Arkansas State routs No. 25 Troy 35-3

[November 18, 2016]  Arkansas State won its 15th straight Sun Belt Conference game by shutting down the league's best offense in an impressive 35-3 road victory over No. 25 Troy on Thursday at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, Ala.

In a battle of the only two remaining undefeated teams in conference play, the Red Wolves forced five turnovers and limited Troy to 262 total yards, most coming after Arkansas State was way in front.

Chris Humes recovered a fumble for a touchdown, quarterback Justice Hansen threw a touchdown pass and Chad Voytik, Johnston White and Daryl Rollins-Davis had touchdown runs for the Red Wolves (6-5, 6-0 Sun Belt), who became bowl eligible for the sixth straight season.

It was a disappointing Senior Night performance for the Trojans (8-2, 5-1), who this week became the first Sun Belt team to ever be ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. Troy never found its offensive rhythm and had its seven-game winning streak snapped.

Trojans quarterback Brandon Silvers, the conference's leading passer, finished 20 of 39 for 207 yards. Silvers hadn't thrown an interception in the fourth quarter this season. He threw two Thursday night, both to Justin Clifton. Silvers also lost one of three Troy fumbles.

"We just didn't execute, didn't make plays when we needed to," Silvers told reporters. "Tomorrow, the sun's going to rise. We're still going to be 8-2 tomorrow."

After a sluggish first half, Arkansas State exploded for 21 points in the first 6:01 of the third quarter. Troy coughed up the ball on its first play of the second half, and Humes came up with it in the end zone to ignite the Red Wolves.

Troy's final five drives ended with two punts, a turnover on downs and two interceptions.

"I thought that was a solid tail kicking," Trojans coach Neal Brown said. "They came in here as conference champions and took it to us in our stadium. I thought (they) out-coached us, out-played us, thought they were mentally and physically tougher than us. We did not do a good job as a football program. That's coaches included. Tonight was the first time we didn't answer the bell all season. At the end of the day, we're 8-2. We've got one conference loss. We've got to put to bed and come back and regroup."

Voytek scored on a 4-yard run to make it 21-3, and White burst through a seam for a 24-yard score on Arkansas State's next possession that put the Red Wolves in command 28-3.

Arkansas State put the game away with a 16-play, 91-yard drive in the fourth quarter that took nearly 11 minutes off the clock and was capped by Rollins-Davis' first career touchdown run.

"Defensively, I don't think we handled adversity," Brown said. "I don't know what that drive was, 11 minutes. That's not what we want to be about."

Arkansas State scored the only touchdown of the first half on an 8-yard pass from Hansen to Kendall Sanders late in the second quarter. The score was set up by a trick play, with wide receiver Cameron Echols-Luper tossing a pass across the field to Humes for a 31-yard gain down to the Troy 9-yard line.

Ryan Kay's 43-yard field goal in the first quarter accounted for Troy's only points of the first half.

The Trojans entered the game leading the Sun Belt in seven offensive categories, including scoring, averaging 38.1 points per game. However, they couldn't anything going in the first half. They managed only 105 yards of offense and converted on 2 of 8 third-down attempts. Two lost fumbles didn't help.

"We really beat ourselves," said Troy wide receiver Emanuel Thompson, who had 10 catches for 117 yards, but also lost a fumble.

Brown was especially disappointed in his team's resiliency in the second half. When Arkansas State started to build momentum, the Trojans didn't have an answer.

"I didn't like how we reacted," Brown said. "I didn't think we had the fight about us in the fourth quarter. I didn't like the way we attack. We're not going to be about that."

NOTES: Troy honored 17 players prior to the game on Senior Night. ... Arkansas State senior S Money Hunter was named Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week after returning an interception for a touchdown in the Red Wolves' 41-22 victory over New Mexico State last week. With the pick-six, Hunter became the Sun Belt's all-time leader in interceptions returned for a touchdown with four. ... Arkansas State is the only FBS program to have won four conference titles in the past five seasons. ... The two teams have combined to win nine of the last 10 Sun Belt championships. ... Troy freshman RB Jabir Frye suffered an ACL injury in the game and will miss the remainder of the season, according to Trojans coach Neal Brown.

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