Game StatsPostgame QuotesPhoto GalleryMOBILE, Ala. – Arkansas State scored the final 29 points of the game — including a pair of defensive touchdowns — during a five-minute and 17-second stretch early in the fourth quarter Tuesday to earn a 49-31 Sun Belt Conference football victory over the University of South Alabama at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
A 40-yard pass from Cody Clements to Danny Woodson II keyed a seven-play, 75-yard march early in the fourth quarter, with Gerald Everett scoring on a three-yard run to push the Jaguar (3-3, 1-1 Sun Belt) lead to 31-20 with just over 13 minutes left in the contest.
But the Red Wolves (3-3, 2-0 SBC) required just 39 seconds to answer on a 38-yard touchdown pass from Fredi Knighten to Tres Houston, pulling to within a field goal at 31-28 when Knighten found J.D. McKissic in the right flat for the two-point conversion.
Johnston White gave ASU its first lead since midway through the second quarter when he plunged over the goal line from one yard out, completing a six-play, 43-yard drive that started when Cody Brown intercepted a pass one play the Red Wolves had drawn within three. That lead grew to 42-31 just over a minute later, when Ja'Von Rolland-Jones — on the second of consecutive sacks of Clements — forced a fumble that Chris Stone recovered in the end zone for another touchdown, and Justin Clifton ended the run with a 37-yard interception return for a score with 7:16 to go that clinched the contest.
"I thought we were playing pretty good football for three quarters," stated Jag head coach Joey Jones. "Our guys got after them and made some plays offensively and defensively. I was happy with the way we played. When you have four turnovers in the second half, it's hard to win when that happens."
"Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, but I'm proud of our guys because they didn't quit," ASU head coach Blake Anderson explained. "The pressure [the defense] created on Clements was huge. When you can score without the offense on the field it's huge. We thought [South Alabama] would be really committed to running the ball, but the pressure we put on Clements in the passing game was huge."
Xavier Woodson led a Red Wolves defense that surrendered just 302 yards — including only 29 on the ground — and recorded five takeaways on the night with 13 stops; he contributed a third-quarter interception and another pass broken up as well. Stone was credited with five total stops, including 2½ for loss, and Chris Humes posted five tackles and a pass defensed. Six other individuals collected four stops apiece, helping the unit record 12 tackles for loss including six sacks.
The Jaguars were up 21-14 at the half, then saw Clements find Marvin Shinn for a gain of 42 yards on their first play of after the break, but two snaps later Woodson intercepted a pass and returned it 60 yards. That set up a 23-yard J.D. Houston field goal, which made the score 21-17 USA with 12 minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Jags, however, were able to record a takeaway on the Red Wolves' ensuing possession — Jalen Thompson forced a fumble on a sack of Knighten, which was recovered by Akeem Lewis and returned to the ASU-26 — that resulted in a field goal from 37 yards out by Aleem Sunanon that extended the advantage back to seven, 24-17, midway through the third quarter.
ASU was threatening again, facing third-and-goal from the one-yard line, when Devon Earl stripped the ball from Knighten trying to cut across the goal line. Offensive lineman Colton Jackson recovered for the Red Wolves at the USA-16, but they would have to settle for a 33-yard field goal from Houston 35 seconds before the end of the period.
The Jaguar defense gave up 345 yards, including limiting ASU to just 119 through the air. Kalen Jackson posted a career-best 12 tackles, with two of those behind the line of scrimmage, and Roman Buchanan chipped in with a career-high-tying 11. Blake Dees finished with eight stops and a pass defensed, Lewis recorded six stops and Jeremy Reaves added five.
"It's hard to take a loss, especially when you are up by seven at the half," said Dees. "We can just take away learning points on where we did make mistakes and where they cost us. We can learn to make those adjustments and get those things right. When we do that, we will be a better football team and that's what this next week of practice is about."
ASU began its first drive of the second quarter with a short field after a 17-yard punt was paired with personal foul penalty to spot the ball at the USA-14, but on fourth-and-two the trio of Andrew Philon, Dees and Caleb Butler combined to stop Knighten at the line of scrimmage. After flipping the field, a nine-yard Red Wolves punt gave the Jaguars the ball at the ASU-27; two plays and 41 seconds later, Clements found Woodson II coming across the middle with the receiver taking the ball to the corner of the end zone for a 24-yard score, evening the contest 14-14 with just over seven minutes to go before the break.
The Jags had much further to go the next time they had possession, starting at their own seven-yard after a 32-yard punt went out of bounds, but facing third-and-two Clements hit D.J. Vinson for a gain of nine to move the chains and on the next play — after an ASU defensive back fell down — Clements connected with Josh Magee for a 76-yard touchdown and a 21-14 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the opening half.
USA's 93-yard scoring drive — which used little more than a minute-and-a-half — was its longest of the season.
Clements finished with a career-high three touchdown passes, completing 18-of-33 attempts for 273 yards. Woodson II and Vinson caught four balls each for 75 and 23 yards, respectively, while Everett finished with three receptions and Shinn posted a pair for 58 yards.
"It's very disappointing. We played really well at the beginning of the game and then just kind of fizzled towards the end," observed Clements. "'We made some mistakes and that's my fault. I take this one, personally. You can take something out of this game. We played neck-and-neck with Arkansas State, which is one of the best in our conference. We have a lot of good things to work off of even though we aren't too happy right now, when we play our (brand of) football, we are a hard team to beat."
After returning the opening kickoff 32 yards, ASU began the game with the ball in Jaguar territory. But after a gain of seven, Jackson stopped Warren Wand for no gain and Dewayne Alford sacked Knighten for a loss of six yards; the Red Wolves attempted a fake punt, but Dees and Margo Reed combined to drop Rocky Hayes for no gain.
The Jags went 52 yards the other way, going up 7-0 when Clements hit Everett in the right flat only to see the junior tight end come back across the field after breaking multiple tackles to find his way to the end zone from 10 yards out. Clements converted USA's initial third-down opportunity when he ticked the ball and gained four yards, with the Jaguars adding another after a pass interference call on ASU.
The Red Wolves evened the score with just under three minutes remaining in the opening quarter, driving 66 yards in seven plays and less than three minutes before Knighten connected with Michael Gordon for a nine-yard touchdown pass. McKissic sparked the possession with a 14-yard catch followed by a run for a gain of 23 on ASU's first two snaps. After forcing a three-and-out, the Red Wolves went ahead for the first time, 14-7, when White scored from 13 yards out with a half minute left before the end of the first period, as ASU needed only four plays to go 54 yards after the punt.
Wand gained 85 yards on 14 carries, with White rushing for 46 yards, Knighten 40 and Gordon 35, helping the Red Wolves rush for a total of 226 on the night. Houston recorded three receptions for 59 yards to lead the team in both categories, with McKissic and Wand catching two passes each as well.
Knighten — playing for the first time since the second week of the season — was also 10-of-17 passing for 119 yards and two scores.
"They have a lot of athletes over there," Jones commented. "I thought we played hard and played well. The defense created some turnovers and had some stops down in the red zone, which was great. They were on the field a little bit too long in the fourth quarter, and it just kind of got away from us there at the end.
"I told the kids that there is no blame on anybody," he added. "We are going to stick together as a family and come through this one. We just played a very good football team pretty darn good. I'm not happy; we lost and you can never be happy about losing. But there are a lot of things we can build off of from this ballgame. Our guys played hard, and I can live with that."
It was the Red Wolves' fourth win in as many meetings with the Jaguars. USA will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 24, with a 6 p.m. (CDT) kick at Texas State.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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