JONESBORO -- There was no controversy this year.
Redshirt junior quarterback Justice Hansen accounted for 396 total yards and 3 touchdowns, including a career-high 121 rushing yards, in Arkansas State University's 47-3 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette (3-4, 2-2 Sun Belt Conference) Thursday night at Centennial Bank Stadium.
The victory came a season after Hansen's apparent game-winning touchdown lateral against Lafayette was struck down when officials ruled his knee was down.
That 24-19 loss ended ASU's 15-game winning streak over Sun Belt opponents.
Now, ASU has a new winning streak, four in a row over Sun Belt opponents, and the Red Wolves (4-2, 3-0) earned their largest victory margin over a conference opponent since their 45-0 victory over Middle Tennessee in the 2012 season finale.
"I didn't think my knee was down today," said Hansen, who was 23 of 37 for 275 yards passing with 2 touchdowns.
The game began with ASU's second defensive touchdown in two games.
On the game's third play, senior defensive end Ja'Von Rolland-Jones strip-sacked Lafayette quarterback Andre Nunez, and senior defensive end Caleb Caston gathered the fumble and returned it 24 yards for the game's first touchdown.
"Who doesn't want to start the game with a scoop and score?" said Rolland-Jones, who had 2½ sacks by the end of the first quarter.
Rolland-Jones, who is now tied for fourth all-time on the NCAA career sack list, led an ASU defense that hounded a Lafayette offense that could hardly start a drive with decent field position.
The Ragin' Cajuns started inside their 20 on four drives during the first half, and kicked a 51-yard field goal for their only points after ASU sophomore Cody Grace's punt rolled backward to the Lafayette 39.
The ASU defense had game-highs in tackles for loss (12) and sacks (5), and in Rolland-Jones' last sack, he drove the opposing lineman back far enough to trip Nunez to help stop Lafayette's most promising drive of the game.
Lafayette had recovered a fumble at the ASU 21 -- as a result of a muffed handoff between Hansen and redshirt sophomore running back Jamal Jones -- and Rolland-Jones' sack that backed the team to the 25 threw it out of sync.
Two plays later, ASU junior safety Michael Johnson intercepted Nunez's errant pass in the end zone.
Had Lafayette scored on the drive, it would have been a one-score game at the end of the first quarter.
ASU held a 14-3 lead at the time, and its offense had to rely on creativity to move the ball.
Coach Blake Anderson called a double pass on ASU's third offensive play.
It went from Hansen to redshirt sophomore Chauncey Mason, then back to Hansen, who weaved 34 yards down to the Lafayette 3.
Senior running back Johnston White, who replaced injured starting junior Warren Wand (ankle), scored on a 1-yard run two plays later to make the score 14-0.
Anderson said after the game that he had been saving the throwback play for three weeks and the third play of the game felt like the right opportunity.
"Why not?" Anderson said. "I knew I wanted to get to it in the first quarter, but I wasn't expecting to get it quite like we did. But hey man, we always got two or three of those ready to go."
Hansen was 1 of 4 passing for 7 yards at the start of the second quarter, and it wasn't until junior wide receiver Justin McInnis broke free on a 44-yard inside screen reception for a touchdown -- when no defender covered him -- that the ASU offense found its rhythm.
ASU ran one final trick play with one second left in the half, when Hansen faked a spike and threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to McInnis, who finished the game with 4 catches and 61 yards.
Anderson said he had watched Dan Marino's infamous "Clock Play," which gave the 1994 Miami Dolphins a 28-24 victory over the New York Jets, on YouTube earlier that day.
The Red Wolves scored the game's final 33 points, and outgained Lafayette 571 to 270 in total offense.
The 44-point margin was the largest in a rivalry that dates back to 1953, which Lafayette still leads 23-20-1.
This one clearly went to ASU.
"Our motto all week was 'Leave No Doubt,' " Anderson said. "And I thought from the beginning snap to the end they tried to do that very thing."
Sports on 10/20/2017