JONESBORO -- Arkansas State wasn't playing for a Sun Belt Conference title Saturday, nor was it guaranteed a bowl berth with a victory.
That didn't matter.
ASU still sent a group of 14 seniors out with a record-breaking offensive performance in a 68-35 victory over New Mexico State in a regular-season finale that the Red Wolves hope improved their chances of receiving a bowl invitation.
ASU (7-5, 5-3) gained a Sun Belt- and school-record 764 yards of total offense, tied a school record with 34 first downs and Fredi Knighten, Michael Gordon and Johnston White all rushed for more than 100 yards as the Red Wolves clinched their fourth consecutive winning season in front of 21,043 at Centennial Bank Stadium.
Coach Blake Anderson just hopes it's enough to get his team into one of the three bowls with Sun Belt tie-ins.
"I'd like to think we made a statement," said Anderson, whose team has lost its past two games going into Saturday. "We're just trying to do what we could and try to put the best team on the field that we could and have the best outcome.
"Obviously, I think 68-35 is about as good of a statement as you can have."
Anderson insisted that Saturday wasn't about getting the Red Wolves to another game, but rather sending the seniors -- 10 of whom have played for five head coaches in five seasons -- out with a victory in their final regular-season game.
Gordon said making the score look impressive was a common theme repeated by Anderson and offensive coordinator Walt Bell.
"Coach Bell kept saying it, and Coach Anderson: This is our resume," said Gordon, who didn't start because of disciplinary reasons but finished with 143 yards rushing. "When people see us, the last game counts the most."
ASU left little to doubt about its offense.
Knighten shook off two early interceptions to complete 15 of 21 passes for 296 yards and 2 touchdowns and rushed for 153 yards and 2 scores. His 449 yards of total offense was just short of Ryan Aplin's single-game school record set in a 2012 victory over Troy.
Much of ASU's production came after it had built a 27-21 lead going into halftime. The Red Wolves traded punches with the Aggies (2-10, 1-7) through much of the two quarters.
Gordon scored on a 35-yard run in which he started to his right before reversing field to give ASU a 13-7 lead and start a flurry of four touchdowns in the span of 12 plays and less than four minutes of game time.
After Gordon's run came an 80-yard run by New Mexico State's Larry Rose that gave the Aggies a 14-13 lead. Then Knighten scored on a 14-yard run before Tyler Rodgers connected with Gregory Hogan for a 75-yard pass that gave the Aggies a 21-20 lead with 10:14 left.
Gordon scored on a 19-yard run to put ASU up 27-21 going into halftime, and the Red Wolves took over in the third quarter.
"There was a time where I thought it was just going to be whoever got it last," Anderson said. "I thought the defense settled in, especially during that third quarter, and let us stretch it out a little bit."
Rose rushed for 137 yards and the Aggies finished with 492 yards of offense, but the Red Wolves forced three punts, one turnover on downs and Andrew Tryon -- one of 10 fifth-year seniors -- returned a fourth-quarter interception for a 46-yard touchdown.
The defense's ability to get stops was aided by an offense that scored touchdowns on its first five second-half possessions.
ASU scored on drives of 92, 51 and 74 yards in the third quarter, none of which took longer than six plays or 1 minute, 58 seconds. Gordon scored on an 8-yard run, Knighten scored from 2 yards out and Kenneth Rains, another senior, caught a 22-yard pass from Knighten that made it 48-28 at the end of the third quarter.
"That's the level we're trying to get to," said New Mexico State Doug Martin, whose team lost its ninth consecutive game. "We've started that process, but it's a process and we're a class away from getting there."
ASU's offense was humming so well in the fourth quarter that players admitted they were on the sidelines counting their statistics.
Knighten said he didn't care that he came up short of Aplin's record, but he was pleased they broke the school record for total offense.
"We wanted to go out with the best offensive performance we had all year," Knighten said. "We almost got to 800 [yards]. We really wanted to get to that 800 spot. We knew we had to win and win convincingly, and I think we did that."
Whether it was convincing enough for the New Orleans Bowl, the GoDaddy Bowl or the Camellia Bowl to extend an invitation to ASU remains to be seen. The three bowls that will take one Sun Belt team will choose from among ASU, Louisiana-Lafayette (8-4, 7-1), South Alabama (6-6, 5-2) and Texas State (7-5, 5-3).
"I wouldn't expect we'd hear anything for a couple of days," Anderson said. "If we can get healthy in the next few weeks, there ain't no telling what type of team we can put on the field."
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 42, TROY 23
TROY, Ala. — Elijah McGuire and Alonzo Harris combined for five touchdowns as Louisiana-Lafayette (8-4, 7-1) rallied in the second half to beat Troy (3-9, 3-5). McGuire ran for 169 yards and two scores and Harris had 86 yards and three scores for the Ragin’ Cajuns. Terrance Broadway completed 14 of 19 passes for 142 yards and also ran for a touchdown.
TEXAS STATE 54, GEORGIA STATE 31
ATLANTA — Tyler Jones accounted for four touchdowns and Texas State jumped out to a 24-point halftime lead to beat Georgia State (1-11, 0-8). The Bobcats (7-5, 5-3) scored 24 points in the second quarter and added another 13 to take a 40-10 lead at the end of the third. Jones had touchdowns of 13 and 15 yards on the ground, and threw for 9- and 14-yard scores.
APPALACHIAN STATE 45, IDAHO 28
BOONE, N.C. — Taylor Lamb passed for 223 yards and three touchdowns as Appalachian State fought past Idaho twice in the early going to defeat the Vandals, running its win streak to six games. Lamb completed 13 of 20 passes and hit three different receivers for touchdowns as the Mountaineers (7-5, 6-2 Sun Belt) will finish third in conference in their inaugural FBS season.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 22, LOUISIANA-MONROE 16
STATESBORO, Georgia — Matt Breida and Alfred Ramsby each ran for touchdowns in the fourth quarter as Georgia Southern posted a come-from-behind victory over Louisiana-Monroe. Georgia Southern (9-3, 8-0), in its first year as an FBS school won the Sun Belt Conference title.
Sports on 11/30/2014