Turnovers, errors costly in ASU loss
“We had two turnovers tonight and that led to 10 points. We won the explosive play battle, but that really doesn’t come into play when you turn the ball over.” Arkansas State Coach Butch Jones
JONESBORO — Behind 244 passing yards and two touchdowns from quarterback Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina handed Arkansas State its second consecutive loss 27-17 on Saturday night in front of an announced crowd of 18,228 at Centennial Bank Stadium.
“You have to play quality football in all three phases,” Arkansas State Coach Butch Jones said. “We did it in spurts, but we didn’t do it consistently for 60 minutes. That was disappointing.”
Coastal Carolina opened up the scoring late in the first quarter on a 38-yard field goal by Kade Hensley.
The Chanticleers started the scoring possession at their 45 following a deflected pass from quarterback Jaylen Raynor that was intercepted by linebacker Shane Bruce.
“We’ve gone three straight games without a turnover,” Jones said. “We had two turnovers tonight and that led to 10 points. We won the explosive play battle, but that really doesn’t come into play when you turn the ball over.”
Raynor finished 19 fo 35 for 306 yards and 2 touchdowns, but his 2 interceptions proved to be costly. The freshman also led the team in rushing with 64 yards on 11 carries.
Early in the second quarter, ASU’s Ja’Quez Cross had a 7-yard touchdown run wiped off the board by an illegal formation penalty. Untimely penalties hampered Arkansas State as it was flagged nine times for 103 yards.
The drive stalled following the penalty and Dominic Zvada was unable to convert on a 23-yard field goal with 9:25 remaining in the first half that would have tied the game.
The Chanticleers took advantage of the Red Wolves’ miscues on their next possession, going on an eightplay, 80-yard drive that ended with McCall hooking up with Sam Pinckney for an 8-yard touchdown pass to give Coastal Carolina a 10-0 lead with 6:16 left in the second quarter.
Raynor again led the Red Wolves deep inside Chanticleers territory by connecting with Corey Rucker for a 68yard catch and run.
But again a critical penalty wiped out an ASU touchdown several plays later. This time, an illegal block penalty against Emmanuel Stevenson erased a 1-yard scoring run by Raynor.
Despite the setback, Zvada connected on a field goal from 34 yards out to make the score 10-3 with 4:46 left before halftime.
“Inexcusable penalties in the red zone,” Jones said. “It takes 14 points off the board. We missed a field goal. We only had four possessions in the first half. So really, we scored twice but had nothing to show for it in terms of touchdowns.”
Coastal Carolina kept its foot on the gas offensively, adding another touchdown with just 30 seconds remaining in the half when McCall hit a wide open Kendall Karr for a 7-yard touchdown to give the Chanticleers a 17-3 lead heading into the break.
The teams exchanged punts to begin the second half, before Arkansas State finally got into the end zone for the first time on a 10-yard scoring pass from Raynor to Stevenson.
The scoring drive covered 52 yards on five plays and cut the Coastal Carolina lead to 17-10 with just over 10 minutes to go in the third quarter.
A sack and forced fumble from Keyron Crawford on McCall that was recovered by Thurman Geathers later in the third quarter gave the ball back to the Red Wolves with momentum on their side.
ASU did a better job of pressuring McCall in the second half. The pressure appeared to throw off the timing of the Chanticleers’ offense as they struggled to move the ball in the third quarter. Melique Straker led the Red Wolves with 11 tackles for the game, while Charles Willekes finished with 10 stops, including 1.5 tackles for loss.
As the game moved into the fourth quarter, the defenses on both sides stiffened. With 11:40 remaining, McCall was knocked out of the game after taking a hit from Trevian Thomas while attempting to slide following a 7-yard run.
McCall was down on the turf for an extended period of time before being taken off the field in a cart and brought to an awaiting ambulance. Thomas was flagged on the play for unnecessary roughness, but the officials ruled the hit was not targeting.
“Tre is trying to be competitive,” Jones said. “He is one of the highest character individuals we have in our football program. When something like that happens, it grabs you at the heart. It’s an unfortunate part of the game, but there wasn’t any malicious intent by Thomas.”
With emotions running high, Ethan Vasko entered at quarterback for the Chanticleers in place of McCall. With 9:54 left, a 22-yard field goal by Hensley extended the Coastal lead to 20-10.
Raynor was intercepted by Chanticleers safety Tobias Fletcher, who returned it to the Red Wolves’ 37 with 4:47 left.
Three plays later, Jarrett Guest — the third Chanticleers quarterback to play — plowed into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown to build the lead to 27-10 with 3:54 left.
ASU cut the lead to 27-17 on a 20-yard pass from Raynor to Courtney Jackson with 2:49 left, but Coastal Carolina was able to run out the clock.
“If there is one thing this football team has done is they’ve completed,” Jones said. “They hurt. That locker room, they hurt. They were disappointed. It means something. I’m proud of our kids and the way they competed, but we have to learn that when you play quality opponents, really anybody, every mistake you make is magnified.”