No. 16 Kansas State saw its perfect home record and chances of contending for a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game come to a crushing end in a 24-14 loss to Arizona State before a stunned sellout crowd at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

In a matchup between teams that entered the day tied for third place in the league standings, Arizona State, 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the Big 12, picked 16th in the Big 12 preseason poll, rolled to a 21-0 lead after two quarters — its largest halftime lead over a ranked opponent since 2014 — and captured its first road victory over an AP Top 25 opponent since 2019.

The Wildcats, 7-3 and 4-3, suffered their second straight loss, and this one seemed much more painful than their 24-19 setback at Houston two weeks prior.

“We didn’t play well enough and coach well enough and didn’t do a lot of things very well, and I’m responsible for everything that happens in his building with regard to football, and that’s on me,” K-State head coach Chris Klieman said. “I thought we had a good week of practice and maybe it was Fool’s Gold because we didn’t come out very fast.”

K-State played its second game in 49 days at home, where it was 4-0, and where the Wildcats had won 15 games over the last three years, the 16th-best such stretch in the nation.

But the Wildcats quickly fell behind a myriad of mishaps and could never fully recover — penalties brought back big gains, and the Wildcats had trouble with field goal placements, including one that could’ve made it a one-score game with 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

“I’m a competitor so at the end of the day I never step on the field unless I’m going out there to win,” said K-State quarterback Avery Johnson, who completed 24-of-40 passes for 258 yards and two interceptions, and added 21 rushing yards and one touchdown. “We have to take it one week at a time, a one-week season, and you never know what can shake out. We just have to attack each day at its own and not look too far down the road.”

If there was a bright spot, K-State regained its running game, as running back DJ Giddens had 14 carries for 133 yards. Giddens’ efforts gave him 1,128 rushing yards this season, becoming the fourth player in K-State history to record multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

But the Wildcats ran into trouble in their first meeting against Arizona State as Big 12 foes and their first matchup in Manhattan.

K-State’s troubles started from the game’s second play when Johnson saw his pass to wider receiver Jayce Brown end up in the hands of Xavion Alford off a tipped pass near midfield. Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt promptly drove the Sun Devils 49 yards capped by an 11-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jordyn Tyson. The score remained 7-0 until early in the second quarter when Leavitt connected with Tyson for a 30-yard score.

Leavitt threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns; Tyson had 12 catches for 176 yards and two touchdowns.

“They just made the right plays, and we didn’t,” K-State safety Marques Sigle said. “We weren’t in the right spot and making tackles. We had a great week. Just when the time came, we didn’t show it.”

K-State tried to answer but after Brown caught a pass out of the slot on a curl route, Shamari Simmons stripped the ball and Javan Robinson recovered the ball to collect the Sun Devils’ second takeaway of the game. The Sun Devils then drove 61 yards in seven plays and tight end Chamon Metayer scored on a 16-yard touchdown grab for a 21-0 lead with 10:10 left until halftime.

Asked what his message was to the team at halftime, Klieman replied: “I challenged them pretty good, let’s just say that, because that’s not us.”

K-State trailed 24-0 with 11 minutes remaining in the third quarter and finally got on the scoreboard when Giddens had rushes of 27 and 19 yards and took the Wildcats to the 10-yard line, and Johnson ran into the end zone on the next play. However, the two-point conversion was unsuccessful, and the Wildcats trailed 24-6 with 2:51 left in the third quarter.

After being held below 200 total yards through three quarters, the Wildcats’ offense came to life early in the fourth quarter, as Giddens raced 45 yards and wide receiver Dante Cephas caught a pass and turned it into a 26-yard gain to give the Wildcats first-and-10 at the Arizona State 19-yard line. Running back Joe Jackson then made his first-career reception for a 15-yard gain. Jackson took the handoff on the next play for his first-career touchdown. K-State scored the two-point conversion when Johnson found Tre Spivey in the corner of the end zone and cut the deficit to 24-14.

But that’s as close as the Wildcats would get to catching the high-flying Sun Devils, who remain in contention for the Big 12 Championship Game, while the Wildcats prepare to rebound against Cincinnati on Senior Day.

“We’re very disappointed right now, but there’s so much football left to play,” senior guard Hadley Panzer said. “This is my last season, so I’ve got to do everything I can for us to finish it out right.”