ASU: Leonard finds form after break

— Senior quarterback Corey Leonard is Arkansas State's all-time leader in total offense, the second player in school history to surpass 6,000 yards passing, and the preseason Sun Belt Conference Offensive Co-Player of the Year.

And for a brief time in Saturday's Sun Belt Conference opener against Troy, Leonard was benched.

Leonard was pulled for one series with 4:21 left in the second quarter of a 30-27 loss at ASU Stadium, replaced by backup Ryan Aplin.

Leonard had completed 3 of 12 passes for 75 yards and the Red Wolves trailed 13-10 when Coach Steve Roberts made the decision to replace him.

Aplin was 2 of 2 passing for 27 yards on the drive, which started at ASU's 34-yard line, but a Don Jones fumble on a pitch from Aplin gave the ball back to Troy at the Trojans' 32.

Leonard played the rest of the game.

Roberts said the decision to pull Leonard for a series was made because Leonard was getting out of rhythm. He responded by completing 9 of 12 passes for 115 yards in the second half.

"We just wanted to settle Corey down a little bit," Roberts said. "We had some receivers open that we didn't get the ball to like he usually does. We have a tremendous amount of confidence in Corey. We just wanted to get himon the sideline and settle him down."

Leonard agreed that he wasn't doing his job correctly.

"I don't know if I was too hyped. I just wasn't doing what I was supposed to," said Leonard, who's expected to start next Saturday's nationally televised game at No. 13 Iowa.

"I wasn't getting the ball in the receivers' hands to make plays, and in the second half, I did that."

Troy turned the Jones fumble into a 7-play, 67-yard touchdown drive, scoring on DuJuan Harris' 9-yard run with 45 seconds left in the half for a 20-10 lead.

The Red Wolves led 10-0 early in the first quarter before giving up 23 consecutive points. They regained the lead, at 24-23, on Leonard's 58-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Thompkins with 5:24 left in the third quarter.

Josh Arauco's 31-yard field goal made it 27-23 with 12:17 remaining in the game, but Taylor Clements' fumble on a punt return led to Troy's game-winning score, an 8-yard pass from Levi Brown to Cornelius Williams with 7:53 to play.

"They're a good football team, and if they lose a game in our conference, I will be surprised," Leonard said of the Trojans (2-2).

Arkansas State (1-2) looks to have its hands full again this week against Iowa in a game to be televised by ESPN2.

The Hawkeyes (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) are coming off a 21-10 victory at No. 15 Penn State that propelled them back into The Associated Press Top 25.

Sports, Pages 20 on 09/28/2009

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