In a grudge match between two winless Sun Belt Conference (SBC) West teams, Arkansas State football nipped their two game losing streak in the bud with a 23-13 win against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles Saturday.

Both programs came into Hattiesburg hungry for their first win in SBC play coming off tough losses. Riding the wave of their high-scoring shootout with South Alabama last week, A-State came out swinging, scoring on their first three possessions to create a 13-0 lead.

Even with their hot start, the Red Wolves fell into a similar trap from their game against the Kennesaw State Owls in mid-September.

Although A-State made substantial progress downfield with 23 first down conversions, they failed to execute in crucial scoring positions, often settling for a field goal. On the first five possessions, they made their way within the Golden Eagles’ 30-yard line four times and only scored one touchdown.

It was the same story during their match against the Owls in Jonesboro earlier this season. Head coach Butch Jones said the negative yardage plays against Kennesaw crippled them on execution and promised to work to take advantage of possessions with great field position in future matches.

“The consistency to execute over drives is something that we have to get better at,” Jones said.

A-State’s lack of execution on potential touchdown possessions in Southern Miss territory took plenty of Red Wolves’ opportunities for points off the board. The extra points would have created a more comfortable lead for the team, especially with the scoring drought that opened the second half and lasted until the 13:10 mark in the fourth quarter.

However, the offense succeeded in controlling the game overall.

A-State’s first down efficiency safeguarded their lead by keeping the ball away from the Golden Eagles’ offense even while missing out on potential touchdown opportunities.

This consistency in advancing field position came from their slow and methodical offensive scheme.

Considering the Golden Eagles lead the Football Bowl Subdivision in most rushing yards allowed per game, A-State running backs battered at their defense with a season-high 51 carries averaging 2.6 yards per attempt. The small but substantial ground game gains pushed the Red Wolves up the field at a slow and consistent rate, draining the game clock further.

On the other hand, quarterback Trey Owens took a backseat on passing with 25 throws compared to 43 against South Alabama last week. While not being the offensive focus, Owens still made the most of his passes and averaged ten yards per completion without an interception. His clean performance came from his emphasis on short throws, which propelled the offense’s work on maintaining possession as long as possible.

This ball-hog strategy on offense gave them complete control over the tempo. They had possession of the ball for 40:08 minutes, over double the amount of time Southern Miss spent on offense.

On defense, each forced turnover and punt from negative yardage plays pushed the Red Wolves closer to the win. By controlling the tempo on offense, A-State worsened the impact of each mistake from the Golden Eagles’ offense, which ended up happening often throughout the game.

Trying to keep Southern Miss at bay, the Red Wolves defense stepped up after giving up 56 points last week. On the ground, A-State held the home team to only 81 rushing yards.

Meanwhile, the secondary had an excellent outing against Golden Eagles quarterback Landry Lyddy. After a drought lasting since Sept. 12, A-State finally nabbed their first two interceptions since their home opener against West Georgia. However, they showed lapses by giving up 208 passing yards.

The defense put together multiple great stops outside of their takeaways as well.

From a pass-breakup cutting a series off early to a negative yardage rush play forcing a turnover on downs, Southern Miss could not make any headway into A-State’s defense. The Golden Eagles constantly found themselves hitting a stand-still on their possessions, only averaging around 26 yards gained per drive.

With their success in forcing the ball out of Southern Miss’s hands as soon as possible, A-State’s defense worked hand-in-hand with the slow-paced offense to create a winning tempo-based strategy.

Even with their own downsides, A-State slipped by Southern Miss with a conservative, clock-killing approach on both sides of the ball that was further boosted by the consistent mistakes from the home team.

The Red Wolves return to Jonesboro for their homecoming game against the Georgia State Panthers on Oct. 24th at 6 p.m.

Categories: Sports