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JONESBORO, Ark. – Three University of South Alabama football players recorded a double-digit tackle total and the Jaguar defense surrendered its lowest point total in over two years, but it was not enough to end a pair of streaks.

Warren Wand ran for 88 yards and Johnston White added 58 and a score, as Arkansas State collected 204 yards on the ground to earn a 17-7 Sun Belt Conference victory over the Jags Saturday at Centennial Bank Stadium.

The Red Wolves — now 2-4, but 2-0 in the Sun Belt — limited USA (3-3, 0-3 SBC) to a season-low 255 yards, earning their fifth straight win in the series while handing the Jaguars their sixth consecutive league loss dating back to last season.  ASU was credited with six sacks in the contest for a loss of 39 yards and had a pair of takeaways also.

"Obviously, we didn't play our best tonight.  When you play a team like Arkansas State that is conference champion and has won a lot of games, you better play well and we didn't play our best," Jag head coach Joey Jones stated.  "I thought defensively, we played well.  Offensively, we didn't score until late in the game and you have to score more points than we did tonight in a game like this."

In fact, the first points of the game came from the Red Wolves' defense after Chris Humes stripped the ball following a Jaguar completion within a yard of the first down marker, returning it 60 yards with just under 13 minutes left in the opening half for a 7-0 ASU lead.  After the unit forced a three-and-out on the ensuing Jag possession, the Red Wolves drove 71 yards in 11 plays — taking more than five minutes off the clock — before a 14-yard White touchdown run with six minutes remaining in the first half doubling their advantage.

The Jaguars drove into ASU territory with their next drive, but a pass intended for Sa'Mory Collier down the right sideline was intercepted by Cody Brown at the three-yard line to end the threat with less than a minute remaining before the break.  The Red Wolves, who limited USA to only 100 yards in the first half, allowed just 61 rushing yards on the night.

Money Hunter paced the unit with seven stops, while Brown and Ja'Von Rolland-Jones were credited with six tackles apiece; the latter made two of those stops behind the line of scrimmage.  Justin Clifton and Xavier Woodson-Luster had five tackles each as well, with the former breaking up a pass.

It was the third time in five meeting with the Jaguars, and second straight match-up in Jonesboro, in which the Red Wolves allowed 16 points or less.

With the opening possession of the second half, the Jags again marched into ASU territory, but a third-down completion that would have moved the chains to the 19-yard line was nullified by an illegal formation penalty.  After a pass in the end zone intended for Tyrone Williams was broken up by Jeremy Smith, a 41-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide right leaving the score 14-0.

The Red Wolves would make the margin 17 points when they answered with a 25-yard J.D. Houston field goal with four-and-a-half minutes remaining in the quarter, capping a 13-play drive that used more than six minutes of clock.

Justice Hansen ran for 37 yards and completed 9-of-13 pass attempts for 93 yards in guiding the ASU offense to 297 yards, with Blake Mack and Justin McInnis catching two passes each.

Since allowing 512 yards in their previous conference contest at Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept. 17, the Jags have given up 320 or fewer in each of the last three outings.  Darrell Songy led all players with 14 stops — including two behind the line — with Randy Allen posting 13 and Nigel Lawrence 12.  It was a career-high total for all three, with Allen setting a school record with 4½ tackles for loss and Lawrence forcing a fumble.  Kalen Jackson was credited with nine stops and Bull Barge had eight also.

It's the first time three Jags have finished with 10 or more tackles in the same game since the Jags played the Red Wolves on Nov. 2, 2013, in Mobile.

USA avoided its first-ever shutout with a fourth-quarter score, as Xavier Johnson crossed the goal line from two yards out with just over four minutes left in the contest.  The key play of the drive came with the Jags facing third-and-nine at the start of the possession, when Dallas Davis found Gerald Everett for a 79-yard completion to move the ball to the ASU-15.

Everett finished with his second straight 100-yard effort after collecting 125 yards on five catches, surpassing 1,000 receiving yards in his career in the process.  Maaseiah Francis, Kevin Kutchera and Josh Magee caught two balls each, with South's two quarterbacks combining to complete 12-of-27 passes for 194 yards.  Dami Ayoola had 34 yards on six carries to lead the rushing attack for the Jaguars, with Johnson posting 24 yards.

"Their defense is solid, they have a really good defense," said Davis, who came on in the second quarter after missing USA's previous game.  "They have eight defensive linemen so they are able to rotate four and four, they kept the pressure on and we couldn't execute."

The Red Wolves held a 20-13 advantage in first downs, finishing one second shy of 33-and-a-half minutes possession time.

"We were able to get down in the red zone a couple of times and when you do that you have to score touchdowns, and we didn't," Jones explained.  "That's the difference in the game.  I knew it was going to be a low-scoring game, along the lines of 20-17 or 17-14.  I think if we had punched it in a couple of times, it would have been that way, but we didn't do that.  We made some mental mistakes that hurt us tonight."

South returns home on Thursday to play host to Troy in the "Battle For The Belt," with kickoff slated for 6:30 p.m. (CDT).  The game will televised nationally nationally on ESPNU.

"I would say the key for us is just figuring out what we need to do to play well as a team," Songy stated.  "We've had games against teams outside of the conference and played well in those games.  Unfortunately in conference we haven't done as well.  I feel as long as we play as a team and play together that we'll be fine."

"That's life in the Sun Belt," Jones said.  "We've got to get ready for Troy, we have five days to get ready for that game.  I know our guys are hurting tonight after a game like this.  Tomorrow afternoon, we'll start working on Troy and get ready for them.  I promise you that."

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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