The statistics sheet from the Texas State-Arkansas State game told an interesting tale.
Texas State outyarded the Red Wolves, had 36 more plays from scrimmage and held an eight-minute advantage in possession time — yet lost by 46 points Saturday to an opponent that entered the game ranked 92nd in scoring out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.
ASU’s 77-31 victory made the Red Wolves the 15th FBS team since 2000 to score at least 75 points in a league game and the first in the Sun Belt Conference.
The point total was the highest in a conference game since SMU outscored Houston 77-63 in the American Athletic Conference last year.
The Red Wolves scored seven rushing touchdowns and had TDs on two interception returns, one fumble return and one kick return.
They’re the ninth team since 2013 to score three defensive touchdowns in a game, according to Sportradar. Trevian Thomas returned a fumble 91 yards, Melique Straker ran back an interception 87 yards and Dane Motley had a 50-yard pick-six.
Ja’Quez Cross had a 92-yard kick return for a touchdown to go with three rushing TDs.
Arkansas State went into the game averaging 23.2 points per game and had scored just two touchdowns in a 21-14 loss to South Alabama the week before. Saturday's win made the Red Wolves bowl-eligible for the first time since 2019 and moved them to 62nd in scoring (28.4 ppg).
Texas State had been allowing 28.5 points per game to rank 88th in scoring defense. The Bobcats are 114th now at 32.9.
TOTAL PACKAGE
Jayden Daniels tied Joe Burrow's LSU record with eight touchdowns in a 56-14 win over Georgia State.
He passed for 413 yards and six TDs and ran for 96 yards and two scores, and his 509 yards of total offense ranks No. 5 on the national season chart.
His 606 total yards against Florida on Nov. 11 is the FBS high, and his 513 against Mississippi on Sept. 30 ranks No. 3.
THE ULTIMATE PICK-SIX
Oklahoma's Billy Bowman became the second player in the FBS to return an interception 100 yards for a touchdown, doing it in the third quarter against BYU to break a 17-17 tie in a 31-24 victory.
BYU had driven to the OU 2 when Bowman stepped in front of Jake Retzlaff's first-down pass at the goal line and ran down the sideline untouched until Retzlaff's shoestring tackle try cause him to fall in the end zone.
It was the Sooners' first 100-yard pick-six since Julian Wilson had one against Tennessee in 2014.
THE 200 CLUB
New Mexico's Jacory Croskey-Merritt and West Virginia's Jahiem White turned in duplicate rushing performances, each running 21 times for 204 yards.
Croskey-Merritt, who transferred to UNM after playing four seasons at FCS Alabama State, ran for two touchdowns in the Lobos' 25-17 upset at Fresno State. White had one touchdown in the Mountaineers' 42-21 win over Cincinnati.
There have been 27 200-yard rushing performances in the FBS this season.
CHASE HIM DOWN
Eastern Michigan linebacker Chase Kline's 23 tackles against Akron in a 30-27 win in two overtimes were the second most in a game since 2020. New Mexico’s A.J. Haulcy had 24 stops against Fresno State last season.
Kline, who had 21 tackles against Western Michigan last month, is second in the FBS with 13.2 tackles per game. Old Dominion's Jason Henderson averages 15 per game.
___
Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Sign up here
___
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
