Red Wolves Obliterate Wounded Jaguars

What Happened:

This picture perfectly sums up the day in Jonesboro, Arkansas; it never was a game really...it was a shellacking.

The Red Wolves of Arkansas State completely  annihilated the South Alabama Jaguars to improve to 6-3 on the season, making the squad bowl eligible for the fourth consecutive season. For the most part the Red Wolves absolutely imposed their will on the Jaguars and USA just seemed to be overwhelmed quickly and just couldn't get anything going. Still, the ASU offense didn't quite play a solid game, stalling once again on a 4th and short on the USA 5-yard line, Ferguson missing a 33 yard field goal try and adding an additional eight penalties for 77 yards to their already ridiculously HIGH penalty count (many primarily came from the defensive side of the ball). Despite the hiccups, ASU handed South Alabama their worst program lost in their brief history, not to mention scoring 45 points on defense that had only allowed an average of 20 points going into yesterday's game, and that's something not to be taken lightly.  Perhaps the two biggest story lines that came out of this game were the South Al injuries and the Red Wolves defense; after allowing over 600 yards rushing in their last two games with 12 touchdowns,  the Arkansas State D only allowed 111 on the ground (majority of those yards coming against the scrubs in the 4th) and zero rushing scores. Defensive coordinator Joe Cauthen certainly tweaked the defense and despite stud defender Rocky Hayes getting ejected early in the first quarter for targeting, the defense remained absolutely stout, only allowing the Jaguars to gain 42 yards at half with three points (ending result being 201 yards and 10 points), giving up only ONE THIRD DOWN CONVERSION out of 12 attempts, and forcing four turnovers on the day.

Going into Saturday, I thought this would be the Packs toughest remaining opponent, and a part of me thinks it still would've been...if USA weren't so banged up. It was no secret the Jaguars were hurting throughout the roster, and ultimately eight starters ended up not playing for South Al (including starting quarterback Brandon Bridge). On top of that, junior Marvin Shinn suffered a horrific broken leg early in the first quarter, and it's been reported he stayed behind in Jonesboro to have surgery on his leg today prior to being transported back to Mobile. It was very obvious once the game started and progressed that USA's talent and depth really drops off and were no match for the ASU first string.

Player of the Game: Fredi Knighten 

"Lightnin" Fredi Knighten was once again spot on for his Red Wolves, going 17/32 passing for 187 yards and two touchdowns with no picks. On top of that, he ran for an additional 80 yards with one TD. As this season has progressed, Knighten has certainly been maturing as a quarterback and he certainly doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

My Thoughts/Looking Ahead:

"I honestly did not see 45-10 coming...(I) felt really comfortable that this was going to be a slugfest to the end," Blake Anderson said during his post game presser. I am right there with him; Despite the long injury list, I still thought this Jaguar squad had enough talent, particularly on the defensive side, to keep it a close game with the Pack. On top of that, with bowl eligibility on the line would've added a little bit more of a motivational boost for USA. However, such wasn't the case and the Red Wolves took fully advantage of a very depleted South Al squad. All in all, Astate played a very solid game and if they keep up this level of play I have no doubt the ASU team can roll to a 9-3 regular season record.

With that said, gotta stay focus and play one game at a time. Their's still three games remaining and the next one up won't come easy. The Mountaineers of App State, after losing their first five of six games, have appeared to have gotten their act together with extremely young group of players and won three straight. They remind me of Idaho-very capable offense (including the 21st rushing team in the nation) and yet having a shaky defense (giving up about 28 points a game). ASU can't be over looking them for their Thursday night ESPNU date against Texas State; if the Mountaineers can get their running game going against ASU, they can easily keep up scoring wise with the Red Wolves. Running defense will have to once again step up for the Pack to score win number seven.