ASU wakes up in second half, again
JONESBORO — Arkansas State Coach Blake Anderson isn’t about to brag about the Red Wolves going scoreless in the first half of their past two games.
But the end result? That’s a different matter.
Michael Gordon burst through the middle for a 68-yard run to set up one third-quarter score, Fredi Knighten threw a 12-yard fade to Tyler Trosin for another and ASU broke out of its offensive lull with four second-half touchdowns for a 28-14 victory over Louisiana-Monroe in front of an announced crowd of 29,317 at Centennial Bank Stadium.
ASU’s second-half attack was similar to its victory two weeks ago against Utah State, when ASU turned a 7-0 halftime deficit into a 21-14 victory.
Anderson still wants his team to find the end zone in the first half, but he’ll take the victories how they come for now, even adding in 2 interceptions, 1 lost fumble and 110
yards of penalties counted in.
“I guess that’s the way it’s going to go down all year,” Anderson said. “We’re just going to have to wear them down until we start moving bodies.
ASU gained 348 of its 572 yards in the second half, when Gordon gained 151 of his 168 yards while running against a fatigued Louisiana-Monroe defense.
And ASU’s experienced defense again made plays until its offense could break out.
ASU (3-2, 1-0 Sun Belt Conference) held Louisiana-Monroe (3-2, 2-1) to 348 yards of offense, 4 of 16 on third down and sacked Warhawks quarterback Peter Thomas four times.
The Warhawks were held to 72 yards rushing, quarterback Pete Thomas was 21 of 39 passing for 181 yards (Brayle Brown was 5 of 7 for 97 yards) and Thomas was sacked by Xavier Woodson, Caleb Caston, Charles Grant and Sterling Young.
“We just go out there and we bring that intensity,” said Woodson, who had a teamhigh 10 tackles. “We just feel like can’t no other team play with us. We go out there and we bring it, no matter what the score is.”
Louisiana-Monroe’s nine first-half possessions ended with six punts, 2 lost fumbles and once on downs at the end of the half. The Warhawks didn’t score until their 14th possession when Thomas found Hot Springs native Ajalen Holley all alone down the middle of the field for a 59-yard score to make it 14-7 with 12:21 to play in the game..
“Our offensive execution right now is really, really poor and we couldn’t do anything at the line of scrimmage,” Warhawks Coach Todd Berry said. “We couldn’t’ get anything established in the run or pass game.”
ASU could have had control by halftime if not for its turnovers.
Knighten threw an interception on ASU’s third series and fumbled two possessions later, but was bailed out by his defense both times when it forced its own turnovers. Knighten was 21 of 36 for 284 yards with 1 touchdown and rushed for 71 yards and 3 touchdowns. His 355 yards of total offense were a career high, but most of it came after he had a talk with his coach on the sideline in the first half.
“I did grab him and tell him that ‘ You can’t turn the ball over and continue to be our starting quarterback, you understand that?’” Anderson said. “And he responded the right way. He’s our best chance to win football games.”
Knighten kept for a 3-yard run around right end for a touchdown on the play after Gordon’s 68-yarder in the third quarter. His fade pass to Trosin made it 14-0 with 1:38 to play in the third and he added touchdown runs of 29 and 12 yards in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
“Coach just said, ‘You don’t have to force it, you don’t have to win the game in one play, just go out and play,’” Knighten said.
He did that with the help of Gordon, who had missed the past two games and hadn’t played since Sept. 6 because of bruised ribs. He had a season-high 15 carries and 168 yards on Saturday, with runs 68 and 49 yards. ASU has three runs of 40 yards or more this season, all by Gordon.
ASU’s 572 yards of total offense were the most allowed this season by Louisiana-Monroe, which had held teams to a league-low 314.8 yards per game. The Red Wolves’ 288 yards rushing were also the most allowed by the Warhawks.
“I think we were definitely wearing them down,” right guard Alan Wright said. “You can go back and look, you could just see guys out there on their side, they were just getting tired and tired and we just kept on pushing.”