ASU routs Troy, controls Sun Belt

Arkansas State’s Austin Moreton (left) celebrates with Kendall Sanders (center) and Chris Murray after Sanders’ touchdown catch in the first half of Thursday’s game at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, Ala. The Red Wolves took over sole possession of fi rst place in the Sun Belt Conference with a 35-3 victory.
Arkansas State’s Austin Moreton (left) celebrates with Kendall Sanders (center) and Chris Murray after Sanders’ touchdown catch in the first half of Thursday’s game at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, Ala. The Red Wolves took over sole possession of fi rst place in the Sun Belt Conference with a 35-3 victory.

TROY, Ala. -- The leader of the Sun Belt Conference was decided by defense late Thursday night.

photo

AP

Arkansas State running back Johnston White (right) tries to get around Troy defensive end Rashad Dillard during the first half. White finished with 37 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Red Wolves, who trailed 3-0 early before scoring the next 35 points to pull away.

Arkansas State, with its 14-game Sun Belt winning streak on the line against co-leader Troy, punted seven times in the first half; its quarterback threw seven consecutive incomplete passes at one point; and it went three-and-out on five first-half drives in a row in front of 23,764 at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

But the Red Wolves still led at halftime 7-3, then blew out The Associated Press No. 25 team in the second half for a 35-3 victory.

Despite sputtering to just 126 first-half yards, ASU (6-4, 6-0 Sun Belt) beat a team ranked in one of the major polls for just the second time.

"We took it very, very personal ... top 25," senior defensive end Chris Odom said. "They thought they had already won the title, but they had to go through us first."

ASU's offense got going in the second half, gaining 175 yards in the third quarter and 390 for the game. But a second-quarter trick play sparked the Red Wolves when receiver Cameron Echols-Luper's fourth-down pass to cornerback Chris Humes set up the only first-half touchdown.

On the first play from scrimmage of the third quarter, Odom rushed around the left end to pop the ball loose from Troy quarterback Brandon Silvers, and Humes landed on the ball in the end zone.

The 14-3 cushion helped ASU's offense open up.

Justice Hansen's 39-yard pass to Dijon Paschal led to a 3-yard run by backup quarterback Chad Voytik. Then, after a punt, Hansen's 45-yard pass to Chris Murray set up a 24-yard touchdown run by Johnston White for a 28-3 lead.

After sputtering for the first seven drives, ASU scored 28 points in a span of 9:03 to help it beat a team ranked in a major poll for the first time since beating Kent State in the 2013 GoDaddy Bowl.

ASU went on a 16-play, 91-yard drive that ended in Daryl-Rollins-Davis' first career touchdown from 6 yards out to seal the victory.

Hansen, at one point 4-of-13 passing, finished 13 of 24 for 149 yards for the Red Wolves, who are now in sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt and two victories -- at Louisiana-Lafayette and at Texas State -- from winning back-to-back Sun Belt titles.

ASU, held to 30 yards rushing on 20 first-half carries, finished with 210 yards on the ground. It finished with 264 yards in the second half.

"We couldn't run the ball at all in the first half," ASU Coach Blake Anderson said. "We ran it however we wanted in the second half."

Troy (8-2, 5-1) had rattled off seven consecutive victories with the Sun Belt's top scoring offense (38.1 points) and top total offense (474.0 yards), and it also had the league's leading rusher in Jordan Chunn. Silvers also was second in total offense.

But ASU pestered Silvers all night while holding the Trojans to a season-low point total and 262 yards. Chunn, who averaged 114.2 yards rushing, was held to 51 yards.

ASU's defense held up when the offense was lacking, recovering two fumbles and forcing five punts in the first half.

"They came up as big as they possibly could," Anderson said about his defense. "It was about as complete of a game as you could play from beginning to end."

And it also prevented the Trojans from rallying. After Odom forced the fumble that Humes recovered in the end zone for a 14-3 lead, ASU forced consecutive punts, then a turnover on downs. Justin Clifton also twice intercepted Silvers. ASU forced four turnovers and didn't commit any.

Defense was about all ASU had going for it in the first half.

Having scored 33.4 points in Sun Belt games, ASU punted on its first seven drives, five of which failed to gain a first down.

The Red Wolves were headed for another punt in the second quarter when Echols-Luper, who has punted at times this year, lined up to punt near midfield. Instead, he took a snap, rolled to his right and threw back across the field to Humes, a senior cornerback, for a 31-yard gain to the Troy 9.

"It worked out where we needed it, how we needed it, and it gave us a spark," Anderson said.

Three plays later, Hansen lofted a pass to Kendall Sanders for an 8-yard touchdown to give the Red Wolves a 7-3 lead.

It capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive for the Red Wolves, which accounted for more than half of their 126 first-half yards. The drive started with a 12-yard pass from Hansen to Sanders, and ASU's sophomore quarterback was 5 of 6 for 37 yards on the drive.

The Trojans' only points came on a 43-yard field goal late in the first quarter that made it 3-0, capping a drive that covered only 22 yards.

Sports on 11/18/2016

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