Southern Miss
1-3 , 0-1
Arkansas State
2-2 , 1-0
Golden Eagles Fall in Sun Belt Opener at Arkansas State
9/23/2023 11:19:00 PM | Football
JONESBORO, Ark. – Dominic Zavada belted a 21-yard field goal and quarterback Jaylen Raynor added a 62-yard scoring run just over a minute later late in the fourth quarter to lift Arkansas State to a 44-37 Sun Belt Conference opener win over Southern Miss Saturday night at Centennial Bank Stadium.
The late Red Wolves rally spoiled a 17-point, second-half comeback by the Golden Eagles (1-3 overall, 0-1 Sun Belt) as they dropped their third game in a row.
Frank Gore, Jr., rushed for a game-high 132 yards, putting him over 3,000 yards for his career as it also marked the ninth 100-yard rushing game of his career, tying him for sixth with Sammy Winder and Shelton Gandy.
After opening the game with a 12-play, 84-yard drive that was culminated on a two-yard Gore, Jr., run, the Red Wolves (2-2, 1-0) scored on their first four drives, taking advantage of a Southern Miss interception on their second drive and a blocked punt on their third drive which turned into 10 additional points for the home team.
Down just 20-17 at the half, A-State scored on their first two possessions of the second half, including a 60-yard pass from Raynor to Clayton Jackson on the first play of the third period. Raynor, who threw for 233 yards and three touchdowns on 11-of-22 passing with an interception, then added a eight-yard scoring rush some five minutes late to give the Red Wolves its biggest lead at 34-17.
The Golden Eagles rallied as Dreke Clark collected a 59-yard scoring run – the longest rushing play of the year for Southern Miss – and Andrew Stein converted the second of three field goals, from 42 yards out with 3:10 left in the third. Southern Miss then tied the game at 34-34 on a 22-yard pass from Billy Wiles to Jakarius Caston. Wiles finished with a season-high 215 on 20-of-36 passing with two interceptions and two TD passes.
Southern Miss fell to 7-1 under Will Hall when they scored 30 points in a game.
Team Stats
USM 7, ASU 0
USM - Gore,Frank 2 yd run (Stein,Andrew kick), 12 plays, 84 yards, TOP 05:42
USM 7, ASU 7
ASU - Foreman,Jeff 33 yd pass from Raynor,Jaylen (Zvada,Dominic kick) 7 plays, 78 yards, TOP 03:01
USM 7, ASU 14
ASU - Jackson,Courtney 5 yd pass from Raynor,Jaylen (Zvada,Dominic kick) 3 plays, 8 yards, TOP 01:22
USM 7, ASU 17
ASU - Zvada,Dominic 36 yd field goal 4 plays, 7 yards, TOP 01:21
USM 14, ASU 17
USM - Jones,Latreal 28 yd pass from Wiles,Billy (Stein,Andrew kick) 7 plays, 65 yards, TOP 03:45
USM 14, ASU 20
ASU - Zvada,Dominic 53 yd field goal 4 plays, 3 yards, TOP 00:46
USM 17, ASU 20
USM - Stein,Andrew 23 yd field goal 9 plays, 51 yards, TOP 03:41
USM 17, ASU 27
ASU - Jackson,Courtney 60 yd pass from Raynor,Jaylen (Zvada,Dominic kick) 1 plays, 60 yards, TOP 00:09
USM 17, ASU 34
ASU - Raynor,Jaylen 8 yd run (Zvada,Dominic kick), 6 plays, 89 yards, TOP 02:36
USM 24, ASU 34
USM - Clark,Rodrigues 59 yd run (Stein,Andrew kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:19
USM 27, ASU 34
USM - Stein,Andrew 42 yd field goal 6 plays, 38 yards, TOP 01:50
USM 34, ASU 34
USM - Caston,Jakarius 22 yd pass from Wiles,Billy (Stein,Andrew kick) 3 plays, 50 yards, TOP 00:37
USM 34, ASU 37
ASU - Zvada,Dominic 21 yd field goal 8 plays, 51 yards, TOP 04:00
USM 34, ASU 44
ASU - Raynor,Jaylen 62 yd run (Zvada,Dominic kick), 2 plays, 64 yards, TOP 00:14
USM 37, ASU 44
USM - Stein,Andrew 37 yd field goal 10 plays, 46 yards, TOP 02:11
