BOONE, N.C. -- Fredi Knighten and Michael Gordon noticed it at the same moment.
Arkansas State was trailing during the first drive of the third quarter Thursday night, but Knigthen and Gordon spotted Appalachian State's defensive players placing their hands on their hips and taking deeper breaths. It was a sure sign of fatigue, and it was exactly what ASU had been waiting for since kickoff.
"That's blood in the water," Knighten said.
After stumbling through much of the first half, ASU simplified its game plan and concentrated on playing as fast as possible in the second half as it overwhelmed Appalachian State 40-27 in front of 18,721 at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The increased tempo led to touchdowns by Johnston White and Gordon to go along with field goals on three consecutive drives as the Red Wolves took sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt standings and became bowl eligible for a fifth consecutive season.
"They fatigued a little defensively," ASU Coach Blake Anderson said of Appalachian State. "Our guys could see it happening, and I think that gave us a second wind. They wanted to play fast the whole second half."
It turned another slow start into another fast finish for the Red Wolves (6-3, 5-0), who have won five consecutive games, three of which after trailing in the second half. ASU used a 29-point fourth quarter to win at South Alabama on Oct. 13 and a 21-point fourth quarter to beat Georgia State at home last week.
ASU didn't wait until the final period Thursday, instead overwhelming the Mountaineers in a third quarter during which it gained 294 yards while scoring 2 touchdowns and a field goal by J.D. Houston to turn a 21-17 deficit into a 34-21 lead.
"Even thought we're kind of tired ourselves, it's like another switch," said Gordon, who finished with 17 carries for 136 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown run. "Regardless of how tired we are, it's just keep going, keep going, keep going. It's going to break."
ASU almost broke itself in the first half if not for three turnovers.
The Red Wolves managed just 125 yards of offense and the Mountaineers (7-2, 4-1) -- who had allowed the fewest points and yards of any Sun Belt team -- forced three-and-outs on four of their first eight possessions. In addition, sophomore quarterback Taylor Lamb was finding holes in ASU's secondary.
Lamb threw first-half touchdown passes to Malachi Jones, Barrett Burns and Dante Jones to give Appalachian State a 21-17 lead. He passed for 222 yards in the first half, but three turnovers prevented the margin from being larger.
ASU linebacker Khari Lain recovered a fumble at Appalachian State's 8 that led to Knighten's 8-yard touchdown pass to Tres Houston. Then senior defensive Chris Stone scooped up a fumble by Lamb and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown. Lamb also threw an interception to Rocky Hayes on the final possession of the second quarter.
Despite giving up so many yards allowed, Hayes said ASU wasn't distraught defensively. It turned its focus instead toward Lamb, who was 7 of 7 on third downs for 104 yards.
"We just weren't mentally prepared on third downs and that accumulated into explosive plays," Hayes said. "Once we got that fixed in the second half, we were fine."
ASU forced Appalachian State to punt on its first four drives of the second half, with none taking more than five plays and none gaining more than 32 yards.
Meanwhile, ASU gained 294 yards in the third quarter while taking control of the game.
Lamb finished 22 of 35 for 321 yards with 4 touchdowns, but only 99 of yards came in the second half. Marcus Cox, who gashed ASU for 229 yards last season in a victory at Jonesboro, was held to 74 yards while Appalachian State was held to 108 rushing yards.
"The running game for us is huge and we lean on it," Appalachian State Coach Sott Satterfield said. "We couldn't get that running game going, and then we're putting ourselves in bad predicaments."
The game played out as Anderson expected. Anderson said he knew an unfamiliar environment and the hostile crowd wouldn't lend to ASU controlling the game from start to finish, but he has watched his team win games late for the past month and said he didn't expect anything different Thursday.
"I said, 'Guys, be prepared to win in the second half,' " Anderson said. "We've done that all year. We did it last week. They never doubted it. They truly understand and believe that in the fourth quarter we're going to still be running fast.
"It's a formula that's working for us."
Sports on 11/06/2015