JONESBORO — It may have lacked big plays and an exciting, last-minute finish, but Arkansas State won for the second consecutive week for the first time this season Saturday night.
ASU kept it on the ground and finally managed to force some mistakes in a 17-7 victory over South Alabama at Centennial Bank Stadium, which came 10 days after it beat Georgia Southern on a last-minute touchdown pass and extended its Sun Belt winning streak to 11 games.
ASU's offense was slowed to 297 yards — and had only one play longer than 20 yards — but cornerback Chris Humes scooped up a fumble and returned it for a second-quarter touchdown, Chris Odom had a career-high 3 sacks, and ASU’s defense took center stage in beating South Alabama (3-3, 0-3) for the fifth consecutive season.
The victory kept the Red Wolves (2-4, 2-0) unbeaten against its Sun Belt foes and extended their league winning streak to 11 games dating back to 2014. It was void of many big plays on offense, but Coach Blake Anderson will likely take that, considering there was only one big mistake, and the defense forced plenty to make up for it.
Sophomore Justice Hansen short-armed a first-quarter pass that was intercepted by Jeremy Reaves in the first quarter. But ASU’s defense forced a punt — like it did four times after turnovers in its Oct. 5 victory over Georgia Southern — and the next drive Humes stripped receiver Kevin Kutchera, scooped up the ball and raced 60 yards down the right sideline to give ASU a 7-0 lead.
It was ASU’s first defensive touchdown of the year; it had eight last season. Later, White scored on a 14-yard run to the left side to make it 14-0, and J.D. Houston added a 25-yard field goal to put ASU up 17-0.
Hansen was 9 of 13 with 93 yards passing and 1 interception for ASU, which had its lowest scoring output in a victory since beating Kent State in the 2013 GoDaddy Bowl.
The Red Wolves had 206 yards rushing, with Wand finishing with 88, White with 58 and Hansen adding 37.
South Alabama had 255 yards of offense and 61 yards on the ground while being held to 2.0 yards per carry.
Read Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.