Instant Reaction: Fans can start party as Mississippi State closes upset win

In the first half, Mississippi State showed what we wanted to see. Little to no mistakes, no turnovers, no penalties (until late in the half), the defense stuffed the run and Leavitt had to scramble a lot. 

Of course, the fans inside Davis Wade Stadium did their job. At least two of the Sun Devils’ first half penalties were due to the crowd noise and cowbells. 

But some of the struggles from last week reappeared. 

The offense lost a chance at three points at the end of the first half because of a holding penalty and a sack. Back-to-back punts were shanks.

Running backs were having to dodge defenders in the backfield and with less than two minutes in the game, the Bulldogs had 12 players on the field that forced Jeff Lebby to burn his second timeout.

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The second half didn’t start off much better than the way the first half ended. Arizona State ran eight plays, all of which were runs or scrambles, and drove the down the field with ease, cutting the Bulldogs’ lead to seven points.

The Sun Devils dusted off last year's game plan and ran the ball with a lot of success. The injury to Will Whitson, who didn't play in the second half, was a major loss. He had a sack and two tackles for a loss before leaving the game with an injury.

Also, Jaray Bledsoe had to be helped off the field in the fourth quarter. That's two of Mississippi State's best performing defensive linemen that will now be major question marks.

It was failrly shocking to watch how easily Arizona State was able to run the ball at times. The Sun Devils didn't throw the ball much (the game-tying touchdown being one of the exceptions) because they didn't need to.

So, yes, we saw a lot of things to like about Mississippi State. The Bulldogs did just give the No. 12 team in the country everything it could handle and may have put an end to Heisman hopes Leavitt harbored.

Maybe the best thing to love about this one was a win at the end. They've already gotten as many this year as they had all last season.

Celebrate this one. Everybody can worry about what's ahead after tonight.

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