Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

JONESBORO  — Quarterback Ryan Aplin accounted for three touchdowns and Arkansas State forced seven Middle Tennessee turnovers, six in the second half, in a 51-24 Sun Belt Conference victory Tuesday night. It marked the first nationally televised game in Jonesboro on ESPN2.

Aplin passed for two touchdowns and ran for another score to lead Arkansas State (4-5, 4-2 Sun Belt). The Red Wolves finished with 493 total yards.

Middle Tennessee (3-5, 2-2 Sun Belt) trailed only 23-17 at halftime, but the Blue Raiders turned the ball over on five straight possessions in the second half. MTSU quarterback Dwight Dasher threw four interceptions to tie a career high.

Aplin completed 16 of 27 passes for 245 yards. Derek Lawson ran for 104 yards and a touchdown for the Red Wolves, and Jermaine Robertson added 79 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

“I’m certainly very proud of our football team,” said ASU head coach Steve Roberts. “It was a great night for Arkansas State University and a great night for our program. I’m very proud of the effort that went into this, the way our kids prepared and the way they took that to the field. I thought we played well in all phases of the game. Offensively, we moved the football every time we got it. We only punted one time during the course of the game and I thought we had some guys up front that really paved the way for a lot of great things to happen, both running the football and throwing the football.”

Arkansas State scored touchdowns on its first three possessions to take a 20-10 lead. Linebacker Demario Davis intercepted a pass on the third play from scrimmage to set up Aplin's 4-yard touchdown run. Robertson scored on 7-yard run to cap a 71-yard drive, and Aplin found Taylor Stockemer on a 37-yard touchdown pass to open the second quarter.

Dasher scored on a 29-yard run to pull Middle Tennessee within 20-17 in the second quarter, but Arkansas State scored the next 24 points. Brian Davis' 22-yard field goal with 13 seconds left in the second quarter gave the Red Wolves a 23-17 halftime lead.

Demario Davis' second interception of the game set up Arkansas State's first touchdown of the third quarter. After lining up at wide receiver, backup quarterback Phillip Butterfield threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Frampton, who finished the game with six receptions for 138 yards.

Aplin threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Blake in the third quarter and Lawson scored on a 17-yard run in the fourth to give Arkansas State a 44-17 lead with 9:35 left in the game.

Dasher completed 19 of 37 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown, and he was also the Blue Raiders' rushing leader with 96 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.

Arkansas State's defense, much maligned earlier in the season for surrendering points and yards by the bushel, hit viciously throughout the night and shut the Blue Raiders down in the second half, not allowing a score until the Red Wolves had scored 21 points and were comfortably in command.

“The defense had a heck of a night flying around and playing great football,” Roberts said. “We created 7 turnovers and I thought we held them in check for the majority of the night.”

(Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Additional information was provided by the ASU sports information department.)