Arizona State withstood a late rally to win its first game against an SEC opponent, beating Mississippi State 30-23 on Saturday night in Tempe, Ariz., behind Cam Skattebo’s career-high 262 rushing yards on 33 carries.
The Sun Devils (2-0), who entered the game 0-5 against the SEC, almost squandered a 30-3 third-quarter lead.
Behind Skattebo’s performance, Arizona State amassed 346 rushing yards on 57 carries.
Mississippi State (1-1) rushed for just 24 yards on 27 attempts.
Blake Shapen, a transfer from Baylor, was sacked three times and finished with minus-22 yards on the ground.
Shapen completed 18 of 28 pass attempts for 268 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
His 80-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Coleman Jr. with 5:27 remaining was Mississippi State’s third straight unanswered touchdown in the second half and trimmed the deficit to 30-23.
Arizona State took a 27-3 lead at halftime, limiting Mississippi State to 82 yards of total offense.
The Sun Devils rushed for 208 yards on 28 carries by halftime while Mississippi State had minus-13 yards on 14 rushes.
Arizona State scored on its first five possessions while Mississippi State punted twice, fumbled the ball away and turned the ball over on downs in four of its first five possessions.
Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt, a transfer from Mississippi State, scored the Sun Devils’ two offensive touchdowns in the first half on runs of 17 yards and 1 yard.
The 1-yard sneak ended the scoring in the half with 33 seconds left.
Arizona State scored a defensive touchdown in the half on C.J. Fite’s 1-yard scoop and score off a fumble by Shapen, who lost the ball on a hit by Clayton Smith.
Leavitt passed for 69 yards, completing 10 of 20 attempts.
Mississippi State scored touchdowns on consecutive possessions in the second half to cut the lead to 30-16 with 13:08 left in the game.
Keyvone Lee scored the first touchdown on a 6-yard run on a fourth-and-3 play with 2:29 left in the third.
Shapen completed a 15-yard scoring strike to Davon Booth for the second touchdown.
Mississippi State’s possession was extended by a holding call on Arizona State on a fourth-and-9 situation.
–Field Level Media