Jaylen Raynor continued his meteoric rise in his second start at quarterback for Arkansas State, leading the Red Wolves to a 52-28 victory over UMass on Saturday afternoon at McGuirk Alumni Stadium at Amherst, Mass.
A week after making his first start for ASU in last week's win over Southern Miss, Raynor dismantled the Minutemen defense, going 20 of 25 for 383 yards and a program-record six touchdowns as the Red Wolves produced 556 total yards.
Raynor became the fourth true freshman since 2013 in FBS to throw six touchdown passes in a game -- joining NFL stars Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert, and Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams of Southern Cal.
"Obviously, he [Raynor] is very poised, mature beyond his years," Arkansas State Coach Butch Jones told ESPN-Plus. "I thought everybody stepped up around him. We needed some receivers to step up and make some big plays. ... Our offensive line was able to provide some protection and we were also able to run the football."
The Red Wolves (3-2), who won their third consecutive game, received the ball first and wasted no time executing their offense, going on a seven-play, 75-yard drive that ended on an 11-yard touchdown run by Ja'Quez Cross. Clemson transfer Taisun Phommachanh started at quarterback for UMass after missing the previous three games with an injury. But his return got off to a rough start as he was intercepted by ASU's Eddie Smith three plays into the first drive for the Minutemen.
Smith returned the interception down to the UMass 13 and ASU capitalized with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Raynor to Emmanual Stevenson to extend the early lead to 14-0.
After getting another defensive stop and a quality punt return from Courtney Jackson, Dominic Zvada converted a 44-yard field goal with 4:43 left in the first quarter to make the score 17-0.
On the first play of the second quarter, UMass running back Greg Desrosiers Jr. took a delayed handoff and ran 60 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 17-7. But the Red Wolves responded immediately with Raynor taking a deep shot to the end zone that was hauled in by Jeff Foreman for a 39-yard score.
Foreman high-pointed the ball over UMass cornerback Jordan Mahoney and was able to jab one foot down inbounds to complete the reception. Foreman finished the game with 2 receptions for 65 yards and 2 scores.
Arkansas State continued to keep its foot on the gas, building the lead to 31-7 following a 10-play, 90-yard drive that was capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass from Raynor to Jackson with 7:36 left in the first half.
Cameron Carson kicked a 22-yard field goal just before halftime to make it 31-10. Leon Jones made a textbook pass breakup on a fade route to the back corner of the end zone on third and goal that forced the field goal attempt.
"I thought our team responded," Jones said. "This [UMass] is a talented football team. We felt they had one of the best receiving corps we've faced all year. We knew we were going to have to tackle in space and I thought we were much better in the second half. We made them earn just about everything that they got."
Carson converted another field goal from 24 yards out on the opening drive of the third quarter to cut the lead to 31-13, but the UMass defense had no answer for Raynor. On the Red Wolves' first offensive drive of the second half, the freshman beat a UMass blitz and hit a wide open Reagan Ealy streaking down the left sideline for a 33-yard touchdown.
Raynor led the Red Wolves on scoring drives on 8 of their 11 possessions for the game.
"Great team win," Jones said. "Complementary football, but I can't say enough about him [Raynor] and all those players."
Phommachanh threw his first touchdown of the season, connecting with Desrosiers for a 5-yard score with 3:04 remaining in the third to close the cap to 38-20. But Raynor once again found Foreman for a touchdown, this time on a pass over the middle from 26 yards out to push the lead to 45-20 with 1:12 left in the third.
Raynor's sixth touchdown pass was a 55-yarder to Adam Jones. Raynor faked as if he was going to run the ball, only to pull up and hit the wide open Jones to make the score 52-20 with 13:57 to go in the game.
Kay'Ron Lynch-Adams added a 2-yard rushing touchdown late for UMass to make the final score 52-28, but the Red Wolves defense made plays when they had to. Javonte Mackey was a standout on that side of the ball, finishing with eight tackles and two sacks. Phommachanh was under constant duress and was sacked four times total.
"I thought we had great energy going on the road," Butch Jones said. "When you go on the road, you are responsible for really creating your own momentum. I thought we created the momentum the entire game and never let it go. Even when things went the wrong way, we still were able to maintain the momentum. It's learning how to win on the road."