Photo by Travis Clayton, ASU
JONESBORO, Ark. — On Thursday night at Centennial Bank Stadium, the Arkansas State football team scored 20 second-half points, but dropped a 52-20 decision to No. 15 Coastal Carolina.
A-State (1-5, 0-2 SBC) became the first team to score a passing touchdown on the Chanticleers (6-0, 2-0), but could not overcome a 31-0 third-quarter deficit. The Red Wolves passed for 255 yards, while Coastal Carolina racked up 685 yards of total offense – 391 passing, 294 rushing.
“We have to learn what it is to compete,” head coach Butch Jones said. “I didn’t feel, when we walked down the ramp during the Red Wolf Walk, that this football team believed they could win. They had a different look in their eye, and that’s unacceptable. Then, we get hit in the mouth and then we decide that we can play with them. For moments in the second half, we did that but couldn’t sustain momentum. We would score but couldn’t force a 3-and-out, and that’s how you overtake a game and come back from a deficit. I was very disappointed in everything, from our execution to our mental intensity. We have to learn how to compete.”
Layne Hatcher completed 13 of 29 passes for 185 yards and two scores in place of starter James Blackman, who completed seven of 12 passes for 70 yards. Te’Vailance Hunt was A-State’s top target, hauling in six catches for 138 yards. Corey Rucker also caught a touchdown, running his career total to 12, which is tied for ninth most in program history.
Chanticleer quarterback Grayson McCall completed 78.3 percent of his passes (18 of 23) for 365 yards and four scores on the night, with all four scores going to tight end Isaiah Likely, who grabbed 8 passes for 232 yards. On the ground, Shermari Jones rushed 10 times for 113 yards to lead CCU.
Coastal Carolina wasted no time getting on the board. After a Ryan Hanson punt landed them inside their 1-yard line, McCall found Likely for a 99-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the drive. The Chanticleers later added a 19-yard field goal by Massimo Biscardi to lead 10-0 after one quarter.
The Chanticleers added 14 more before the half on an 8-yard rushing touchdown by Jones and a 4-yard pass from McCall to Likely with 13 seconds remaining. Coastal Carolina led 24-0 at halftime.
Coastal Carolina took the ball to start the second half and scored on another McCall-to-Likely connection, this time for 16 yards to make it 31-0. A-State then got on the board on its next drive when Hatcher found Rucker for a 15-yard strike in the back of the end zone, marking the first passing TD of the year allowed by the Chanticleers’ defense. After McCall found Likely for the fourth time of the night for a 64-yard strike, A-State punched back when Hatcher connected with Hunt for a 63-yard touchdown. Coastal Carolina led 38-14 after three.
A-State cut it to 38-20 early in the fourth when Lincoln Pare plunged across the goal for a 1-yard score, but the two-point try was no good. The Chanticleers turned to the ground game for their final two scores by Reese White (64 yards) and backup quarterback Bryce Carpenter (67 yards).
A-State faces another Thursday night test after next week’s bye week, hosting Louisiana in a nationally-televised contest Oct. 21 on ESPNU, with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI