Sam Leavitt was 21-of-34 for 275 yards and three touchdowns as Arizona State defeated No. 16 Kansas State 24-14 in the first Big 12 Conference matchup between the two teams. Two of Leavitt’s touchdowns were to Jordyn Tyson, who caught 12 passes for 176 yards.
The Sun Devils (8-2, 5-2) built a 24-0 lead in the third quarter before K-State got its offense going. Arizona State reached Kansas State territory on each of its first nine drives and was 9-of-15 on third downs.
Arizona State has won all six regular-season meetings between the two schools. K-State’s only victory came in the 2002 Holiday Bowl.
The Wildcats had just six first downs before getting the ball on their own 22 with 5:15 left in the third quarter on a fumble by Arizona State. Avery Johnson led two second-half touchdown drives.
Johnson finished 24-of-40 for 258 yards, but he had two interceptions and no touchdowns for Kansas State (7-3, 4-3).
K-State had a chance to make it a one-score game in the fourth quarter on a Chris Tennant 36-yard field-goal attempt with 2:02 left. But a bad snap led to Tennant’s kick going wide right.
Penalties were costly for the Wildcats. They had halted the Sun Devils’ first drive, but a defensive penalty on third down extended the drive and Leavitt found Tyson for an 11-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Trailing 21-0 early in the second quarter, Johnson found Dante Cephas on a 63-yard pass for a touchdown, but the Wildcats were called for an ineligible receiver downfield. They eventually turned the ball over on downs.
The Sun Devils took a 7-0 lead into the second quarter, but Leavitt found Tyson for a 30-yard touchdown on the second play of the quarter. On K-State’s third play of the ensuing drive, Johnson found Jayce Brown, who gained 13 yards before fumbling. The fumble was recovered by Arizona State.
Leavitt then found Chamon Metayer on a 16-yard touchdown pass and the Sun Devils were up three scores.
They extended the lead to 24-0 in the third quarter.
–Field Level Media
