Arkansas State 31, UCF 13
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Justice Hansen threw three touchdown passes to Kendall Sanders to help Arkansas State beat UCF 31-13 on Saturday night in the AutoNation Cure Bowl.
Hansen and Sanders hooked up for touchdown strikes of 12, 75 and 17 yards, but the biggest plays of the night came from the Red Wolves' special teams. They scored on a blocked punt and produced two turnovers that were turned into touchdowns.
Hansen completed 12 of 26 passes for 205 yards.
"When you look at a team that is as good as Central Florida is you know special teams has to come up huge," said third-year Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson, whose team bounced back from an 0-4 start to win a share of the Sun Belt Conference title and his bowl victory after two failed tried.
"I think Luke Paschall, our special teams coach, does a great job. We have starters playing across the board and they are the ones making plays. I would say several times this year that special teams was a turning point. I think it's a culture we create and it came up huge again tonight."
The tone for the second half was set when Sanders and Hansen hooked up for the 75-yard touchdown reception on the third play of the third quarter. Sanders got by the safety and Hansen connected with him perfectly and after breaking one tackle the senior raced into the end zone to put the Red Wolves ahead 24-10 just 51 seconds into the second half.
"Initially in my route I had to run a 20-yard route but I had just had the conversation with him (Hansen) and he was like just get past the safety," said Sanders, who caught five passes for 127 yards in his final game at Arkansas State. "So I kind of cut it short and tried to past the safety so he could see me and he hit me right in stride. From there I just used my God-given abilities."
The Red Wolves (8-5) sealed the victory when they went up 31-13 on Sanders' 17-yard scoring reception early in the fourth quarter. That touchdown was set up after UCF returner Chris Johnson mishandled a punt and it was recovered by Logan Moragne at the Knights 37.
The tone for the special teams was set in the first quarter when Johnston White broke through the line to block Caleb Houston's punt and B.J. Edmonds fell on the ball in the end zone to put the Red Wolves ahead 7-0 in the first 4 minutes.
The Red Wolves took a 17-0 lead over the Knights (6-7) in the first quarter after a UCF fumbled kickoff return set up Hansen's 12-yard touchdown pass to Hansen.
UCF freshman quarterback McKenzie Milton and the offense couldn't get much going. Arkansas State's defensive front controlled the line of scrimmage and kept Milton off balance throughout. Milton completed 22 of 39 passes for 175 yards and one touchdown.
"We got to get a lot better," UCF coach Scott Frost said. "I think our payers gave us absolutely all they had and I think this group got about everything they could out of themselves."
TAKEAWAY
UCF: Clearly, Frost wasn't comfortable letting Milton throw the ball down field and that hurt the offense. Jawon Hamilton found little running room with Arkansas State stacking the box and the short passing game to Tre'Quan Smith rarely produced the desired results in a disappointing showing in front of the Knights home crowd.
Arkansas State: While the special teams units made most of the highlight plays, the defense was dominant throughout. Defensive end Ja'Von Rolland-Jones and linebacker Chris Odom kept the pressure on Milton and didn't give Hamilton any running lanes.
UP NEXT
UCF: The Knights could be a contender for the American Athletic Conference title next year but Milton has to take some big steps, especially with his mechanics. Too often he throws off his back foot which leaves passes well short of the receiver. Defensively Frost will have to find a way to replace his entire secondary.
Arkansas State: The Red Wolves lose quite a bit along the offensive line and on defense, but they have enough explosive players to run their string of postseason appearances to seven next season.