ASU finds itself in familiar spot

Chris Stone had a simple explanation Tuesday night for why he was relieved and excited following Arkansas State's improbable 49-31 victory over South Alabama.

"I haven't lost to South Al, thank God," said Stone, a senior defensive end from Daleville, Ala., who is 4-0 against the Sun Belt rival from his home state.

"Now we've got Lafayette at home," he added a few seconds later. "We owe them."

ASU scored 29 points in less than six minutes in the fourth quarter Tuesday night to overcome a 31-20 deficit, setting up another key conference matchup against Louisiana-Lafayette this coming Tuesday at Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro.

For the fourth consecutive year, ASU (3-3, 2-0) and Louisiana-Lafayette (2-3, 1-0) will meet in front of a national ESPN2 audience as early contenders in the Sun Belt race. Both teams were undefeated in conference play when they met each of the past two seasons, and ASU's victory in 2012 helped launch the Red Wolves toward a second consecutive outright title.

Coach Blake Anderson's only experience in the series was last year's 55-40 loss in Lafayette -- a game that served as a blueprint for Appalachian State, Texas State and Toledo in late-season victories over the Red Wolves -- but he isn't surprised that the stakes are similar this season.

Anderson acknowledged Thursday that ASU has experienced its share of bumps this season, but it is still undefeated in Sun Belt play with a chance to go up one game on a team it has lost to the past two seasons.

"I like where our kids are at, and I still think we have our best football yet to play," Anderson said. "I'm not sure we've played that collectively, and if we ever do get to the point where we do we have a chance to be a really fun football team to watch."

ASU's conference victories have been sparked by an emerging running game that is averaging 53 rushes and 279.5 yards a game and a rebuilt defense that is paying off just like Anderson had hoped.

The defense ranks 96th nationally in scoring and has given up 66 points in 2 Sun Belt games, but the Red Wolves have shown the ability to stop drives with takeaways. ASU forced five turnovers in Tuesday night's victory and has forced 16 this season, which is tied for seventh nationally. Its 13 interceptions are tied for first nationally.

Anderson pointed out that it was mostly new contributors who made big plays Tuesday, like defensive tackles Robert Mondie and Waylon Roberson and safety Cody Brown, whose interception led to a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

"They're feeding off each other and it's become fun," Anderson said. "If you look at last year's defense, there wasn't a lot of fun going on. There was a lot of fingers being pointed their way, a lot of criticisms. To watch that now, it's a huge turnaround."

The Ragin' Cajuns have settled on a quarterback and are bringing in one of the league's best players coming off his best game of the season.

Jalen Nixon replaced Brooks Haack as the starting quarterback two games ago, and Nixon completed 22 of 29 passes for 238 yards and 3 touchdowns Oct. 10 while leading the Cajuns to a victory over Texas State.

Elijah McGuire, who ran for 265 yards and four touchdowns in the Cajuns' victory last year, rushed for 170 yards against the Bobcats and is averaging 117.0 yards rushing and 147.4 all-purpose yards per game.

"When they're doing well, it's because he's doing great things," Anderson said. "If we can slow him down and keep [McGuire] from having a game like he did a year ago, it's going to be another competitive game."

Sports on 10/16/2015