LOUISVILLE, Ky. (10/31/09) - The Arkansas State Red Wolves (2-5, 1-2) rallied to within a touchdown and a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter but could not punch the ball into the end zone on their final drive as the Louisville Cardinals (3-5, 0-3) held on for a 21-13 non-conference victory Saturday afternoon at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
Senior kicker Josh Arauco put the Red Wolves within eight points when he booted a 21-yard field goal with 7:47 remaining, but Arkansas State came up 14 yards short of the tying score on its final drive.
Arkansas State's final possession began at its 24 yard line with 2:42 remaining, and the Red Wolves drove as deep as the Cardinals' eight yard line in the final minute. Senior quarterback Corey Leonard's fourth-down pass from the Louisville 14 yard line was just out of the reach of tight end Trevor Gillott ending the final Red Wolves threat.
"We had some big plays on both sides of the football and did some really good things but didn't do enough," said ASU head coach Steve Roberts. "We had opportunities that we didn't cash in on, and that is disappointing."
Louisville got on the board first, scoring on a 26-yard rush by Darius Ashley in the first quarter. ASU answered with a 24-yard field goal from Arauco to start the second quarter.
The Cardinals stretched their lead to 21-3 with a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown by Brandon Heath just before the half and a one-yard rushing touchdown by Ashley with 8:23 remaining in the third.
The Red Wolves cut the lead to 21-10 on a four-yard touchdown pass from Leonard to Brandon Thompkins with just over a minute to play in the third quarter, then used Arauco's 21-yarder to pull within a score with 7:47 to play.
Arauco's two field goals on the day made him the Sun Belt Conference's all-time leader in field goals made with 51, while Thompkins became the SBC all-time leader in kickoff return yards when he returned three kickoffs on the day for 56 yards, giving him 2,357 for his career.
Leonard passed for a season-high 303 yards and a touchdown to lead the Arkansas State offense on the day, completing 23-of-42 passes to become ASU's all-time completions leader with 565.
Junior safety M.D. Jennings had a season-high 9.5 tackles against the Cardinals to lead the Red Wolves defense.
Arkansas State will return to Sun Belt Conference play Nov. 7 when the Red Wolves host Louisiana-Lafayette in a 2:30 p.m. game at ASU Stadium.
