Arkansas State dropped their fifth game in a row in a 38-31 loss to South Alabama inside of Centennial Bank Stadium.

The Red Wolves had a chance late to force a potential tie, but Layne Hatcher was sacked as time expired inside of the 10-yard line.

The Red Wolves (3-7, 1-6 Sun Belt) held a fourth-quarter lead, but the Jaguars (4-6, 3-4) scored 10 unanswered to escape with the win. A-State outgained South Alabama 494-486 and picked up a career-high-tying four touchdowns from Logan Bonner, while Desmond Trotter and Tanner McGee combined for four scores each through the air and 387 yards.

“I’m proud of how we moved the ball down the field (on the final drive),” head coach Blake Anderson said. “It’s a tough situation to be in with no timeouts and they’re playing coverage. We had a couple of big plays, but you’ve got to finish. It really didn’t come down to the last drive, we had some opportunities that we didn’t convert. We had some situations on defense where we could’ve gotten them off the field and we couldn’t make a play. The guys are still playing hard and they’re not giving in, we just have to play better.”

Arkansas State struck first on a 3-yard pass from Logan Bonner to Brandon Bowling with 8:50 left in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead.

South Alabama then scored 14 unanswered points, beginning with a 2-yard run by Desmond Trotter with 35 seconds remaining in the opening quarter to tie the game at 7.

After holding the Red Wolves defensively, the Jags went on a 8-play, 64-yard drive that was capped off by a 26-yard pass from Trotter to Kawaan Baker with 11:23 remaining in the first half.

Arkansas State was able to tie the game up at 14 with 1:09 left in the first half on a 25-yard pass from Bonner to Bowling. The Red Wolf defense then forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with 31 seconds remaining in the half.

Layne Hatcher connected with Jeff Foreman on a 43-yard pass to put the Red Wolves in field goal range with 2 seconds remaining in the half before Blake Grupe hit a 35-yard field goal to give Arkansas State the 17-14 lead at halftime.

Logan Bonner completed 11 of 16 passes for 183 yards and four touchdowns while Layne Hatcher completed eight of his 14 attempts for 141 yards. Jonathan Adams, Jr. and Jeff Foreman both tallied over 100 yards receiving, with 138 and 111 yards, respectively. Adams hauled in a pair of scores as part of nine catches while Brandon Bowling also added two touchdowns on four grabs. A-State rushed for 170 yards on the ground, led by 93 yards on 19 carries by Jamal Jones.

On the first drive of the second half, A-State drove down the field in nearly five minutes, capping the nine-play drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Bonner to Adams. The Red Wolves led 24-14 with 9:55 to go in the third. The Jaguars then responded with a 42-yard strike from Trotter to Tolbert with 6:39 left to make it 24-21. USA then took a 28-24 lead with 34 seconds remaining in the third on a 37-yard pass from McGee to Tolbert.

The Red Wolves opened the fourth quarter by reclaiming a 31-28 lead on a three-yard pass from Bonner to Adams with 12:03 to go. McGee then found Tolbert for a 51-yard strike with 4:56 left to put South Alabama back ahead 35-31. After a turnover on downs, South Alabama added three on a 30-yard field goal by Diego Guajardo to make it 38-31 with 1:24 remaining.

A-State took possession on the next drive needing a score to tie it up. Hatcher guided the offense down to the South Alabama 22 with a 14-yard rush followed by completions of 11 yards and 29 yards to Foreman and Adams. After an incomplete pass to Reed Tyler, Hatcher’s next pass was seemingly picked off by Keith Gallmon, but was ruled incomplete.

Hatcher then rushed it 11 yards to the USA 11 then five more down to the 6. An incomplete passed forced fourth down, where Hatcher was sacked to end the contest.

A-State continues its three-game home stand to end the regular season on Saturday, Dec. 5, hosting ULM at 2 p.m. on ESPN3.

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