JONESBORO — Twenty minutes after Arkansas State dismantled Middle Tennessee, Coach Gus Malzahn appeared perplexed when asked whether the Red Wolves played a perfect game to claim a second consecutive Sun Belt Conference title.

There was evidence to support the claim after the Red Wolves scored on seven consecutive possessions and rolled up 512 offensive yards in a 45-0 victory over the Blue Raiders on Saturday in front of 31,243 at Liberty Bank Stadium.

Malzahn, the first-year Red Wolves coach, wouldn’t go so far as saying ASU (9-3, 7-1) achieved perfection in its seventh consecutive victory, but he wasn’t overly critical either.

“I don’t think there’s a whole lot we could have done better,” Malzahn said. “I know I wasn’t happy a couple of times, so I know it wasn’t perfect.”

Quarterback Ryan Aplin led the way, passing for 238 yards and 3 touchdowns on 19-of-21 passing, and running back David Oku carried 19 times for 102 yards and 1 touchdown.

Eight Red Wolves caught passes, led by redshirt freshman J.D. McKissic, who had eight catches for 60 yards and has 92 catches for the season. Julian Jones added 59 yards receiving on a touchdown grab in the second quarter for a 28-0 lead.

Aplin shrugged when asked about ASU clearing the 500- yard offensive benchmark for the fourth time in five games en route to a 35-0 halftime lead.

“It was kind of tough preparing and not getting too excited, not showing too much emotion,” said Aplin, who completed 13 consecutive passes at one point. “I don’t think anyone could dream of what happened tonight.”

ASU started fast and never let up while limiting the Blue Raiders (8-4, 6-2) to 203 yards of total offense.

The Red Wolves needed less than three minutes to take a 7-0 lead when Aplin scored from the 4 on a draw with 12:22 to go in the first quarter.

Middle Tennessee didn’t muster a positive response. Quarterback Logan Kilgore, who finished 15 of 26 for 114 yards, threw the first of two interceptions when linebacker Nathan Herrold jumped an underneath route and returned it 45 yards to the Blue Raiders’ 33.

“I’d been studying the play over the past two weeks, but I wasn’t sure if they were going to run it,” said Herrold, who had a game-high 10 tackles. “I knew in the back of mind that formation, and when I saw it was pass, I just ran through it.”

Oku scored five plays later when he hurdled a would-be tackler on a 9-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 lead with 7:05 left in the first quarter.

With three seconds to go in the first quarter, Aplin, who threw his first incompletion three plays earlier, found wide receiver Josh Jarboe near the pylon for a 21-0 lead.

“We had a couple shots in there, but we ran the football and had some pace going,” Malzahn said. “Bottom line is we do what we do: Run the football with play-action pass.”

ASU rose up to stop Middle Tennessee running back Jordan Parker on fourth and 1 at the ASU 41, and Aplin lofted a pass down the hashmarks to Jones for a fourtouchdown lead. Running back Rocky Hayes made it 35-0 when he got to the edge for an 11-yard touchdown run with 23 seconds left in a first half during which ASU outgained Middle Tennessee 332-128.

Missing five starters, the Blue Raiders’ conservative offensive strategy and bendbut-don’t-break defensive mentality was rendered useless quickly.

“We could just never get them stopped defensively,” Middle Tennessee Coach Rick Stockstill said. “That put more pressure on us offensively to make plays. They handled us pretty good up front, and we didn’t have enough weapons out there to combat what they were giving us.”

It made the second half a de facto coronation for ASU, which will learn its bowl destination at 7 p.m. today.

“I knew we had momentum coming into the game,” Herrold said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of anything like that.”

The 45-point victory culminated a stretch during which the Red Wolves, who returned only 10 starters and were playing for their third coach in as many seasons, found their stride after a 26-13 home loss to Western Kentucky on Sept. 29 in the Sun Belt Conference opener.

ASU let a 13-0 halftime lead get away against the Hilltoppers, and Malzahn said the Red Wolves (2-3 at the time) were a work in progress despite being picked to finish second in preseason Sun Belt polls.

“We had some major growing pains,” Malzahn said. “We won a couple games, but it still didn’t feel like we won because we didn’t play good, solid football.”

Now, the assessment has changed markedly.

“There may have been expectations, but we had the smallest number of returning starters in the league,” Malzahn said. “We had some pieces of the puzzle that had been here and won a championship, but it took some time to come together.”

The Red Wolves have acclimated to Malzahn’s hurryup, no-huddle scheme, averaging 482.6 yards per game and 41.1 points per game during their winning streak.

Aplin, the conference’s reigning player of the year, has averaged 280.6 yards passing, thrown 16 touchdown passes, completed 73.6 percent of his passes and had a 177.9 quarterback rating during the seven-game winning streak.

And he’s done it while playing for his fourth quarterbacks coach in as many seasons.

“It’s definitely been tough, but we’re blessed to have the coaches we’ve had,” Aplin said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is the way we wanted to go out, to set the stage for what’s to come.”

Malzahn, meanwhile, was still searching for the appropriate way to sum up a day that might not have been perfect but was very, very good.

“I’m just tickled to death,” Malzahn said.

Sports, Pages 23 on 12/02/2012