TROY, Ala. — Blake Anderson just wanted his team to stay close until halftime Thursday night.
Playing on the road against the Sun Belt Conference co-leader, one that had recently cracked into the Associated Press Top 25 poll, Anderson thought a close margin entering the third quarter was needed to spring an upset in the conference's biggest game this season.
“Keep it in range,” Anderson said he told his team before Thursday night. “Surviving the onslaught of being on the road, in their place, with a big crowd, and the second half our conditioning would take over.”
After midnight, the third-year ASU coach beamed when describing just how his plan unfolded to his liking. The Red Wolves sputtered to 126 first-half yards and were clinging to a 7-3 lead at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Yet, after halftime, ASU’s experienced defense made it 14-3 when Chris Humes recovered a fumble in the end zone, then its offense finally got going in a 35-3 victory over Troy (8-2, 5-1), which made ASU (6-4, 6-0) bowl eligible for the sixth consecutive season and put it two victories from its fifth Sun Belt title in six seasons.
The victory can be credited mostly to a defense that held the Sun Belt leader in scoring offense to without a touchdown for the first time this season and to 262 total yards while committing five turnovers.
But as rough as the offense looked in the first half, it helped seal the game in the second. After Humes’ fumble recovery in the end zone, ASU got a 4-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Chad Voytik, a 24-yard run by Johnston White and then, finally, a 6-yard run by Daryl Rollins-Davis, which capped a 16-play, 91-yard, 10-minute-23-second drive that made it 35-3.
"To me, that's conditioning," Anderson said. "That's where we're built. We're built for 60 minutes."
Of ASU’s 388 yards, 262 were gained in the second half. Of its 208 yards rushing, 178 were gained in a second half. Warren Wand had 66 of his 90 yards after halftime, and Voytik had 55 yards rushing in the second half.
“We couldn't run the ball at all in the first half. We ran it however we wanted in the second half,” Anderson said. “Even as ugly as it was offensively, it was a complete game. All three phases contributed when they had to.”
ASU was playing with the motivation of what is now a 15-game winning streak against Sun Belt teams and for the pursuit of bowl eligibility, but senior defensive end Chris Odom admitted Troy’s new ranking and place alongside ASU as a league leader provided juice, too.
“We took it very, very personal,” Odom said. “Top 25. They thought they had already won the title. But they had to go through us first, and we showed them how we played.”
ASU looked stuck in neutral for much of the first half. Justice Hansen at one point misfired on seven consecutive passes, and the team's first seven drives covered just 26 yards. Then Hansen completed a first-down pass to Kendall Sanders for 12 yards, and ASU moved to the Troy 40 before stalling.
Looking to be heading for another punt on fourth and 5, Anderson instead called for a play that had receiver Cameron Echols-Luper lined up as punter. He took the snap, rolled to his right, and then threw across the field to cornerback Chris Humes, whose 31-yard gain put ASU at the 9.
Three plays later, Hansen’s lofted pass to Sanders for 8 yards made it 7-3 at halftime.
Anderson said the trick play had been in ASU’s plans for over a month.
“We were just looking for the right opportunity for when it mattered and when you really needed it,” Anderson said. “It was executed really well.”
Humes admitted that that play ignited a spark — but so did the first play of the third quarter.
Odom rushed around the left end to hit Troy quarterback Brandon Silvers to knock the ball loose, and Humes fell on it in the end zone for a 14-3 lead.
Afterward, Troy punted twice and ASU forced a turnover on downs before nickel back Justin Clifton intercepted passes on the final two drives.
ASU held Troy to a season-low in rushing (55 yards) and total yards (262) and the five turnovers forced were its most in a game this season.
“If they’re not getting a turnover, they’re stopping them,” Hansen said of the defense. “Unbelievable job.”
Jordan Chunn, who entered leading the Sun Belt in rushing, was held to 51 yards, his lowest total since a Sept. 10 loss at Clemson.
“Just play our type of defense,” Humes said. “Just go out there and lock it down.”
The win came a year after a similar road victory played with the same stakes. Last Nov. 5, ASU was a 10-point underdog over co-leader Appalachian State and used a big third quarter to steal sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt standings.
It was a frequent and welcomed talking point all week, said Anderson, whose team is two wins away from a Sun Belt title.
“Did I say anything about the fact that we were a [9-point] underdog, we won 14 conference games in a row and nobody thinks we’re very good and that we can’t win a game?” Anderson said. “Yeah. I brought it up a few times. At the end of the day, somebody’s got to take the championship from you. We’re still the champions.”