ASU gets serious in 2nd half
JONESBORO — Blake Anderson didn’t yell at his Arkansas State football team at halftime Saturday night. He didn’t break his hand while punching a door like he did two weeks ago, either.
Instead, Anderson was honest with his Red Wolves, who had allowed a team that has won one Sun Belt Conference game in three seasons to score four touchdowns and gain more than 300 yards in the first two quarters Saturday night.
“There was no magic potion, no dust to sprinkle on anybody,” Anderson said. “Either we wanted to win and we were going to find a way to will it to happen, or we were going to have to live with this one and it was going to taste pretty bad.”
The Red Wolves chose the former, holding Georgia State scoreless on all five second-half possessions and scoring three fourth-quarter touchdowns of its own to rally for a 48-34 victory at Centennial Bank Stadium.
An announced crowd of 18,217 watched as quarterback Fredi Knighten threw two first-half interceptions, one deep in Georgia State territory and another that was returned by Chandon Sullivan for a touchdown. Knighten also lost a third-quarter fumble. They also watched Marquan Green sprint 100 yards on a kickoff return early in the third quarter to give the Panthers (2-5, 1-2) a 34-27 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
But, ASU (5-3, 4-0) came up with two plays to spark its final push. First, Blaise Taylor’s 52-yard punt return set up Knighten’s 3-yard fade pass to Tres Houston that tied the game at 34-34 with 13:37 left. Then, Nehemiah Wagner’s interception of Georgia State’s Nick Arbuckle set up what amounted to be the game-winning drive.
Johnston White’s 3-yard run capped the 52-yard drive, all coming on the ground, to put ASU up 41-34, and Warren Wand’s 60-yard sprint for the final score put the finishing touches on ASU’s fourth consecutive Sun Belt victory.
“”We just kept doing what we were doing, just trying to out-effort those guys,” said Knighten, who shook off three turnovers to pass for 224 yards. “In the fourth quarter when everyone else is gassed, we’re going to be the guys who continue to get better and better and better.”
The sloppy first half came first.
Knighten’s screen pass intended for Dijon Paschal was intercepted by Georgia State’s Tevin Jones to end ASU’s first drive. Later, a pass intended for Paschal popped out of his hands and into those of Sullivan, who darted 25 yards to give the Panthers a 20-13 lead in the second quarter. Then, Knighten lost a fumble trying to corral a low snap early in the third quarter, ending a promising drive inside the Georgia State 30.
Anderson said Knighten wasn’t bothered by the turnovers, and even said the senior’s ability to forget them was in evidence survived Saturday, setting up Thursday’s game at Appalachian State for sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt.
“I think it’s just being a veteran and being mature enough to know that ‘I can’t let those
plays affect me,’ ” Anderson said.
ASU’s revived defense helped, too.
Linebacker Xavier Woodson-Luster was a victim of several first-half routes that Arbuckle used to pass for 266 yards, 2 touchdowns and 27-20 halftime lead. Anderson said the only schematic adjustment in the second half was to play more man-to-man coverage. Woodson-Luster, who had 11 tackles, said the adjustments were a mind-set.
“We just had to bow up,” Woodson-Luster said. “We came out a bit relaxed, thinking it would be a pushover and those guys came out swinging. We didn’t make too many adjustments. It was just an attitude adjustment.”
Of Georgia State’s five second-half possessions, ASU forced two punts, two turnovers on downs and Wagner ended another with an interception. Georgia State was held to 164 yards in the second half after gaining 327 in the first half. Arbuckle, who completed 12 of 20 passes in the first half, was 11 of 23 in the second. And tight end Keith Rucker, who caught 5 passes for 61 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first half, was held without a catch in the second.
Offensively, ASU was as balanced as it has been all season. Knigthen completed 21 of 29 passes for a season-high 224 yards and Wand had a season-high 119 yards rushing with 1 touchdown. ASU gained 520 yards, 296 on the ground. Michael Gordon had 59 yards, Knighten had 54 and White scored 2 touchdowns.
The final score allowed ASU to win a third consecutive game with the outcome in doubt in the fourth quarter, a trait Knighten said is valuable while in first place with four games left.