Jaylen Raynor’s electric performance in his first career start led the Arkansas State football team to a 44-37 victory over Southern Miss Saturday night at Centennial Bank Stadium.
Raynor accounted for 330 yards of total offense and five touchdowns (3 passing, 2 rushing) as the program’s first true freshman starting quarterback since 2001. With the win, A-State (2-2, 1-0 SBC) won its first Sun Belt Conference opener since 2019. USM (1-3, 0-1) edged the Scarlet and Black in total offense, 449-425.
The Kernersville, N.C., native completed 11 of 21 passes for 233 yards while rushing for a team-best 97 yards, including a 62-yard scamper late in the fourth quarter. Courtney Jackson hauled in a pair of those touchdown passes, recording three catches for 97 yards, with Jeff Foreman racking up 77 yards on three catches and a score.
Frank Gore led the Golden Eagles on the ground with 132 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown, while Rodrigues Clark added 77 yards on four attempts with a touchdown. Quarterback Billy Wiles completed 20 of 36 pass attempts for 215 yards through the air with touchdowns to Latreal Jones and Jakarius Caston, but also threw a pair of picks.
The visitors struck first on the game’s opening drive when Gore plunged across the line for a 2-yard rushing score, but A-State countered with 17 unanswered points to take a 17-7 lead.
Raynor guided the Red Wolves offense down the field on their first drive of the night, finding Foreman in the back of the end zone for a 33-yard strike to even the score. After Melique Straker, who led the team with 9 tackles on the night, picked off a pass deep in Southern Miss territory, Raynor linked up with Jackson from 5 yards out to give A-State a 14-7 lead after the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Dominic Zvada drilled one of his three field goals through the uprights – this one from 36 yards – to up the hosts’ lead to 17-7. Southern Miss then responded with a scoring drive of its own that ended with a 28-yard pass from Wiles to Jones to pull the Golden Eagles to within three.
Zvada sailed a 53-yard field goal through the posts with 10:13 remaining in the first half, becoming the fourth kicker in school history with multiple 50-yarders made. Southern Miss kicker Andrew Stein answered with a 23-yarder to cut A-State’s halftime lead to 20-17.
The Red Wolves wasted no time in adding to their score after the half, with Jackson scoring on a 60-yard pass from Raynor, who added an 8-yard rushing touchdown to his tally on the next drive to expand the lead to 34-17.
Southern Miss responded with 17 unanswered points to level the score at 34-all on a 59-yard rush by Clark, followed by a 42-yard field goal by Stein and a 22-yard touchdown pass from Wiles to Caston.
With 3:50 remaining, Zvada added his third field goal of the night – a 21-yard kick to put A-State ahead 37-34 before Raynor broke loose for a 62-yard rushing touchdown to push the lead back out to 10. The Golden Eagles added a 37-yard field goal by Stein with 16 seconds left, but were unable to recover the onside kick.
-------------------------------------------------------------
