SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 29, 2014
Arkansas State 68, New Mexico State 35: Fredi Knighten
threw two touchdown passes and ran for two others while rolling up a career-high
449 yards of offense as the Red Wolves walloped the Aggies in the
regular-season finale for both teams.
Michael Gordon added three rushing scores and
caught a scoring pass while Knighten finished 15-of-21 for 296 yards and ran
for a team-leading 153 yards for Arkansas State (7-5, 5-3 Sun Belt), which
wrapped up its fourth straight winning season. The Red Wolves, who also
received a scoring reception from Kenny Rains, TD runs from Brandon Byner and
Tyler Trosin and an interception return by Andrew Tryon, overcame two early Knighten
interceptions and a season-high 14 penalties for 107 yards with seven TD drives
of 2:06 or less while hitting season highs in points, rushing (469) and total
yards (764).
Tyler Rogers finished 28-of-43 for 314 yards, four
touchdowns and two interceptions for New Mexico State (2-10, 1-7), which lost
its 10th straight overall and 20th in its last 21 road games. Freshman
Larry Rose ran for 137 yards and a touchdown, while Gregory Hogan had nine
receptions for 162 yards and a pair of scores.
Arkansas State led 27-21 at halftime and blew the
game open by reaching the end zone on each of its first five second-half
possessions. The visitors got as close as 41-28 on Rogers’ 4-yard scoring pass
to Adam Shapiro with 3:03 remaining in the third quarter, but the Red Wolves answered
1:35 later on Knighten’s 22-yard scoring strike to Rains and outscored the
Aggies 20-7 from there .
Gordon opened the scoring with a 45-yard TD
reception on Arkansas State’s first drive, but New Mexico State took advantage
of Jaden Wright’s interception to answer with an 8-yard scoring pass from Rogers
to Hogan three plays later. The teams then traded touchdowns the rest of
the half, with Gordon scoring on a pair of runs and Knighten finding the end
zone on a 14-yard read-option run for the Red Wolves before Rose ripped off an
80-yard scoring burst and Rogers hooked up with Hogan on a 75-yard TD toss for
the Aggies.