JONESBORO — Western Kentucky tight end Mitchell Henry dealt the final blow Saturday to Arkansas State’s bid to start its Sun Belt Conference title defense with a victory.
Henry caught a 22-yard go-ahead touchdown pass from backup quarterback James Mauro with five minutes left in the third quarter as the Hilltoppers rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit for a 26-13 victory.
After the Red Wolves (2-3, 0-1 Sun Belt) knocked starting quarterback Kawaun Jakes out of the game late in the first half with a left knee injury, Mauro directed the comeback before a deflated crowd of 25,160 at Liberty Bank Stadium.
“This loss tonight is tough knowing what could have happened and what should have happened,” ASU quarterback Ryan Aplin said. “We’ve just got to flip the switch and it’s time to come on.”
With Western Kentucky (4-1, 1-0) trailing 13-0, Mauro, who was 8 of 12 for 104yards and 2 touchdowns, certainly did that for the Hilltoppers, who ended ASU’s eight-game Sun Belt winning streak.
After ASU punter Neely Sullivent shanked an 18-yard punt to the Western Kentucky 48, Mauro needed little more than four minutes to guide a 52-yard drive, which included an 8-yard pass to Antonio Andrews on third-and-7 to put the Hilltoppers inside the Red Wolves’ 5.
Mauro hit Henry with a 1-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 13-7 with 6:44 left in the third quarter.
Then the Hilltoppers’ defense, led by 3 1/2 sacks from defensive end Quanterus Smith, gave the offense a short field less than a minute later.
Strong safety Kareem Peterson tipped a pass from ASU quarterback Ryan Aplin intended for wide receiver J.D. McKissic and linebacker Xavius Boyd intercepted it at the ASU 45 and returned it to the 37 with 5:49 left in the third quarter.
“Bad read,” Aplin said. “Coach [Gus Malzahn] showed me exactly what we wanted, and the play and coverage they were going to run.They ran it. I made a really bad decision.”
Mauro needed three plays to capitalize. He found Henry running practically uncovered down a seam for a 22-yard touchdown pass to give the Hilltoppers a 14-13 lead with 5:09 left.
“They made a couple big plays,” Malzahn said. “We were in man-to-man, and just daring them to do that, and they made a couple in that third quarter.”
Aplin, who was 23 of 40 for 204 yards, missed his opportunities for big plays.
“I missed guys wide open down the middle, guys running free,” Aplin said. “It’s inexcusable.”
Arkansas State finished with 335 total yards, but had just 103 in the second half.
Running back David Oku led the Red Wolves with 89 yards on 22 carries, but only averaged 3 yards per carry in the second half. McKissic had8 catches for 79 yards, but had 1 for 3 yards after halftime.
In the first half, ASU converted 6 of 11 first downs, but converted 1 of 7 in the second. And on six second half possessions, they never drove closer than the Western Kentucky 28.
“They made us earn it down the field, got a little pressure on us at times,” Malzahn said. “We had a couple chances, and negative plays that got us in third-and long and second-and-long [situations] were the telltale signs.”
Western Kentucky Coach Willie Taggart said his team didn’t make any adjustments at halftime after “he was ticked that we weren’t playing our football.”
“I told them [the Red Wolves] were the Sun Belt champs for a reason,” Taggart said. “If you want to be the ... champs you need to go out and beat them.”
Munro’s arm helped put the Hilltoppers, who gained 365 yards of total offense, on that path. But running back Antonio Andrews sealed the victory by rushing for 142 of his game-high 224 yards in the second half. And Mitchell led the way with 4 catches for 43 yards.
“Once they got up, they were dictating to us,” ASU defensive coordinator John Thompson said.
TROY 31, SOUTH ALABAMA 10
MOBILE, Ala. - A strong defensive performance and a balanced offensive attack helped Troy (3-2, 2-1) beat South Alabama (1-3, 0-1).
Troy started slow against South Alabama, as Corey Robinson threw an interception on the Trojans’ first possession. But the Jaguars couldn’t take advantage of the turnover, punting after three plays.
After an early 21-yard field goal by Troy’s Will Scott and a 1-yard run by Justin Albert pushed the Trojans’ lead to 10-0, South Alabama’s Trey Fetner’s 3-yard touchdown cut the lead to 10-7 after the first quarter. Albert finished with 30 yards on eight carries.
South Alabama never pulled any closer, scoring just three points the rest of the second quarter and going scoreless in the second half.
Troy’s defense held strong for the victory, giving up fewer than 50 yards and allowing only two first downs in the entire second half.
NORTH TEXAS 20, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 14
BOCA RATON, Fla. - Derek Thompson threw for 251 yards and two touchdowns as North Texas (2-3, 1-1) beat Florida Atlantic (1-4, 0-2).
It marks the third time since 1997 that North Texas has been 2-3 after five games. The Mean Green was also 2-3 in 2003 and 2005 and had started 1-4 or worse in every year since 2005.
Thompson’s first touchdown pass, a 68-yard strike to Brelan Chancellor, opened the scoring and Zach Olen’s 48-yard field goal gave North Texas a 10-0 advantage.
Chancellor finished with 135 yards receiving on six catches.
Thompson’s second touchdown pass, a 14-yarder to Drew Miller, gave the Mean Green a 17-0 third-quarter lead.
Florida Atlantic rallied, scoring 14 consecutive points and cutting the deficit to 17-14, but Olen converted his second field of the day to seal the win.
Graham Wilbert led Florida Atlantic (1-4), completing 21 of 34 passes for 142 yards and 2 interceptions.
LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE 48, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL 20
LAFAYETTE, La. - Terrance Broadway threw for a touchdown and ran for two more to help Louisiana-Lafayette (3-1, 2-0) beat Florida International (1-4, 0-1).
Louisiana-Lafayette jumped out to a 24-0 lead. Backup quarterback Blaine Gautier was responsible for the first two scores, a 3-yard touchdown run and a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Maxwell. Gautier finished 6 of 11 for 86 yards.
Broadway’s 4-yard touchdown run with 42 seconds left in the second quarter helped the Ragin’ Cajuns build a 31-14 halftime lead. Broadway finished 15 of 19 for 228 yards passing and added 27 yards rushing on 6 carries.
Broadway added to the lead on the first possession of the second half, finding Harry Peoples for a 78-yard touchdown that increased the lead to 38-14 and ended any hope for the Golden Panthers. Peoples led all receivers with 10 catches for 150 yards.
Sports, Pages 24 on 09/30/2012