The Arkansas State Red Wolves beat the Georgia Southern Eagles 34-24 on a drizzly Homecoming night. The win makes this their first three-conference-game win streak since 2019.

During the first quarter, the Red Wolves’ defense looked like they’d never touched turf before as they were unable to tackle the Eagles and left receivers wide open. 

The offense didn’t fare much better in the first half of the game, as quarterback Jaylen Raynor was intercepted off the hands of wide receiver Chauncy Cobb in the Georgia Southern end zone during the first Red Wolves possession. In the second quarter, a botched 4th and 1 snap that began on the Eagles’ end of the field ended up on the Arkansas State 32-yard line for Georgia Southern after the ball went over Raynor’s head. 

“If you look back at the play, it probably would have been, maybe an explosive, first down,” Raynor said. “But you know, it was wet. Things happen in the rain, something you can’t control as a quarterback.”

Thanks to this, Georgia Southern took a 21-10 lead by the middle of the second quarter.

Momentum changed during the final three and a half minutes of the half, with A-State in possession of the ball. During a 91-yard, 14-play drive, a mix of passes and runs, two defensive pass interference calls drawn by wide receiver Corey Rucker for 15 yards each, and a two-yard touchdown run by Raynor put the Red Wolves at 21-17 Georgia Southern. 

The Red Wolves started the second half with the ball, and a 22- yard run by wide receiver Chauncy Cobb would start A-State at their own 23-yard line. A few passes and runs later, wide receiver Hunter Summers caught a 16-yard throw at the Eagles’ 15-yard line. 

Two runs by running back Devin Spencer later, and Raynor goes for his second rushing touchdown of the night, an eight-yard run to put A-State ahead for the first time at 24-21. 

“The eight-minute swing was really big for us. The last four and the beginning four,” Red Wolves head coach Butch Jones said, “To be able to finish with the touchdown. And the two-minute drive right before the half, we book and score. So then we come out second half and score, and that’s a 14-point swing where they don’t even have their hands on the football.”

 The third quarter would stall out, but five minutes into the fourth, Raynor ran for his third rushing touchdown of the night, another two-yarder, to put A-State up by 10.

The defense then held Georgia Southern at the A-State 2-yard line, and the offense got the ball back with a little less than two minutes left. 

The Eagles attempted an onside kick, but it was recovered by the Red Wolves at the Eagles’ 49-yard line. 

Running back Kenyon Clay got the ball and gained thirty yards before sliding to a stop at the Eagles’ 19, forcing Georgia Southern to burn through their three timeouts during the next three plays. 

“We knew we didn’t really want to score right now. We just wanted to keep getting first downs, make them use their timeouts, and basically, run the clock out,” Clay said. “I knew once I had a pretty big gain, don’t get out of bounds. Stop the clock. So, you know, just situational football.”

The Red Wolves played with their food, making small gains, before kicking a field goal to give the Eagles the ball with 37 seconds left. The Red Wolves won 34-24.

The rushing was on point during the game, Red Wolves rushing 48 times for a total of 226 yards, the most rushing yards by A-State since playing Southern Mississippi last season, when they ran for 281 yards.

“We went into this game saying we were going to have to run the ball. We didn’t know what the weather was going to be like, if it was going to rain all night, kept changing,” Raynor said. “We knew if it began raining, we would have to run the ball. That’s something we emphasized all week.”

Clay totaled 17 rushes throughout the game for a gain of 127 yards. Spencer wasn’t far behind with 14 rushes for 123 yards. 

Raynor threw to Cobb 12 times during the game for 81 yards, tossed to Rucker 5 times for 77 yards and drew three defensive pass interference calls. 

Linebacker Aaron Alexander had 10 total tackles, 6 being solo tackles. Defensive end Demarcus Hendricks recorded 2 sacks. 

“I’m really appreciative of our players,” Jones said. “Again, we’re finding ways to win. It’s not pretty at times, but at the end of the day, it’s about getting the victory.”

The Red Wolves, now 4-4 and 3-1 in conference, go on to face the 6-2 and 4-0 in conference Troy Trojans in Troy, Alabama. Another national television game for the Red Wolves: kickoff is at 7 p.m. on Nov. 1 on ESPNU. 

Categories: Sports