Arizona State held on to a late surge to win its first game against an SEC opponent, beating Mississippi State 30-23 on Saturday night in Tempe, Arizona, thanks to Cam Skattebo’s career-high 262 rushing yards on 33 carries.

The Sun Devils (2-0), who started the game with a 0-5 lead against the SEC, nearly blew a 30-3 lead in the third quarter.

Skattebo’s performance helped Arizona State collect 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 left was Mississippi State’s third straight unanswered touchdown in the second half and closed the gap to 30-23.

Arizona State took a 27-3 lead at halftime and limited Mississippi State to 82 yards of total offense.

The Sun Devils had rushed for 208 yards on 28 attempts at halftime, while Mississippi State had -13 yards on 14 attempts.

Arizona State scored on its first five attacks, while Mississippi State scored twice, lost the ball and gave the ball away on four of its first five attacks.

Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt, a transfer from Mississippi State, scored two offensive touchdowns for the Sun Devils in the first half, with runs of 17 yards and 1 yard.

The 1-yard sneak ended the scoring in the first half with 33 seconds left on the clock.

Arizona State scored a defensive touchdown in the first half on a 1-yard scoop by CJ Fite and scored on a fumble by Shapen, who lost the ball on a hit by Clayton Smith.

Leavitt threw for 69 yards and completed 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.

Keyvone Lee scored the first touchdown on a 6-yard run on a fourth-and-3 play with 2:29 left in the third period.

Shapen completed a 15-yard scoring strike to Davon Booth for the second touchdown.

Mississippi State gained possession after a holding call on Arizona State on fourth-and-9.

–Field Level Media