Wolves weather a litany of follies

JONESBORO — A forgettable offensive performance plagued Arkansas State University for much of Saturday afternoon at Centennial Bank Stadium with bowl eligibility at stake.

An ASU defense that’s been the team’s kryptonite all season did everything it could to keep the Red Wolves in it, but the unit started to buckle in the fourth quarter when two consecutive ASU turnovers yielded 14 points for a 27-21 Coastal Carolina lead with 2:31 left in the game.

That’s when redshirt freshman quarterback Layne Hatcher calmly led ASU when it mattered most.

Hatcher found senior slot receiver Kirk Merritt over the middle for a game-tying

21-yard touchdown pass with 32 seconds left, then sophomore kicker Blake Grupe made the extra point as the Red Wolves escaped with a 28-27 victory.

The culprits of ASU’s two fourth-quarter turnovers — Hatcher threw a pick, and Merritt fumbled a kickoff return — had rallied to save the Red Wolves (6-4, 4-2 Sun Belt) and secure bowl eligibility for a ninth consecutive season.

“I think it’s one of those bittersweet things. Think that’s the game of football as well — you got to find a way to win on your bad days,” said Hatcher, who completed 24 of 35 passes for 305 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. “This was definitely a bad day until the last minute and a half of that drive.”

ASU had five turnovers, including three fumbles, and was outgained 412-376 in yards. Coastal Carolina (4-6, 1-5) held the ball for 41:13 compared with the Red Wolves’ 18:47, and ASU committed a season-high 14 penalties for 116 yards.

ASU Coach Blake Anderson arrived in the postgame media room with an expression and tone resembling that of a losing coach.

“[As] frustrated as I think I’ve been as a head coach, maybe as embarrassed as I have been as a head coach, in terms of how undisciplined that we played,” Anderson said. “I told the guys in the locker room that I’m excited to be bowl eligible and found a way to get a win … but beyond that, not pleased in pretty much any area.”

The defense delivered one of its better performances of the season. The Red Wolves forced three turnovers of their own — including a picksix in the third quarter to take a 14-13 lead — and made four fourth-down stops. Aggressive all night, Coastal Carolina finished 5 of 9 on fourth downs.

“They don’t respect us,” junior defensive end William Bradley-King said when asked why he thought the Chanticleers kept going for it.

On the game’s opening drive, ASU junior defensive end Noel Iwuchukwu stuffed Coastal Carolina running back CJ Marable on fourth and 1 at ASU’s 13. Marable finished with 142 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries.

On the Chanticleers’ next series, after a Cody Grace 43-yard punt had pinned them at the 5, junior linebacker Tajhea Chambers laid a lick on quarterback Bryce Carpenter to force a fumble, which Bradley-King pounced on.

Three plays later, Hatcher hit Merritt in the flat for a 7-yard touchdown pass and 7-0 lead with 4:07 left in the quarter.

The Red Wolves’ offense stagnated the rest of the half.

Senior running back Jamal Jones and senior wide receiver Omar Bayless each fumbled on the first play of ASU drives in the second quarter. Bayless’ fumble came after he hauled in a 30-yard reception to move ASU deep into opposing territory with just under a minute to play in the half and Coastal Carolina up 13-7.

“Really, ball security was awful,” Anderson said. “Those are not things that we can afford to do. We overcame it really just by the skin of our teeth. We just tried to give it away.”

The struggles continued on the opening drive of the third quarter when Hatcher overthrew Bayless downfield and was intercepted.

Minutes later, ASU’s defense came to the rescue. Junior linebacker Caleb Bonner intercepted a tipped pass from Carpenter and sprinted for a 66-yard touchdown return to put ASU back in front 14-13 with 8:43 left in the third quarter.

“We all knew we needed a play,” Bonner said. “[Coastal Carolina] was low key taking the momentum away from us.”

ASU went up 21-13 on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Hatcher to Bayless — who finished with 7 catches for 102 yards — at the 1:06 mark. By the end of the third quarter, ASU’s defense had forced two interceptions and a turnover on downs.

But letting the lead slip away in the fourth quarter as a result of two turnovers left a sour taste for ASU.

“It feels great … that means a lot,” said Merritt, who had 7 catches for 70 yards and 2 touchdowns. “But we know that, I mean, Coach A touched on it, too, we didn’t play our game. That’s not our game.”