JONESBORO -- James Tabary thought he should have felt anxious or something before his first college start Saturday night.
Instead, Arkansas State's freshman quarterback said he didn't feel much of anything and certainly didn't show it in front of an announced crowd of 26,634 at Centennial Bank Stadium.
Tabary passed for 255 yards and three touchdowns in his first start, Johnston White rushed for three scores and ASU jumped on FCS-member Missouri State quickly in a 70-7 blowout for its first victory of the season.
"I know I should have nerves, but I didn't at all," said Tabary, who started in place of the injured Fredi Knighten. "I just don't get nervous at all. I felt really comfortable. All my guys around me got me really comfortable as well. Everything went great."
The easy victory was a welcomed change for the Red Wolves (1-2), who took their lumps against nationally ranked opponents the first two weeks of the season before getting a chance to deliver a few Saturday night.
ASU scored on its third offensive play when Tabary found tight end Darion Griswold for a 16-yard touchdown pass, then scored touchdowns on five of its next six possessions. Linebacker Khari Lain, who also made his first start, returned an interception off a tipped pass 44 yards for another score as ASU piled up the fifth-most points in school history and the most since an 83-10 drubbing of Texas Southern in 2008.
The Red Wolves struggled to move the ball against No. 6 Southern California and No. 22 Missouri, but they gained 624 yards of total offense, including 344 on the ground.
Tabary completed 21 of 24 passes while connecting with 11 different receivers, and three receivers caught touchdown passes. Michael Gordon rushed for 92 yards and a touchdown in the first half, while Warren Wand and Logan Moragne also scored touchdowns.
"We knew at some point it was going to explode, and it just happened to be tonight," said Griswold, who caught three passes for 39 yards. "We still have things to work on, but at the end of the day we showed a lot of what we can do and hopefully we can just build on it."
ASU Coach Blake Anderson understands that Missouri State plays in a lower division, but that didn't keep him for enjoying watching the positive plays any less. Anderson was just as pleased about the top offense not committing a turnover and the ability to finish off drives with touchdowns as he was the yards gained, points scored and a defense that held the Bears to 341 yards.
"We needed a night where we could work on us," Anderson said. "For us to score points, for us to get off the field and special teams to play as well as they did, I don't take that for granted against anybody. We needed it, but we took advantage of it, also."
Anderson had few complaints with Tabary, who was starting for the first time since two years ago when he was still in high school.
He completed his first three passes -- 6 yards each to J.D. McKissic and Blake Mack and the 16-yard touchdown to Griswold -- and 14 of his last 15, 5 of which went to tight ends as he worked through his progressions.
After connecting with Griswold, Tabary passed over the middle to McKissic who sprinted 49 yards for a score. He later found Sterling Stowers for a 3-yard score that made it 63-0 in the third quarter.
The only surprise to Anderson was how calm the freshman was.
"He was maybe more poised tonight than I expected," Anderson said. "He's just such an emotional guy, I thought he might be a little amped up. But really, from the first snap on, I thought he did a really good job controlling that."
ASU's defense did it's part, too. The Red Wolves forced punts on five of the first seven drives. The other two times, Lain returned an interception for a touchdown and Jamaris Hart came up with another interception. With starting quarterback Breck Ruddick out because of an ankle injury, Brodie Lambert was held to 16 of 32 passing for 162 yards.
Missouri State's only score came on a 35-yard run by Ryan Heaston late in the third quarter.
"We wanted to keep a zero on the board," Lain said. "We were upset about that, but everyone was flying to the ball. Knowing we can make those plays that we did and just being confident is going to help us in the long run."
Sports on 09/20/2015