from www.appstatesports.com:
BOONE, N.C — App State showed few signs of early rust in its first “Ring Game” of 2020.
Zac Thomas delivered a 60-yard touchdown run in addition to tying his career high of four touchdown passes, Daetrich Harrington broke loose on a long touchdown while rushing for 137 yards and the defense put up a dominant first-half showing as the Mountaineers rolled to a 45-17 victory against Arkansas State at The Rock on Thursday night.
Playing for the first time in 26 days, after the first two scheduled Sun Belt Conference games were postponed until December, App State (3-1, 1-0) began pursuit of a fifth straight league title by building a 31-7 halftime lead against the high-scoring, pass-happy Red Wolves (3-3, 2-2) in a nationally televised game on ESPN.
With 2,100 fans in attendance based on 7-percent capacity guidelines in Kidd Brewer Stadium, there was plenty to cheer about.
D’Marco Jackson made two interceptions in the end zone to end a pair of scoring threats, Tristan Walliser forced an errant pitch while disrupting an unsuccessful fake punt and App State’s six sacks came from Demetrius Taylor (two), Tim Frizzell, Caleb Spurlin, Trey Cobb (part of his 3.5 tackles for loss) and a combo effort from Shaun Jolly and George Blackstock.
Offensively, Thomas rushed for a career-high 82 yards on seven attempts and completed 16 of 23 passes for 216 yards, with two of his TD passes finding first-time starter Christian Wells.
Arkansas State used a field goal and 55-yard touchdown run to trail just 31-17 late in the third quarter, and a third-and-14 scenario put the Red Wolves in position to get the ball back, but Thomas sprinted up the middle for a big gain, made a hard right cut near the Arkansas State 35 and stayed in bounds along the sideline before making a Superman-style dive into the front-right pylon.
Jackson’s 44-yard return of an end-zone interception set up the Mountaineers’ final touchdown, a 20-yard pass to Wells with 8:22 remaining.
App State didn’t punt in a first half that included a 46-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field to a streaking Wells on the Mountaineers’ first possession, a tiebreaking touchdown run of 55 yards from Harrington on their next series and a 5-yard pass early in the second quarter for tight end Mike Evans’ first career touchdown. Thomas’ keeper for 23 yards on a fourth-and-4 run from the Arkansas State 45 extended that drive.
Forcing mistakes and capitalizing on others from the Red Wolves, App State increased its lead before halftime thanks to Chandler Staton’s 39-yard field goal and Malik Williams’ 16-yard touchdown reception.
Arkansas State arrived in Boone averaging 38.2 points, helped by totals of 50 and 59 in its last two games, but the Mountaineers’ defense ended the first half Thursday with no third-down conversions allowed in seven attempts and four forced punts — one shy of the Red Wolves’ season high for a game. They were limited to minus-4 rushing yards in the half, and aside from two long passes that netted 81 yards for star receiver Jonathan Adams, Arkansas State’s other 18 pass attempts before the break produced 102 yards.
Arkansas State trailed 21-7 when it forced a turnover and moved within a single yard of cutting its deficit in half.
The Mountaineers responded to that first-and-goal situation from the 1 by forcing a loss of 1 on a run and pushing the Red Wolves back 5 more yards on Frizzell’s stop of quarterback Logan Bonner. Pressure from Taylor and Frizzell led to a third-down incompletion, and Arkansas State missed the 24-yard field goal wide left.
The Red Wolves regained possession when a long run turned into a lost fumble, but a three-and-out series preceded Walliser ruining the fake-punt plan for a reverse pitch.