A dynamic ground game paved the way for the Arkansas State football team, which churned out a season-high 281 rushing yards in a 44-28 victory over Southern Miss Saturday night at M.M. Roberts Stadium.

In addition to its stellar rushing attack, A-State (4-3, 2-1 SBC) also generated three takeaways on defense to earn its first win over the Golden Eagles (1-6, 0-3) in Hattiesburg since 1977.

Ja’Quez Cross led the way with 127 yards on 18 carries and scored twice – once on the ground and another through the air, as he hauled in a team-high five receptions for 34 yards. Malik Hornsby also scored in the rushing game, scampering 73 yards on his lone carry.

Through the air, Jaylen Raynor completed 20-of-31 for 186 yards and three touchdown passes to Cross, Corey Rucker (four catches, 37 yards) and Adam Jones (3 catches, 31 yards). Courtney Jackson led all receivers with 55 yards on three grabs.

Defensively, the Red Wolves totaled 11 tackles for loss and six sacks, the most in a conference game since Nov. 13, 2021, at ULM (14 TFLs, 6 sacks). Jayden Jones had eight tackles, three for loss, and two sacks – all career highs – while also tallying his first interception and first career forced fumble.

The Red Wolves jumped on the hosts early with a pair of scores, first on a 14-yard pass from Raynor to Adam Jones followed by a 73-yard rushing touchdown by Hornsby, to go up 14-0. Southern Miss answered with a 1-yard score by Kenyon Clay before Raynor linked up with Cross for a 10-yard scoring strike to give A-State a 21-7 lead after one quarter.

USM pulled within a touchdown midway through the second quarter when Ethan Crawford crossed the goal on a 5-yard rush. A-State responded once again with Raynor’s third touchdown toss of the night – a 13-yard pass to Rucker to make it 28-14 with under 5 minutes left in the half. The Golden Eagles scored again before the half when Jalen Washington scored on a 4-yard rush to make it 28-21 A-State at the half.

A-State added to its score with 8:37 to go in the third when Cross scored on a 10-yard rush, followed by back-to-back field goals from Clune Van Andel off Southern Miss turnovers pushed A-State’s lead out to 41-21 after three. Jayden Jones then picked off a pass that led to a 25-yard field goal, and Bryan Whitehead recovered a fumble – the first of his career – on the ensuing series to set up a 36-yard kick. Van Andel went 3-for-3 on the night to improve to 13-of-16 on the year and run his consecutive made field goals streak to 10.

Southern Miss broke the second-half shutout with less than 10 minutes remaining on a 3-yard Crawford keeper to pull within two scores, but the Red Wolves grinded out over nine minutes of clock with a 17-play, 72-yard drive capped by a 20-yard field goal by Van Andel.

The Red Wolves return home to host Troy next Saturday, Oct. 26, with kickoff from Centennial Bank Stadium slated for 6 p.m. on ESPN Plus.