each of the next two plays.
Jesus Gomez entered to boot an 18-yard field goal with 1:38 left to give Arizona State its first lead of the night.
But Mississippi State answered with a five-play, 77-yard drive capped by Shapen’s throw to Thompson.
Arizona State received a 51-yard field goal from Gomez to end the first half and leave the Sun Devils with a 17-3 deficit.
Arizona State then opened the second half with a 75-yard drive in which all eight plays were on the ground with Udoh scoring from the 6.
The momentum continued and the Sun Devils knotted the score at 17 with 13:07 left in the game. The tying points came when Tyson made a 2-yard diving catch of Leavitt’s throw on fourth-and-1.
Earlier, Shapen threw a 48-yard scoring pass to Evans on the game’s fourth play from scrimmage, and Kyle Ferrie tacked on a 37-yard field goal to make it 10-0 with 1:18 remaining in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs pushed the advantage to 17 when Shapen tossed a 47-yard touchdown pass to Thompson with 12:51 left in the half.
–Field Level Media
