Big plays help ASU pull away
Arkansas State University won the battle of the turnovers in Statesboro, Ga., where the Red Wolves defeated Georgia Southern 43-25 on Wednesday night at Paulson Stadium.
ASU (2-2, 1-0 Sun Belt Conference) had 5 turnovers (4 interceptions, 1 fumble), while Georgia Southern (0-4, 0-1) had 4 (2 interceptions, 2 fumbles), but the Red Wolves scored two touchdowns on Eagles’ miscues, while the hosts scored once. That, paired with a career night by senior receiver Chris Murray, led ASU to victory.
Murray had 2 touchdowns on his 5 catches and 188 yards, which tied for the fourth most in school history with Chet Douthit’s 188 against Louisiana Tech in 1970.
Three of Murray’s catches totaled over 50 yards (two went for second-quarter touchdowns), which helped balance a polarizing night for redshirt junior quarterback Justice Hansen.
Hansen entered the game questionable with a lower back strain that he suffered in the 44-21 loss to SMU. His four interceptions were the most he has thrown in a single game in his career. Hansen finished 12-of-26 passing for 316 yards and 4 touchdowns.
“We knew that Justice would be 80-90 percent at best,” ASU Coach Blake Anderson said during his postgame radio interview. “But he felt like he wanted to play. You could tell he wasn’t quite himself.”
Anderson said he “really didn’t think [Hansen] would make it the whole way” and that “we’d get one
half, maybe three quarters” before he had to pull him.
In the 10 days leading up to the game, Hansen only started practicing fully Sunday.
At times, it looked like it. After a pass deflection and a sack on his first two plays, Hansen threw an interception during the first drive when he hurried a throw across the middle while getting hit by a Georgia Southern defender.
It was the first of three first-half interceptions. The Eagles only capitalized on the last one when Hansen lobbed a pass between tight end Blake Mack and wide receiver Dijon Paschal at the ASU 24, and Georgia Southern cornerback Monquavion Brinson returned it 4 yards to the 20.
Three plays later, Georgia Southern took a 17-15 lead on an 8-yard run by Wesley Fields with 1:14 left in the first half.
It was then that Hansen threw his second touchdown pass to a wide-open Murray for a 57-yard score that gave the Red Wolves a 22-17 halftime lead.
After Hansen’s second interception set Georgia Southern at its own 33 near the start of the second quarter, ASU defensive end Caleb Caston swatted the ball out of the hand of quarterback Shai Werts, who was attempting to pass, and Hunter Moreton recovered for the Red Wolves at the Georgia Southern 25.
ASU running back Warren Wand ran mostly untouched for a 25-yard touchdown on a sweep to the right sideline the following play to give ASU a 15-10 lead.
ASU’s Sawyer Williams missed two extra-point attempts after making a 43-yard field goal for the only score of the first quarter. He made all three extra points at SMU after missing an extra point and kicking two kickoffs out of bounds against the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
The Red Wolves scored three more times during the second half, capped by a one-handed touchdown reception by receiver Omar Bayless while he was being interfered with by a Georgia Southern defender.
The Eagles outgained ASU 493-381 in total offense, and the Red Wolves surrendered 333 rushing yards — led by Werts’ 112 yards on 29 carries.
The defense finished with 4 sacks and 9 tackles for loss, its most of the season, and senior defensive end Ja’Von Rolland-Jones earned his first two sacks of the year.
“We got to [Werts] a good bit,” Anderson said. “I thought we made him real uncomfortable.”
Rolland-Jones now has 32.5 career sacks, which tied him with Myles Garrett (Texas A&M) and Elvis Dumervil (Louisville) for 14th most in NCAA history.