A-State stormed pass University of South Alabama (USA) behind their best defensive outing of the year, 17-7, on Saturday night at Centennial Bank Stadium. The Red Wolves extended their SBC winning streak to 11 straight and are now 2-0 in conference play.

“I’m fired up about the win,” A-State head coach Blake Anderson said. “I don’t think it was an attractive win because it certainly was a defensive battle, but our defense stepped up huge. The turnover for a touchdown could not have come at a better time and I loved just being able to send the extra-point team out there and not worry about having a red zone series on offense.”

A-State started the game at their own 25 yard line, and was able to get just about anything they wanted on the opening possession. A 10-yard Warren Wand rush and a 13-yard Justice Hansen pass completion powered the Red Wolves down the field to the 20 yard line. A-State lost their luster once they got in the red-zone, however, and had to kick a field goal. J.D. Houston, who has been reliable all year, whiffed on a 32-yard field goal wide and to the left, to keep the score at 0-0.

A-State again was able to move the ball down the field on their ensuing possession, but just like the first drive, ultimately shot themselves in the foot. The Red Wolves were powered by two double-digit yardage Wand rushes and a 15 yards Hansen to Blake Mack pass. Hansen, however, threw his first interception of the game at the USA 31.

The Red Wolves and Jaguars were tied at the end of the first quarter.

\USA began the second quarter with the ball near midfield, and the A-State defense began to shine. Five plays into the quarter, the Red Wolves forced a fumble. USA QB Cole Garvin completed a pass to Kevin Kutchera, but it was forced out for a fumble by Chris Humes. Humes scooped and scored a 60-yard touchdown to put A-State up 7-0 just over two minutes into the second quarter.

The Red Wolves scored their final touchdown of the game on their ensuing offensive possession. A-State started at their own 29 yard line and marched all the way down the field powered by 44 total yards of offense by Hansen. Johnston White punched it in from 14 yards out to put the Red Wolves up 14-0.

A-State scored their last points of the game off a 25-yard Houston field goal with 4:22 to go in the third quarter. Despite dominating the Jaguars offense all game, the Red Wolves loosened the rope midway through the fourth quarter and allowed a score.

South Alabama began the drive with their backs to the end zone, and was able to matriculate the ball down the field. After a couple rushing plays that went nowhere, the Jaguars drew up a pass play on third down. Dallas Davis, one of two quarterbacks Saturday night, found the Jags No. 1 receiver Gerald Everett for a gain of 76 yards. Xavier Johnson punched it in from 2 yards out to give the Jaguars 7 points.

The Red Wolves dominated the line of scrimmage all game, holding USA to 61 yards of rushing, while picking up 204 yards of their own, for a + 137 in rushing yards. Total, the Red Wolves held South Alabama to just 255 yards of total offense.

“That was a huge win for us,” A-State assistant head coach/cornerbacks coach Trooper Taylor said. “We thought the guys played really hard. We have some mistakes and things we want to clear up. We really felt like we’re getting closer to putting a complete game together on offense and defense.”

The Red Wolves will now head into a bye week before closing out their home-stand.

A-State is one of the only three remaining Sun Belt teams undefeated in conference play. Troy sits atop the conference with a 3-0 record, while A-State and App State, who the Red Wolves do not play this year, both come in at 2-0.

The Red Wolves will play host to 1-2 Louisiana Monroe on Oct, 29 at 6 p.m. The game can be seen on WatchESPN.