Arizona State football keeps Big 12 title hopes alive with win at Kansas State

With a 24-14 win at No. 16 Kansas State on Saturday, Arizona State football hung on and stayed alive in the chase for the Big 12 title game.

The Sun Devils (8-2, 5-2) still need help from the two teams in front of them in the conference standings, No. 6 BYU (9-0, 6-0) and No. 17 Colorado (8-2, 6-1). The Buffaloes beat Utah earlier on Saturday while BYU is trailing early at home against Kansas.

Saturday’s win sets up next week’s home finale against BYU as a massive one, especially if the Cougars fall to Kansas. If that happens, the matchup at Mountain America Stadium would be for a spot in the title game, at least for that moment.

ASU’s win over Kansas State gave it the tiebreaker over Colorado, as the Wildcats are the best common opponent between the Sun Devils and Buffaloes. However, even should ASU win out, Colorado needs to lose one more game for the tiebreaker to come into play.

If ASU doesn’t win out, there are still scenarios for the Sun Devils to make it, but they require much more help from outside teams.

What key plays did Arizona State make to seal win at Kansas State?

Parker Lewis hit a 47-yard field goal that would’ve been good from much further, the Sun Devils’ first made field goal since Sept. 21 at Texas Tech.

The Sun Devil defense then forced a three-and-out, continuing its first half success before the game unraveled following a Jordyn Tyson fumble.

The Wildcats rattled off consecutive touchdown drives which each took less than 2:30 of game time. The ASU offense was unable to get back on track, mustering just 54 yards over its next two drives.

Then, Kansas State was held scoreless on a drive that included slow substitutions by ASU in an effort to kill clock. It was a bad snap that led to a wide-right field goal, when the Wildcats botched a snap on a field goal at the end of the first half as well.

ASU wasted 22 seconds and two K-State timeouts on its next drive, and Shamari Simmons sealed the win with an interception, bringing the win full circle after he tipped up a pass for an interception on the Wildcats’ first pass attempt of the game.

The Sun Devils next host No. 6 BYU next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MST on ESPN. A win would give ASU its first undefeated season at home since 2004.