LITTLE ROCK — The misses of October were deadly.
Arkansas State is on a sixquarter scoreless streak and has lost consecutive games to Middle Tennessee and Troy that have cost the Indians a chance at the Sun Belt Conference title.
With a successful replay review here, fewer turnovers there and some scoring possibilities fulfilled everywhere, October might have gone much better for the Indians. Now, Arkansas State (3-5, 1-3) must decide if it wants to mourn the missed opportunities or put them in the past and play for the sake of winning.
"[The Indians need to] just get back to making plays like we were in our first several games," Coach Steve Roberts said.
The Indians had two dropped touchdown passes and two missed field goals in their 30-13 Sun Belt loss at Louisiana-Monroe on Oct. 6. They bounced back with their best offensive showing in a 52-21 home victory over Louisiana-Lafayette, but things soured the following week in a 24-7 loss at Middle Tennessee.
The Blue Raiders returned receiver Kevin Jones' fumble after a first-down reception 42 yards for a touchdown to end the Indians' game-opening possession - with replay upholding the outcome - and Middle Tennessee went on to sack Corey Leonard a school-record nine times and pick off three passes.
Troy beat Arkansas State 27-0 on Saturday, handing the Indians their first home shutout since 1992 and putting an end to theiralready slim title hopes. Arkansas State's performance included two more missed field goals and three turnovers, including an end zone interception of Leonard, while replay review denied the Indians a recovered fumble on Troy's first possession.
"Not repaired," Coach Steve Roberts said when asked Monday if the offense needed fixing. "We just have to get back to playing consistent football. Middle Tennessee and Troy both have outstanding defenses and played well. We had opportunities to make plays we didn't make that we were making earlier in the year."
While he has struggled lately, Leonard, who has been somewhat banged up and wearing a flak jacket, was announced Monday as one of 15 semifinalists forthe Davey O'Brien Award that goes to the nation's top college quarterback.
Leonard, a redshirt sophomore from Covington, La., is No. 34 in the nation in total offense with 257.2 yards a game. He has passed for 1,681 yards with 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions and has rushed for 377 yards and 4 scores.
"Obviously, this is a great honor for Corey and our program," Roberts said. "In addition to Corey, a lot of credit for this honor goes to our entire offensive staff and players."
Roberts is hoping to see Leonard rally and the offense jump-started this week against 0-7 Florida International in a Sun Belt game in Jonesboro.
"There's one thing I know about streaks, whether they'regood streaks or bad streaks, they all come to an end sometime," Roberts said about the Golden Panthers' losing streak, which is currently the longest in the nation at 20 consecutive games after its one-sided loss at Arkansas on Saturday. "I am real impressed with the job that Coach [Mario] Cristobal is doing at Florida International. The effort of his team is outstanding. They are playing with several inexperienced players on offense, and they are getting better and better each week."
Despite the demoralizing rough patch the Indians have hit, Roberts isn't worried about his players' effort this weekend.
"First off, you don't recruit people that you can't keep motivated," he said. "A competitor wants to win whether he's playing a pickup basketball game or he's playing a board game with a cousin or a brother or whatever. And we've got those type of kids on our football team that are competitors, and I have no doubt, when the ball is teed up, they're going to play to win."
Sports, Pages 18 on 10/30/2007