JONESBORO, Ark.?Arkansas State's running attack spoiled Florida International's hopes of its first conference victory as five different Indian running backs scored touchdowns in a 66-24 beating of the Golden Panthers Saturday.
The Indians (2-2, 1-0) were paced once again by
Antonio Warren's 143-yard performance in just two quarters of action on the ground while the ASU defense picked off FIU (0-3, 0-1) five times on the day.
Warren got the scoring going for the Indians in ASU's first possession of the game. A promising drive by FIU was ended when
James Johnson settled underneath a Josh Padrick pass at the 34 and set up the ASU offense at the 50.
Warren took the handoff from Noce and rushed 50-yards for the touchdown with 11:48 left in the first quarter. After the defense forced a punt, ASU scored quickly again when Noce connected on two pass attempts for 39 yards and
Oren O'Neal scampered in from a yard out to make it 14-0 with 9 minutes left in the first quarter.
The Indians were never challenged after the FIU cut the score to 28-14 as the route began to roll for the Tribe.
The 66 points were the most ever by an ASU team against a team from Division 1, eclipsing the 55 scored against Louisiana Tech in 1996. Warren and
Shermar Bracey again rushed for over 100-yards each in the game, the second time this season the pair have done so. The five interceptions ranks second in school history and the 238 yards on interception returns is easily a school record.
Placekicker
Eric Neihouse connected for 12 more points on the night giving the senior 199 points in his career and taking over ASU's top spot for career points by a kicker.
The Golden Panthers were led by Padrick's 270-yards passing on 24-37 passing, but threw four interceptions on the day. Noce utilized a very workman-like 11-of-13 passing while connecting for two touchdowns on the day.
ASU's win makes the Oct. 1 game a key contest when the Indians travel to Louisiana-Monroe. The Indians of ULM are also 1-0 in conference play after taking a hard-fought 28-21 game over SBC newcomer Florida Atlantic.