Arizona State Sun Devils at Kansas State Wildcats

Arizona State holds on to beat No. 20 Kansas State 24-14 and remain in the Big 12 title picture

Cam Skattebo returned from an injury to run for 73 yards, and the Sun Devils (8-2, 5-2) built a 21-0 halftime lead, before Kenny Dillingham's team held on for a third straight win to remain in contention for the Big 12 championship game.

“Everybody keeps saying, 'Oh, there's a reason they're winning and it's not because they're good,'” Dillingham said. “That has to bother you. This is the first week I really dove into that. I was pulling things out to show the guys for motivation this week. We really dove into people not believing in the football team, and not believing in the guys, and I think they responded."

Avery Johnson threw for 258 yards with two interceptions and a touchdown run for Kansas State (7-3, 4-3, No. 16 CFP), which had been 4-0 at home this season and 15-3 over the past three. D.J. Giddens ran for 133 yards and Joe Jackson had a TD run.

“I told the guys, “I'm going to take ownership of this on my own,'” Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said. ”The whole program is on me. I didn't do a good enough job with the game plan. I didn't do a good enough job with the players."

The bumbling Wildcats, who turned the ball over three times and failed to get the snap down on two field-goal tries, sure didn't look like a conference title contender that had last week off to prepare for the Sun Devils.

Johnson was picked off on the second play of the game, and Arizona State marched 49 yards with Leavitt hitting Tyson for the touchdown. On the next series, Dylan Edwards and Giddens were stuffed on consecutive carries, giving the Sun Devils the ball back on downs. And on the Wildcats' third series, Jayce Brown fumbled the ball away after a catch.

“Props to our defense for creating takeaways and putting us in a situation where we didn't have to go the length of the field,” Leavitt said. “We just executed on offense.”

Indeed, Arizona State capitalized on all the mistakes. Leavitt found Tyson for the second time from 30 yards out for a 14-0 lead, then hit wide open Chamon Metayer from 16 yards out to make it 21-0 early in the second quarter.

“Momentum is a real thing,” Sun Devils defensive back Xavier Alford said. “We wanted to come in here and make it our place.”

The cacophony of errors continued for the Wildcats: They had a 67-yard TD reception negated when offensive lineman Andrew Leingang blocked too far downfield. Johnson overthrew wide open Ty Bowman on a would-be 69-yard connection. And with first-and-goal at the Arizona State 5, they not only failed to get into the end zone but fumbled away the field-goal snap.

Arizona State headed to halftime serenaded by the sound of Kansas State fans booing their own team.

The Wildcats tried to rally late, beginning with Johnson's touchdown with 2:51 left in the third quarter. They got the ball back and needed just 1:19 to score again and get the 2-point conversion. But the Sun Devils picked up a couple of first downs on their next possession, running enough clock to make Kansas State's comeback bid nearly impossible.

The Wildcats muffed one last field-goal try with just over 2 minutes left that would have made it a one-possession game.

“We're big on clock management. We're big on winning the details of the game,” Dillingham said over the thumping music of the visiting locker room. “When you talk about winning against good football teams, you have to talk about winning the margins.”

The Takeaway Arizona State was picked to finish last in the Big 12 but is very much alive in the title chase. The Sun Devils face seventh-ranked BYU, which along with No. 18 Colorado is ahead of them in the standings, at home next week.

Kansas State's Big 12 title chances essentially ended thanks to two straight dismal halves. The Wildcats allowed Houston to rally from a 19-10 second-half deficit in a 24-19 loss, then dug a first-half hole Saturday night that was far too deep.

Up Next Arizona State has a showdown with BYU on Saturday.

Kansas State plays its home finale Saturday against Cincinnati.