Arkansas State has not scored fewer than 38 points in a game since Oct. 9.
That comes from the Red Wolves becoming more efficient in their past four games.
"Our preparation has been spot on the last couple of weeks," said ASU offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner. "Our attention to detail has been so much better. We're maturing as a football team."
On the heels of ASU's most efficient offensive output of the season in Saturday's 44-16 road victory at Coastal Carolina, the Red Wolves defined how their offense was able to score four touchdowns in their first four possessions.
Time. Third down. The running game.
Arkansas State began this season with three first-year starting offensive lineman -- longtime senior backup Marvis Brown, redshirt freshman Andre Harris, Jr. and redshirt junior Nour-Eddine Seidnaly.
The unit allowed six sacks in ASU's 28-21 loss at Georgia Southern on Sept. 29, the first of the Red Wolves' three conference losses.
In the past two games, the offense's most inexperienced unit has not allowed a single sack, giving comfort to ASU's play-callers and to senior quarterback Justice Hansen. They allowed one sack at Louisiana-Lafayette on Oct. 27.
"The quarterback's been comfortable," Faulkner said. "We've been able to keep him comfortable."
The Red Wolves began to turn the corner Oct. 18 against Georgia State when the offensive line allowed two sacks and the running game came to life.
ASU rushed for a season-high 273 yards against the Panthers and was successful on 8 of 13 third-down conversions, the two balancing acts of the Red Wolves' pass-oriented offense.
Since a 51-35 victory against Georgia State, ASU's third-down offense has risen from eighth in the Sun Belt, converting 35.1 percent of third downs, to third (42 percent).
ASU has converted 29 of 53 third downs in the past four games. That 54.7 percent conversion rate would lead the Sun Belt if it were for the entire season, ahead of Louisiana-Lafayette's conference-high 50 percent so far in 2018.
"That keeps us in manageable situations," said ASU Coach Blake Anderson.
The Red Wolves' league-leading passing offense (286.2 yards per game) is now also able to keep defenses honest with a dependable ground game.
True freshman tailback Marcel Murray -- who graded as country's highest-rated true freshman running back in the country by ProFootballFocus.com (PFF), an analytics-based football research website -- has forced 29 missed tackles on 105 carries.
Murray has gained 439 yards of his team-high 639 rushing yards after contact, per PFF.
Murray, a large reason ASU has bullied through opposing defenses geared for the pass, has helped the Red Wolves average 5.6 yards per carry the past four games.
"If you can do that, you're going to be efficient," Faulkner said.
Sports on 11/16/2018