ASU can’t hand it to Kent State

JONESBORO — One of the few plays that could have turned disastrous for David Oku this season came in the third quarter of an October victory over Louisiana-Lafayette.

Oku, Arkansas State’s junior running back, plowed into the Louisiana-Lafayette line on first down and was fighting for a few more yards when Ragin’ Cajuns linebacker Le’Marcus Gibson ripped the ball free.

ASU quarterback Ryan Aplin jumped on the fumble - ASU didn’t even lose a yard - and Rocky Hayes sprinted around the left end 57 yards for a touchdown on the nextplay as the Red Wolves rolled to a 50-27 victory.

“I didn’t have the ball covered up,” Oku explained earlier this week.

Oku can still recall that play in detail more than two months later.

The fact that it can be counted as one of the lowest moments of his first ASUseason, though it had no bearing on the outcome, is a testament to his 2012 production and provides ASU with a bit of reassurance heading into Sunday’s GoDaddy.com Bowl game against Kent State in Mobile, Ala.

The No. 25 Golden Flashes (11-2) enter the game with a plus-21 turnover margin, second-best in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision. Kent State’s defense, which has includes 10 junior or senior starters, has forced 38 turnovers (23 interceptions and 15 fumble recoveries). That is tied with Oregon for best in the FBS.

Thirteen players have intercepted passes, led by safety Luke Wollet’s four. Linebacker Luke Batton recovered four fumbles, and 10 other players have recovered at least one to help Kent State to its best season in school history.

“Sometimes they’re making plays, sometimes teams are giving it to them,” Arkansas State offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said. “Such a good, sound defense. They’re aggressive and they swarm.”

The challenge for Aplin and Oku to keep ASU’s offense running as smoothly as it has for most of the season is simple: Make sure Kent State’s defense doesn’t get its hands on the ball.

“It’s something you really got to focus on,” Aplin said. “We know that turnovers are going to kill us. We can’t afford those, especially in a big game like this.”

The Red Wolves (9-3) havelost 14 turnovers this season, fewest in the Sun Belt Conference. Aplin has reduced his interceptions total from 16 last season to four this season - though he has thrown 100 fewer passes - and the Red Wolves haven’t lost a fumble since an Oct. 13 victory over South Alabama.

Oku, who has rushed for 1,024 yards and scored 15 touchdowns, has fumbled only 3 times on 225 carries this season, and not one of them was recovered by the opposing team.

Those statistics give Lashlee the belief that his team matches up just fine with a veteran, aggressive defense that ends possessions with takeaways better than anyone in college football. Lashlee said Kent State reminds him of Western Kentucky in that respect. The Hilltoppers forced 22 turnovers this season, two that led to 10 points in the second half of a 26-13 victory overASU in Jonesboro.

At that point in the season, ASU hadn’t yet discovered the benefits of ball security. The Red Wolves committed three turnovers in a season-opening loss at Oregon, two in a loss at Nebraska two weeks later and the two against Western Kentucky.

But during ASU’s march through seven consecutive victories that produced a second consecutive Sun Belt title, the Red Wolves committed just five turnovers, with three coming in the victory over South Alabama.

“We just locked in and realized how important and how to tell them how important that is,” Lashlee said. “That’s when we started winning.”