JONESBORO, Ark. (9/13/08) ? The Southern Miss Golden Eagles (2-1) held off a furious second-half rally by Arkansas State and came away with a 27-24 victory over the Red Wolves (2-1) Saturday night at ASU Stadium.
Down 17-3 at the half, ASU came roaring back in the third quarter with 14 straight points to tie the score at 17, only to see Southern Miss answer with 10 straight to open the fourth quarter.
Southern Miss benefitted from an ASU miscue on a field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter to begin building its 10-point cushion. With the Red Wolves lined up for a 31-yard field goal attempt with just over 12 minutes to play that would have given ASU a 20-17 lead, Southern Miss turned the tables when cornerback C.J. Bailey scooped up an ASU fumble on the play and returned it to the Arkansas State 11. Bailey's return set up a 28-yard field goal from Golden Eagle placekicker Justin Estes that gave USM a 20-17 lead with 10:47 remaining.
Southern Miss then put together a 93-yard drive that ended in a 24-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Austin Davis to tailback Damion Fletcher with 5:30 to play that padded the Golden Eagle lead at 27-17.
Refusing to go quietly, Arkansas State moved 83 yards in just over three minutes to pull within 27-24. Junior quarterback Corey Leonard completed three passes for 52 yards on the drive, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to freshman fullback Jeff Blake to complete the drive with 2:14 to play.
Arkansas State's defense held Southern Miss to three-and-out on the Eagles' ensuing possession to give the Red Wolves one final opportunity with 1:44 remaining.
Starting at the ASU 20, Leonard connected with wideout Anthony Robertson for 26 yards on third-and-five to give the Red Wolves a first down at the USM 46 with just over a minute to play, but an interception by Southern Miss cornerback Eddie Willingham with 59 seconds remaining sealed the victory for USM.
“We played very, very well and I'm not disappointed in our kids' effort,” said ASU head coach Steve Roberts. “I thought we played very hard and showed a lot of maturity and resiliency during the course of the ball game. We fought back from 10 down and 14 down...we came back and got ourselves and the crowd back into the game.”
Southern Miss converted 9-of-10 third down opportunities in the first half to build its 17-3 lead at the break. The Eagles opened the game with a 19-play, 68 yard drive that chewed up 10:17 on the game clock and ended with a 23-yard field goal from kicker Justin Estes.
Arkansas State answered with a 55-yard drive that ended in a 41-yard field goal from Josh Arauco that tied the score at 3-3 less than two minutes later, but Southern Miss tacked on a pair of touchdowns to build the 14-point halftime lead.
Tailback Tory Harrison scored on a 1-yard run with 12:09 remaining in the half and tight end Jonathan Massey hauled in a 1-yard pass from Davis to put the Eagles on top 17-3 at the break.
Leonard finished the game with 325 yards of total offense, including 256 yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air. Junior tailback Reggie Arnold added 84 yards on 15 carries and freshman tailback Derek Lawson had 73 yards on seven rushing attempts. Tight end Trevor Gillott had a career-high 79 yards on five receptions.
Sophomore safety M.D. Jennings had 13 tackled to lead the ASU defense.
Arkansas State will wrap up a three-game home stand Sept. 20 when they host Middle Tennessee State in the Red Wolves' Sun Belt Conference opener. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. at ASU Stadium.
