First-half blunders come back to haunt Indians

TODD TRAUB
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

JONESBORO -- Arkansas State's offense rallied for 13 points in the fourth quarter of Saturday's 19-17 loss to Memphis, but it was offensive and special teams miscues in the first half that made the comeback necessary.
Memphis (2-1) cashed in on an interception thrown by ASU quarterback Cleo Lemon for its only touchdown and a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and a shanked, 4-yard punt by Andy Shatley for Ryan White's first field goal and a 10-3 lead early in the second.
"The elementary principles of the game of football are not going to change," ASU Coach Joe Hollis said. "You give them a short field, which we did in two instances in the first quarter, it cost us 10 points."
ASU's fourth-quarter rally was overshadowed by White's game-winning, 35-yard field goal, his fourth of the night, with 49 seconds left. The kick capped a 13-play, 58-yard drive by Memphis in which running backs Sugar Sanders and Darche Epting carried 10 times for 44 yards.
Up to that point ASU (0-3) had held Memphis' backs to 103 yards.
Linebacker Segun Ajigbeda said it was possible the defense was fatigued, but blamed the late drive on lack of effort.
"We just didn't line up and bow up," Ajigbeda said.
"How do you get worn down when it's 17-16 in your home stadium and you're scratching and clawing for a win?" Hollis said. "How do you get winded? I guess players do, but ... you don't get winded. You make plays. You've got to fight through that. That's my personal opinion."
Ajigbeda refused to blame the loss on the first-half miscues that put ASU into the 10-3 hole.
"We know it's a team sport," Ajigbeda said. "Our main thing is to keep them out of the end zone. That's what we are focusing on."
Except for the first touchdown by Memphis, that's what the Indians defense did.
The interception came when Lemon, who finished with 222 yards and a touchdown, underthrew wideout Robert Kilow into double coverage that Hollis said was well-disguised.
Glenn Sumter picked off the pass at ASU's 49 and returned the ball to the 17. It was the only turnover of the game.
Two plays later, Travis Anglin passed 13 yards to tight end Billy Kendall for the 7-0 lead with 12:13 left in the first quarter.
The Indians pulled within 7-3 on a 25-yard field goal by Nick Gatto with 7:08 left in the quarter, but ASU was forced to punt on its next possession. Andy Shatley's kick went off the side of his foot and out of bounds 4 yards upfield at the ASU 16, but the Indians held Memphis to the first of White's four field goals to make it 10-3 with 12:14 left in the half.
"The defense came in and did a nice job, they held them to three points," Hollis said.
After holding Memphis to a field goal, White's third, in the third quarter, the defense got a breather as ASU's offense suddenly got creative and found its rhythm. The Indians used multiple-receiver, no-back sets at times and once snapped the ball directly to wideout James Hickenbotham in the backfield as they put together two quick scoring drives.
"We emptied the playbook," Hollis said. "You saw a lot of things that you hadn't seen before. You saw a wideout playing in the shotgun. We had to get people that could make plays to touch the football. You saw us in a lot of empty sets there toward the end of the ballgame with no backs."
The first ASU scoring drive covered 81 yards in six plays and ended with an 8-yard touchdown run by Jacquis Walker. The second covered 67 yards in seven plays and ended with Kilow's 50-yard catch and run after Lemon evaded a blitzing defensive back to get off the pass.
But with 5:59 left Memphis had plenty of time to march downfield, and thanks to their early cushion, the Tigers only needed a field goal to win. ASU ran out of time and timeouts and had to attempt a 52-yard field goal by Gatto, which fell short as time expired.
Hollis said the time is coming when the Indians will learn to close the door on a close game-- seven of their last 10 losses have been by a touchdown or less -- but he wasn't complaining about his team's effort.
"We never felt like we were out of it," Hollis said. "We played against a good defensive football team, a good offensive football team that will end up winning a lot of football games. I'm proud of their effort, I'm proud of the don't-give-up type attitude. Because at 16-3 they kept fighting back."

This article was published on Monday, September 18, 2000

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