JONESBORO -- Consider this confirmation.
For Arkansas State University to put a bow on the most successful start to a season in the school's past 10 years, the Red Wolves needed to defeat back-to-back non-conference FBS opponents for the first time since the Red Wolves went to the FBS 26 years ago.
With No. 1 Alabama as the headliner, a trip to Tulsa after and a home game against UNLV serving as the final act, a daunting four-game non-conference schedule sat in front of the Red Wolves before the Sept. 1 season opener against Southeast Missouri State.
Four games later, ASU (3-1) secured a winning regular-season record against nonconference opponents for the first time since 1995, punctuated by a 27-20 rain-soaked victory against UNLV on Saturday at Centennial Bank Stadium.
Until Saturday, the Red Wolves have not been 3-1 to open a season since 2008. Before that, it was 1986.
Rain relentlessly dumped on Centennial Bank Stadium the entire game. The deluge fell at a slant. Players slipped. Balls were dropped. Returners were cautioned not to field punts.
The Red Wolves still let it fly in the downpour.
ASU scored on a seven-play, 80-yard opening drive, which was topped by a 16-yard touchdown pass from Justice Hansen to Justin McInnis with 12:37 left in the opening quarter. It was a near flawless drive for the Red Wolves, though the remainder of the first quarter wasn't as sharp for ASU.
ASU's swift early strike was subdued once the wheels on UNLV's offense, the third-best rushing team in the nation, started to turn.
Rebels tailback Evan Owens stung ASU with a 41-yard rushing touchdown on UNLV's second offensive possession. With it, momentum and field position shifted.
UNLV controlled much of the first half until Hansen and the Red Wolves' offense torched the Rebels for their longest scoring drive of the season late in the second quarter.
Hansen found sophomore receiver Jonathan Adams, Jr. for a 24-yard touchdown with 6:59 remaining in the second quarter, the final piece to a 92-yard, 11-play drive that began to ruin UNLV's first-ever trip to Jonesboro.
While rain continued to soak Centennial Bank Stadium, Red Wolves' offense did not lose their identity as their high-speed tempo remained. Hansen, who was 19-for-27 passing with 199 yards and 3 touchdowns, was not apprehensive to flick quick passes.
The rain, however, contributed to ASU's third touchdown.
UNLV junior punt returner Brandon Presley muffed a 40-yard punt that the Red Wolves recovered on the Rebels' 2-yard line. On the ensuing play Hansen lobbed an easy 2-yard score to sophomore tight end Javonis Isaac, his second receiving TD of the season, to give ASU a 12-point lead before UNLV got a boost from its backfield.
The Rebels, who averaged 345.3 rushing yards per game entering Saturday, rolled up 310 against ASU. UNLV came to Jonesboro as the country's only team with two of the nation's top 20 rushers: Sophomore quarterback Armani Rogers and senior tailback Lexington Thomas.
Rogers and Thomas punched the Red Wolves for rushing TDs in the third quarter and flipped UNLV's 19-7 deficit into a 20-19 lead to begin the fourth quarter.
The most significant rush of the evening, however, belonged to freshman Marcel Murray.
Murray blazed through UNLV's defense for a 39-yard touchdown with 13:19 left in the fourth quarter, his second rushing score this season. Murray punched in the two-point conversion and handed ASU's defense a 27-20 lead.
Sports on 09/23/2018