Inside the Numbers: Mississippi State-Arizona State first-half stats
Mississippi State and Arizona State have reached halftime at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, and the host Sun Devils hold a commanding 27-3 advantage.
Arizona State struck quickly on its opening possession and did most of the damage on the ground. Quarterback Sam Levitt capped off a 79-yard drive with a 17-yard touchdown scamper and the Sun Devils took a 7-0 lead with 9:31 remaining in the opening quarter.
On their following drive, the Sun Devils had to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Ian Hershey, extending the lead to 10-0 with 2:00 left in the first quarter. On the ensuing possession, the Bulldogs finally got on the board thanks to a 22-yard field goal by Kyle Ferrie, cutting the deficit to 10-3 with 13:16 remaining in the half.
Arizona State quickly pushed the lead back to 10 points following a 47-yard field goal by Hershey with 9:33 remaining in the first half. The Sun Devils’ defense then got into the scoring column when AJ Fite returned a Blake Shapen fumble for a touchdown and Arizona was in control at 20-3 with 8:33 left in the half.
Arizona State continued to roll late in the half. Leavitt scored from one yard out, his second touchdown of the first half, and the Sun Devils held a commanding 27-3 advantage with 34 seconds left in the opening half.
The Bulldogs had just 82 yards of offense in the first half and had negative 13 rushing yards. The Bulldogs had only seven first down and were 1 of 6 on third down conversions. State had two penalties in the first half for 25 yards and held the ball for just 10:49 of the first half.
The Sun Devils rolled up 262 yards of offense in the opening half with 208 coming on the ground. Arizona State had 18 first downs and were 2 of 5 on third down conversions and 1 of 1 on fourth down. The Sun Devils had three penalties for 25 yards and held the ball for 19:11.
Individually, Shapen was 9 of 15 for 95 yards while Jordan Mosley was the leading receiver with three catches for 52 yards. Keyvone Lee had five rushes for 16 yards in the first half.
For Arizona State, Cam Skattebo rushed 15 times for 137 yards while Leavitt rushed seven times for 56 yards and two touchdowns. Through the air, Leavitt was 5 of 12 for 54 yards.
Myles Rowser paced Arizona State’s defense with seven tackles in the first half. Isaac Smith had 11 tackles for Mississippi State in the first half.
