A pair of late fourth-quarter scores proved to be the difference Saturday night, as the Arkansas State football team dropped a 44-32 decision at Memphis at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.

A-State (1-2) was outscored by the Tigers (2-1) 23-15 in the final period, including a pair of rushing touchdowns within the game’s final three minutes.

James Blackman completed 25-of-34 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns, while not throwing an interception. Seydou Traore recorded career day through the air, hauling in six of those completions for 120 yards and a 51-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Johnnie Lang Jr. also caught a career-high six passes for 63 yards and a score.

On the ground, Brian Snead rushed for two touchdowns, churning out a season-best 66 yards on 13 carries. He became the first A-State running back to record multiple touchdowns in a game since Marcel Murray had three against ULM in 2019.

Defensively, linebacker Jordan Carmouche racked up a career-high 13 tackles, while A-State tallied seven tackles for loss. The Red Wolves have had six or more tackles for loss in every game this season.

The Scarlet and Black struck first on Blackman’s 51-yard connection with Traore, but Memphis reponsded on its next drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Seth Henigan to Caden Prieskorn. Henigan completed 19-of-28 passes for 360 yards and three touchdowns – two to Prieskorn.

A-State reclaimed a 14-7 lead on Snead’s first touchdown carry of the day, as he plunged across the line from one yard out early in the second. Henigan found Prieskorn again on the ensuing drive for a 21-yard score to tie it at 14.

Dominic Zvada drove through a career-long 46-yard field goal to move A-State ahead 17-14 with 4:27 left in the half. The freshman kicker has drilled all five of his field-goal attempts this season. Memphis added another score to go into halftime with a 21-17 lead, as Henigan scored on a keeper.

Neither team scored in the third quarter, but the host Tigers made it a two-score affair early in the fourth on a 51-yard touchdown pass from Henigan to Joe Scates to make it 28-17. Snead then pulled his team to within three with a 7-yard rushing touchdown just over a minute later, with Blackman completing a pass to Lang in the end zone for a successful 2-point try.

Memphis added three more on a 47-yard field goal by Chris Howard to make it 31-25 with 8:55 to play. The Red Wolves did not go away, as Blackman found Lang for a 27-yard touchdown pass to give them a 32-31 edge with 4:22 remaining.

The Tigers managed to punch across the go-ahead score on a 39-yard rush by Jevyon Ducker, then an 8-yard touchdown run by Brandon Thomas.

A-State concludes its three-game road stretch next Saturday, traveling to Norfolk, Va., for its Sun Belt Conference opener at Old Dominion. Kick-off at Kornblau Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium is set for 5 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

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