ORLANDO, Fla. – Senior wide receiver Kendall Sanders was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2016 AutoNation Cure Bowl after three touchdown receptions helped Arkansas State football cap the season with a 31-13 win over UCF Saturday at Camping World Stadium.

Arkansas State (8-5) forced three turnovers, blocked a punt for a touchdown and held UCF (6-7) to 223 yards of offense. The Red Wolves defense totaled six sacks and 11 tackles for loss in the outing, capping the last two outings with 14 sacks and 34 tackles for loss.

Junior Ja’Von Rolland-Jones had two sacks on the night to give him 13.5 on the year, a Sun Belt Conference single-game record total. Rolland-Jones had already broken the Sun Belt Conference career record and he will enter his final season with 30.5 career sacks.

Sophomore quarterback Justice Hansen was 12-of-26 passing for 205 yards finding Sanders five times for three touchdowns and 127 yards. Hansen finishes the year with 19 touchdown passes, tied for the fourth-most in single-season program history. The 205 yards through the air helped A-State top 3,000 passing yards this season for only the fifth time in program history and second time under head coach Blake Anderson.

“We’ve leaned on our defense all year and that didn’t change tonight,” A-State head football coach Blake Anderson said. “Our defense played lights out and we knew that UCF had a very good defense and would make it really tough on us. Special teams play was tremendous and we made enough plays offensively to get out ahead. It was a big play to come out in the second half to get the throw and catch to Kendall. It was just enough against a really good defense. I hate we are going to lose some of these guys on defense because it was so fun to watch them play.”

Defense and special teams carried the Red Wolves to the Sun Belt Conference championship this year and A-State brought it in the opening four minutes of the game to grab a 7-0 lead. Rolland-Jones and Wilson combined to sack UCF on third down of the opening possession forcing the Knights to punt from the back of the end zone.

A-State was unable to take advantage of good field position offensively on the opening drive, but the Red Wolves pinned the Knights at the 15-yard line for their second possession. The defense again stepped up as Wilson registered a tackle for loss on first down and the Knights were forced to punt once again.

Johnston White rushed the edge on the punt and blocked it and B.J. Edmonds was the first of many Red Wolves to pounce on the ball in the end zone for the touchdown as A-State took a 7-0 lead with 10:59 left in the first quarter. The blocked punt was the 11th blocked kick in three seasons under head coach Blake Anderson and special teams coordinator Luke Paschall.

UCF was able to pick up a few first downs on their next two possessions, but the Red Wolves forced the Knights to punt each time. Blaise Taylor registered a 12-yard punt return with 6:18 left in the first quarter, breaking the school record for career punt return yardage with 754 yards.

The Red Wolves offense got going with a big 67-yard pass completion to Blake Mack, advancing A-State inside the 5-yard line, but UCF forced a field goal attempt. Sawyer Williams booted a 22-yard field goal, his first attempt of the season, to make it 10-0 with 4:24 left in the first quarter.

Following the field goal, special teams continued to make plays, forcing the first turnover of the game. Avery Johnson forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Kirk Louis recovered the fumble to set up the Red Wolves at the Knights 16-yard line. Three plays later, Hansen hit Sanders with a perfectly thrown pass to the back of the endzone and Sanders got two feet down for the score to make it 17-0 with 2:48 left in the quarter.

UCF scored the next 10 points in the game, but A-State held a 17-10 lead at the halftime, but Sanders broke free for a 75-yard touchdown reception early in the second half. The quick scoring drive saw the Red Wolves take a 24-10 advantage just 51 seconds into the second half. The 75-yard touchdown pass and catch is the longest play in Cure Bowl history.

The Knights added a field goal to make it 24-13 with 4:52 left in the third quarter, but special teams again came up with a big play to make sure UCF didn’t gain any momentum. UCF forced A-State to punt with under a minute to play in the third quarter, but long snapper Ryan Eustace raced down field on coverage and forced a fumble that was recovered by Logan Moragne.

The Red Wolves took over at Knights 37-yard line and Hansen hit Sanders for a gain of 20 just before the third quarter expired. Hansen hit Sanders again for a 17-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to put A-State up 31-13. UCF ran 15 plays in the fourth quarter, but A-State closed out the game by limiting the Knights to just 39 yards on those plays.

“It was an unconventional night, but we got it done,” said Anderson. “I’m really proud about how our players handled the week. They did a great job with the charity events and showed up in full force, not only showing up, but going above and beyond. It was a great trip, a great bowl, and there could not be a better way to end a season for a team that went through a lot of adversity. To come back and win eight games, it’s pretty cool. We had a blast tonight and this is one of the best trips I’ve had in my career.”

Making a sixth-straight bowl appearance, Arkansas State finishes the season, the sixth consecutive winning season for the first time since 1912-17. Arkansas State is home to the only FBS program to win five conference championships in the last six seasons.

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TROY, Ala. – The Arkansas State Red Wolves became bowl eligible for the sixth consecutive season with a 34-3 victory over No. 25 Troy in front a nationally televised audience on ESPNU Thursday evening at Veterans Memoria Stadium.

A-State (6-4, 6-0 Sun Belt) scored 34 unanswered points, including 28 in the second half, to take sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt standings. The victory also gave Arkansas State its second victory over a ranked opponent since joining the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in 1992.

Despite being outgained for much of the first half, the Red Wolves finished the night with 388 yards of total offense. Warren Wand rushed for 90 yards on 17 attempts, while Chad Voytik added 61 yards on 14 rushes and a score to lead an A-State rushing attack that accumulated 208 yards on the ground. Johnston White added 37 yards and touchdown, while Daryl Rollins-Davis added 31 ground yards and a score.

“That’s about of complete of a game you can play defensively,” A-State head coach Blake Anderson. “That unit came up about as big as they could have because no one had really gotten to their quarterback and we were able to get pressure on him and effect what they wanted to do offensively. We couldn’t be more proud of the effort and result tonight and we’ll enjoy this one for the bus ride home and then turn our attention to Louisiana-Lafayette.”

After compiling just 126 yards of total offense in the first half, A-State gained 262 yards and outscored Troy (8-2, 5-1) 21 in the third quarter to build a 28-3 lead by the end of the period.

A-State scored on its first two drives of the quarter, including back-to-back scoring runs by Voytik and White to take a 28-3 lead with 8:59 to go in the period.

The half began with a Troy turnover when Chris Odom forced his second fumble of the night when he sacked Brandon Silvers and punched the ball out that was eventually recovered by Chris Humes in the end zone for the second score of the night for A-State to go up 14-3. The touchdown recovery marked the third touchdown of the by the senior defensive back.

The Red Wolves took a 21-3 advantage on their next offensive possession when it orchestrated a 6-play, 60-yard drive that was capped by a 4-yard run from Voytik. The drive was highlighted by a 39-yard pitch and catch from Hansen to Dijon Paschal on a 3-and-8 to keep the drive alive. White scored the fourth A-State touchdown on a 24-yard scamper to push the lead to 28-3.

The most impressive drive of the night came in the fourth quarter when the Red Wolves went on a 91-yard scoring drive that took 10:53 off the clock and was capped off on a 6-yard run by Rollins-Davis to set the final.

“The most important thing all week we talked was not turning the ball over and that was thing we did the best thing we did tonight,” Anderson said. “To be able to run the ball the way did in the second half was really impressive and that 10-minute drive in the fourth quarter that put the nail in the coffin and was something we were most proud of the night.”

A-State’s offense struggled to get going until midway through the second quarter. The Red Wolves had just 26 yards of total offense before an 11-play, 80-yard drive resulted in the first touchdown of the nigh.

The drive was highlighted by a 31-yard pass from Cam Echols-Luper to Humes on a fake punt that kept the drive alive. The Red Wolves capitalized three plays later on an 8-yard pass from pass from Justice Hansen to Kendall Sanders to give Arkansas State a 7-3 lead with 3:02 to go in the first half.

Sanders finished with five catches for 31 yards and a score, while Chris Murray added 51 receiving yards on two receptions.

Defensively, A-State held Troy to 262 yards of total offense, but just 157 yards in the second half including a rushing total of negative yards in the half. Ja’Von Rolland-Jones also tied the Sun Belt Conference record by collecting his 26^th career sack.

Arkansas State is now 6-0 in SBC player for the third time in its history and for the second consecutive season. The Red Wolves are also 19-3 in the month of November since the 2011 season and are bowl eligible for the ninth time over the last 12 seasons.

A-State returns to action Saturday, Nov. 26 when it travels to Louisiana-Lafayette to take on the Ragin’ Cajuns at 11 a.m. The game will air on the American Sports Network.

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