Cardae Mack Runs for Four Touchdowns as Arizona State Beats Kansas State 28-17
Cardae Mack scored every Arizona State touchdown. All four of them, on 26 carries and 159 yards, in a 28-17 win over Kansas State. The Sun Devils did not need a passing touchdown, a defensive one or a special teams one. They just handed it to Mack.
His runs were 9 yards, 1 yard, 12 yards and 11 yards. The first answered Kansas State's opening score, a 7-yard Jacob Knuth pass to Jaron Tibbs, and the second made it 14-7 early in the second quarter. Luis Rodriguez kicked a field goal to cut it to 14-10, and Knuth's 10-yard run with 7:59 left in the third put Kansas State ahead 17-14.
That was the last time the Wildcats scored. Mack ran in from 12 yards out at 14:55 of the fourth to retake the lead, 21-17, and again from 11 at 6:23 to make it 28-17. Arizona State had trailed by as many as seven points, at 7-0, and finished with 370 total yards to 278 and no turnovers. Kansas State had none either, so the game was settled on the ground, 158 yards to 84.
Kansas State's passing game had its moments. Knuth threw 41 times and completed 26, with Reed Harris catching six for 147 yards, Joshua Manning seven for 57 and Derrick Salley Jr. six for 63. The Wildcats ran 32 times for 84 yards, though, and that is the number that mattered when they needed the ground game to answer. Arizona State kept feeding Mack, and Mack kept finishing, which is the whole story.
Both teams finish 4-3. Mack's 41.6 points came in a single afternoon and were nearly half of the 93.9 he has all season, so it is fair to say you did not see this one coming if you owned him.