BOONE — App State showed few signs of early rust in its
first "Ring Game" of 2020.
Zac Thomas delivered a 60-yard touchdown run in addition to
tying his career-high of four touchdown passes, Daetrich Harrington broke loose
on a long touchdown while rushing for 137 yards and the defense put up a dominant
first-half showing as the Mountaineers rolled to a 45-17 victory against
Arkansas State at The Rock on Thursday night.
Playing for the first time in 26 days, after the first two
scheduled Sun Belt Conference games were postponed until December, App State
(3-1, 1-0) began pursuit of a fifth straight league title by building a 31-7
halftime lead against the high-scoring, pass-happy Red Wolves (3-3, 2-2) in a
nationally televised game on ESPN.
"Our guys like to compete, and that was the message
today — go compete to see where we are as a program," head coach Shawn
Clark said. "Our guys did that. We did a great job on defense, and we came
out and started fast on offense."
With 2,100 fans in attendance based on 7-percent capacity
guidelines in Kidd Brewer Stadium, there was plenty to cheer about. For the second straight meeting, the Mountaineers held Arkansas State to less than 20
points, something that's happened only two other times to the Red Wolves in the
last three seasons — against Alabama and Georgia.
D'Marco Jackson made two interceptions in the end zone to
end a pair of scoring threats, Tristan Walliser forced an errant pitch while
disrupting an unsuccessful fake punt and App State's six sacks came from
Demetrius Taylor (two), Tim Frizzell, Caleb Spurlin, Trey Cobb (part of his 3.5
tackles for loss) and a combo effort from Shaun Jolly and George Blackstock.
Offensively, Thomas rushed for a career-high 82 yards on
seven attempts and completed 16 of 23 passes for 216 yards, with two of his TD
passes finding first-time starter Christian Wells.
"Our players embody what a Mountaineer is, and they
showed resilience tonight," Clark said. "I can't stress how proud I
am of our players, our coaches, and our program."
Arkansas State used a field goal and 55-yard touchdown run
to trail just 31-17 late in the third quarter, and a third-and-14 scenario put
the Red Wolves in a position to get the ball back.
Thomas sprinted up the middle for a big gain, made a hard
right cut near the Arkansas State 35, maneuvered around a Malik Williams block
that occupied two defenders and stayed in bounds along the sideline before
making a Superman-style dive into the front-right pylon.
"That linebacker (in the middle) I knew had the running
back, and as soon as I saw that, I knew it was about to be something good, so I
sent (the back) in motion," Thomas said. "It just parted like the Red
Sea right there, and a heck of a job out by Malik out wide to make two key
blocks, and upfront, they all did their jobs."
Jackson's 44-yard return of an end-zone interception set up
the Mountaineers' final touchdown, a 20-yard pass to Wells with 8:22 remaining.
App State didn't punt in a first half that included a
46-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field to a streaking Wells on the
Mountaineers' first possession, a tiebreaking touchdown run of 55 yards from
Harrington on their next series and a 5-yard pass early in the second quarter
for tight end Mike Evans' first career touchdown. Thomas' keeper for 23 yards
on a fourth-and-4 run from the Arkansas State 45 extended that drive.
Forcing mistakes and capitalizing on others from the Red
Wolves, App State increased its lead before halftime thanks to Chandler
Staton's 39-yard field goal and Williams' 16-yard touchdown reception.
Arkansas State arrived in Boone averaging 38.2 points,
helped by totals of 50 and 59 in its last two games, but the Mountaineers'
defense ended the first half Thursday with no third-down conversions allowed in
seven attempts and four forced punts — one shy of the Red Wolves' season-high
for a game. They were limited to minus-4 rushing yards in the half, and aside
from two long passes that netted 81 yards for star receiver Jonathan Adams,
Arkansas State's other 18 pass attempts before the break produced 102 yards.
"It was a lot of preparation," said Jackson, who
had the first two interceptions of his career. "We had guys going late
night, throughout the week, coming over about 8 or 9 (p.m.) and doing film
studies, looking at tendencies and what they liked to do on certain downs. A
lot of preparation went into it."
Arkansas State trailed 21-7 when it forced a turnover and
moved within a single yard of cutting its deficit in half.
The Mountaineers responded to that first-and-goal situation
from the 1 by forcing a loss of 1 on a run and pushing the Red Wolves back 5
more yards on Frizzell's stop of quarterback Logan Bonner. Pressure from Taylor
and Frizzell led to a third-down incompletion, and Arkansas State missed the
24-yard field goal wide left.
The Red Wolves regained possession when a long run turned
into a lost fumble, but a three-and-out series preceded Walliser ruining the
fake-punt plan for a reverse pitch.
Arkansas State didn't move into positive territory for
rushing yards as a team until its long touchdown late in the third quarter, and
the Red Wolves finished 4 of 16 on third-down conversions.
Story courtesy of App State Strategic Communications
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