STARKVILLE – No. 12 Arizona State mounted a furious rally in a hostile environment at Davis Wade Stadium, scoring 20 unanswered points to take a late lead at Mississippi State before succumbing to the long ball in the waning moments in a 24-20 loss on Saturday night in Starkville, Miss.
The Sun Devils were blitzed early, falling into a 17-0 hole in the first half before clawing back and going ahead on Jesus Gomez’s 18-yard field goal with 1:30 remaining in regulation to cap a 17-play, 95-yard drive that took 8:54 off the clock with a 20-17 advantage. But MSU’s Blake Shapen found a streaking Brennan Thompson for a 58-yard touchdown reception with 30 seconds remaining to retake the lead and the Bulldogs intercepted ASU’s next play from scrimmage to seal the contest.
Raleek Brown and Kanye Udoh combined for 215 yards on the ground, with Brown setting a career-high with 110 yards on 18 carries. Udoh notched his eighth 100-yard game of his career on the ground with 105 yards and added a touchdown. Jordyn Tyson added six receptions for 68 yards with a touchdown.
The Sun Devils posted 238 yards in the second half - 186 coming on the ground - after managing just 95 in the first.
The defense was undone by the Bulldogs’ opening and final drives of the game, giving up nine plays for 152 yards and two touchdowns on those two drives alone while MSU managed just 193 total yards on 54 plays through the middle of the game.
Keyshaun Elliott led all ASU tacklers with eight tackles and a sack and Clayton Smith had five tackles with three coming for loss and two sacks.
The Bulldogs outgained ASU 142-38 in the first quarter and took a 10-0 lead and made it 17-0 less than three minutes into the second quarter on a 47-yard Blake Shapen to Brenen Thompson touchdown pass.
Mississippi State opened the scoring on the opening drive quickly, going 75 yards on just four plays as Anthony Evans III caught a 48-yard slant and went untouched to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead just over a minute into the game, the first time an opponent had scored first against ASU since Nov. 9, 2024 vs. UCF, ending a six-game streak of scoring first.
ASU got on the board to end the half with a Jesus Gomez 51-yard field goal, and then took the second half kickoff and drove 75 yards in eight plays in 4:26 all on the ground to make it 17-10. ASU then went on a 9-play, 49-yard drive to tie the game at 17 with 13:07 remaining.
ASU punted on its first four possessions and was held scoreless in the first quarter for the first time since Sept. 21, 2024 at Texas Tech, ending a streak of 11-straight games scoring in the first quarter.
The Sun Devils will be back in action at home in Mountain America Stadium next weekend against Texas State to conclude the regular season non-conference slate at 7:30 p.m. AZT, broadcast nationally on TNT and HBO Max.