Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Why Arkansas State Lost

Just like in the home opener against Memphis, a special teams miscue opened the floodgates. Western Kentucky scored 26 unanswered points in the second half after ASU attempted a punt that only went 14 yards and led to two straight drives that ended with a touchdown pass from WKU freshman James Mauro to Mitchell Henry.

After Arkansas State held WKU scoreless in the first half and forced the Hilltoppers to punt on their first four drives, Mauro replaced an injured Kawaun Jakes and led WKU to score on five of seven drives in the second half with the help from a career performance by senior running back Antoni Andrews.

It was ASU’s first loss at home and first conference loss since 2010, when ASU also fell to WKU 36-35 in overtime in a game that was also affected by a punting mistake.

Turning Point

After ASU gave up its first score, quarterback Ryan Aplin threw an interception to Xavius Boyd, who returned the ball to the ASU 37. The Hilltoppers scored in three plays. Mauro found Henry for a 22-yard touchdown to make it 14-13 Western Kentucky with 5:08 left in the third quarter.

Player Of The Game: Antonio Andrew

The senior running racked up a career high 224 yards on 29 attempts and scored in on a 2-yard run with 5:25 left in the game.

ASU only gave up a single 100-yard rusher during the entire 2011 season.

Knighten First

For the second time in three games, ASU quarterback Ryan Aplin was held without a touchdown pass, finishing 24 of 40 with 204 yards and one interception.

Freshman Fredi Knighten completed his first career touchdown pass in the second quarter on a double reverse and found Anthony Kincy for a 4-yard score with nine seconds left. The touchdown gave the Red Wolves a 13-0 lead and was the first touchdown reception of the year for Kincy.