Arkansas Tops FAU 39-21
BOCA RATON (AP) — Ryan Aplin ran for four touchdowns and passed for another as Arkansas State beat Florida Atlantic 39-21 on Saturday.
Aplin was 24-for-37 for 244 yards passing, while rushing for 49 yards as Arkansas State (7-2, 5-0) maintained first place in the Sun Belt Conference.
Graham Wilbert was 16-for-24 for 147 yards passing and Alfred Morris carried 19 times for 163 yards and two touchdowns, but Florida Atlantic (0-8, 0-5) turned the ball over four times and stretched its losing streak to 11 games, dating to last season.
Florida Atlantic took a 21-18 third-quarter lead on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Wilbert to Derek Moise. The lead was short-lived, as Arkansas State went ahead 25-21 just 2:18 later on a 7-yard pass from Aplin to Taylor Stockemer.
Aplin stretched the Red Wolves' lead to 32-21 with a 3-yard run in the fourth. After Wilbert's pass was intercepted on FAU's next play from scrimmage, Arkansas State drove 31 yards on six plays, with Aplin scoring again on a 1-yard run.
Arkansas State took a 15-0 lead in the first quarter on a pair of rushing touchdowns by Aplin and a two-point conversion by Neely Sullivent.
The Owls got on the board on a 13-yard second-quarter run by Morris. Later in the quarter, Morris scored on a 4-yard run to close the gap to 18-14. Morris set a new Florida Atlantic career record for touchdowns scored with 26.
(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
