Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

The defending Sun Belt Conference champion Arkansas State Red Wolves held their spring game at ASU Stadium on Saturday, with the Ryan Aplin-led Red team beating the Black squad 28-14. ...

Why the Red Team Won

After two early turnovers, returning senior Ryan Aplin put on a passing show, leading the Red squad to four scoring drives, all of them ending with passing touchdowns.

While the Black team scored twice thanks to those early Red team turnovers, the John Thompson coached defense stifled the Black team’s offensive chances by not allowing a third down conversion on 10 attempts and holding redshirt junior Phillip Butterfield to 38 percent passing on 13 attempts.

The format split the Red Wolves into two teams, with the likely starters for the 2012 season wearing Red uniforms and the remaining players donning Black.

Despite being on different “teams,” offensive players occupied the home sideline under the direction of offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, while defensive players under John Thompson called the visitors sideline home.

For most of the first half, the game clock operated under a real game structure of two 15-minute quarters. The second half had 12-minute quarters and a running clock.

 Player of the Game

Aplin reminded the crowd at ASU stadium Saturday why he was named the 2011 Sun Belt Player of the Year.

With a good portion of his usual targets missing because of injuries, Aplin finished with 313 yards and four touchdown passes to four different players. The Red team’s first scoring play came with 9:33 left in the first quarter, when Aplin found junior Carlos McCants down the visitors sideline for a 55-yard completion to tie the game 7-7.

Turnovers Early for Red Team

Both squads combined for three turnovers, with the Aplin-led Red team committing two in the first quarter.