ASU catches break, achieves 1st victory
TODD TRAUBARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
JONESBORO -- So many times the big play, the turnover or the mistake has gone against Arkansas State.
But with the recipe for disaster on the table again Saturday, the big play finally belonged to ASU.
Cornerback Chris Jones scooped up a fumble and returned it 54 yards for a touchdown with 2:37 left as ASU beat Louisiana-Lafayette 26-20 before 9,391 fans at Indian Stadium.
The touchdown, ASU's only points of the second half, came after the Indians (1-4, 1-0) lost a 20-point lead and gave them their first victory of the year in their Sun Belt Conference opener.
"It's great to win," ASU Coach Joe Hollis said. "It is absolutely great to win. I've never apologized for winning the football game. Obviously we didn't play very well in the second half offensively. That's very evident. But we found a way to win. That's very evident too."
With the score tied 20-20 and less than three minutes remaining, Ragin' Cajuns quarterback Jon Van Cleave completed a short pass to Nick Dugas for Dugas' team-record 14th reception. But the milestone turned ugly for the Cajuns when Indians outside linebacker Tyshon Reed hammered Dugas, forcing the ball loose for Jones' return with 2:37 left.
"In that situation you've got to be aware of everything that's going on," Jones said. "I knew what I had to do. I just picked it up and ran with it."
As they went 1-10 last year the Indians lost on a fumble in double overtime at North Carolina State and on a missed field goal with no time left against Memphis. They blew a 27-7 second-half lead in a loss to Richmond and lost two fumbles, one in overtime, in a loss to New Mexico State.
ASU had five turnovers in its loss to Baylor earlier this year.
With such grim history in the recent past, Jones said his fumble return was especially satisfying.
"There was just a warm feeling inside once I got in the end zone," Jones said.
"This is a big confidence booster," said Reed, who finished with seven tackles. "I can't even begin to tell you how good this is."
The Indians raced to their 20-0 first-half lead behind 88 yards and two touchdowns by Jonathan Adams and a pair of field goals by Andy McPherson. Adams finished with 109 yards and moved into sixth on ASU's all-time rushing chart with 2,422.
Louisiana-Lafayette was flagged for 54 yards worth of penalties in the first half and had safety Kyries Hebert ejected after a personal foul. The Ragin' Cajuns also lost a fumble after driving to the ASU 3 and threw an interception, with both turnovers leading to McPherson's 27- and 32-yard field goals.
But poor field position and penalties kept the Indians trapped inside their 25 most of the second half while the Cajuns (1-5, 0-2) rallied.
"We lost the momentum totally in the second half," Hollis said.
Dugas scored on a 6-yard pass from Van Cleave for Louisiana-Lafayette's first touchdown with 5:20 left in the third quarter, and the Cajuns scored again on 33-yard reception by Blake Borque and a deflected conversion catch by Marcus Wilridge to make it 20-14 with 1:20 left in the quarter.
Cajuns running back Jerome Coleman weaved through traffic to score on a 13-yard run with 4:48 left in the game, but kicker Jonathan Knott missed his second extra-point attempt to go with a missed field goal to leave the score tied.
"I thought we got a nice push on the ones he missed," Hollis said. "It was a nice push by our interior."
With the offense gaining just 35 yards and getting two first downs in the second half, and the Cajuns on the march in the closing minutes, it was up to the Indians defense to make a play. After the Cajuns reached the Indians' 44, Reed and Jones delivered, then the Indians stopped the Cajuns again, with the final play an incompletion on Van Cleave's attempt to Donovan Morgan.
"We felt like we were the better team," Louisiana-Lafayette Coach Jerry Baldwin said. "We felt like we really should have pounded these boys."
Now ASU travels to North Texas, which upset Sun Belt preseason favorite Middle Tennessee 24-21 for its first victory Saturday. But preparing for another tough game will be a little easier and a little more fun this week, Hollis said.
"We'll know next Saturday how we fed off it," Hollis said. "But yeah, that's our whole emphasis, you want to build a little momentum."
This article was published on October 14, 2001
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