SUN BELT Red Wolves’ offense gets it going in fourth quarter

— JONESBORO - Arkansas State scored 28 consecutive points in the fourth quarter to defeat Florida Atlantic 37-16 on Saturday at ASU Stadium.

The Red Wolves improved to 3-5 overall and moved above .500 in Sun Belt Conference play at 3-2.

“It’s great to get a win,” ASU Coach Steve Roberts said. “I’m very excited about the way we finished that ball game. We played all three phases of football very well that fourth quarter.”

Trailing 16-9, ASU tied the game at 16-16 with 12:50 left on receiver Anthony Robinson’s 28-yard reception from quarterback Ryan Aplin to start a string of four consecutive Red Wolves scores.

On Florida Atlantic’s ensuing possession, the Owls (1-5, 0-3) ran seven plays before a pass from quarterback Jeff Van Camp was deflected and intercepted by Adrian Hills, who returned it 37 yards for a touchdown to give the Red Wolves their first lead, 23-16, since leading 9-7 at the end of the first quarter.

ASU defensive lineman Dorvus Woods forced a fumble on the next FAU drive, and Brandon Joiner recovered the turnover at the 1. Jermaine Robertson punched it in for the score to put ASU ahead 30-16 after the extra point from Bobby Zalud.

“Those were the game changing plays, no doubt,” Roberts said. “Those two backto-back turnovers were critical for our team. It was putting the dagger into them [FAU].”

Another Hillis interception set up the Red Wolves on offense again. Robinson scored from four yards out, his second touchdown of the game, to cap the scoring.

“We were sparked by our defense,” Roberts said. “A couple of big plays and turnovers forced and from that point we blew the game wide open. Real pleased with the effort of our team.”

Things didn’t start well for either team as they combined for 109 yards and zero points in the first quarter. Zalud kicked a 24-yard field goal with 12:56 left in the second quarter, but FAU responded with Rob Housler’s 29-yard touchdown reception from Van Camp with 11:40 left in the first half.

Aplin’s 1-yard touchdown run gave ASU a 9-7 lead, capping a 10-play, 80-yard drive. But Zalud’s extra point was blocked, leaving the score at 9-7.

FAU scored the first nine points of the second half. Receiver Jean Lester took an 80-yard screen pass from Van Camp for a score with 8:13 left in the third quarter, but the extra point by Gornall was blocked. Gornall made a 36-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter but that would be it for the Owls.

Van Camp struggled to find time to throw the ball, as ASU defensive lineman Bryan Hall had two sacks and Woods and Joiner each recording a sack.

Aplin completed 28 of 46 passes for 230 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. He also led ASU in rushing with 64 yards and a touchdown. Robertson rushed 12 times for 52 yards and 1 touchdown. Robinson led all ASU receivers with 8 receptions for 88 yardsand 1 touchdown followed by junior Dwayne Frampton’s 6 catches for 47 yards.

Van Camp was 13 of 27 for 227 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, both by Hills. Alfred Morris, the Sun Belt’s leading returning rusher, finished with only 69 yards while Lester led FAU’s receiving corps with 2 catches for 99 yards and 1 touchdown.

“They are a good football team, and right now we’re not a good football team,” FAU Coach Howard Schnellenberger said. “For the first half we were probably the best we’ve been this year - maybe not, maybe UAB we played better. Anyway, that’s where we are. We’ve got to learn from our mistakes and live with the bad things that we did or things that we didn’t get accomplished.”

WESTERN KENTUCKY 54, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 21

LAFAYETTE, La. - Western Kentucky snapped the nation’s longest losing streakSaturday, beating Louisiana-Lafayette.

The Hilltoppers (1-6, 1-2), in their second year as a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision, had lost 26 consecutive games for the longest losing streak among all NCAA divisions.

Western Kentucky lost its final eight games in 2008 in a 2-10 season before going 0-12 last year and losing its first six this year.

MIDDLE TENNESSEE 38, LOUISIANA-MONROE 10

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Dwight Dasher threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns to lead Middle Tennessee to a victory over Louisiana-Monroe.

Both of Dasher’s scoring passes came during a five-minute span in the second quarter when the Blue Raiders (3-4, 2-1) scored 21 points for a 28-3 halftime lead.

Dasher’s first touchdown went for 18 yards to Garrett Andrews with 13:22 left in the half. After the Warhawks punted, Dasher, who was 11 for 19, passed to Tyler Mason for a 53-yard score to make it 21-3.

After another Louisiana-Monroe threeand-out, the Blue Raiders scored again 8:22 before halftime on a 25-yard run by Phillip Tanner, who had 15 carries for 73 yards.

Louisiana-Monroe, which finished with minus-1 yards rushing, got 232 passing from Kolton Browning, who was 25 for 43. One of his two interceptions was returned 70 yards by Rod Issac for the game’s first score.

Sports, Pages 31 on 10/24/2010

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