Arkansas St 41 New Mexico St 22 Recap

It was an inauspicious beginning for QB Justice Hansen as the Red Wolves won the toss and elected to take the ball first and hopefully set the tone for the game. Three incomplete passes later and the grumbling from the 20,178 in the stands was palpable. Was this to be a game the heavily favored Red Wolves would find themselves struggling through? The end result turned out to be much better as the scarlet and black faithful went home after watching the sophomore go 20-24 for 257 yards and 2 TDs after that disastrous opening series as ASU pulled away early from the Aggies for a 41-22 win.

OFFENSE

• Blake Anderson showed a little razzle dazzle with a double pass from wide out Cam Echols-Luper throwing a 35 yard rainbow pass to a wide open Blake Mack for a touchdown and a 27-3 lead that seemed to be the knockout punch in the game.
• Warren Wand led all ASU rushers with 91 yards on 13 carries but 46 of that came on one run.
• Kendall Sanders had his coming out party and showed flashes of great athletic skill while catching 6 balls for 101 yards and 2 tds.
• 12 different receivers caught balls on Saturday including 6 that caught multiple passes.
• Midway through the 3rd quarter and with ASU at their own 2 yard line, Johnston White was unable to get out of the endzone and was stuffed for a safety closing the score to 34-15.

DEFENSE

• New Mexico St star running back Larry Rose finally had a chance to make a healthy appearance and was able to get 168 yards on 25 carries and 1 TD with most of those yards coming between the 20 yard lines.
• Aggie QB Tyler Rogers found himself under constant pressure all day long going 26 of 45 for 256 yards and 1 td.
• ASU sacked Rogers 6 times with Ja’von Rolland-Jones leading the way with 3 sacks. The Red Wolves D also recorded 11 tackles for loss.
• Money Hunter returned an interception in the first quarter 46 yards for a touchdown to become the Sun Belt record holder with his fourth career pick six.
• ASU’s defense is now giving up an average of 16 points a game in Sun Belt play.