Red Wolves opening drive was magic. After a methodical Southern Miss touchdown, true freshman QB Jaylen Raynor trotted behind center and handed it off to Ja’Quez Cross for a 14 yard gain. Raynor concluded the drive with a 17 yard touchdown strike to Jeff Foreman, and suddenly, Arkansas State had a fascinating offense.

The defense seemed to feed of the freshman’s sorcery, with Malique Straker making a pick on the Southern Miss six yard line (result, A-State TD pass to Courtney Jackson), and special teams picking up a blocked punt on the subsequent Southern Miss possession.

However, Southern Miss, possibly feeling some of the same anxiety Arkansas State has felt since the start of the season, came to play. For example, Frank Gore, who had collected all of 76 yards the first three games, ran for 90 in the first half. Billy Wiles, perhaps seeing Arkansas State’s determination to stop the run, threw for a TD and 97 yards the first half. By the time the band had taken the field, the scoreboard read 20-17.

The Red Wolves opened the second half in fairly fashion: a 60 yard TD strike from Raynor to Jackson. Raynor followed that up on the next possession with a 38 yard strike to Corey Rucker, placing the Red Wolves on the eight yard line where Rayner would carry it in on the very next play. Suddenly, it was 34-17.

“He said be careful. Make sure to be careful.” Jaylen Raynor, revealing what Butch Jones said to him after dropping his shoulder on USM’s Jay Stanley

A 59 yard TD run from Southern Miss’ Rodriquez Clark seemed to turn the momentum back to the Golden Eagles. After a lackluster 3-and-out from the Red Wolves, the Golden Eagles would score a field goal on the next possession, cutting the lead to seven. Southern Miss would score on the next possession to tie the game. Woefully, a 17 point lead was dust.

But a huge stop by the A-State defense with 8 minutes left in the fourth gave the Red Wolves new life. Raynor rewarded the effort with another big 37 yard connection to Foreman. The offense stalled six yard from the goal line, leading to a Zvada field goal to take a 37-34 lead with 3:50 remaining in the game.

“It was a crazy game!” admitted Courtney Jackson after the game. “We go up early, we see them coming back, but it was about staying steady and trusting the process.”

“Finally there was a belief,” said Coach Jones postgame. “There was a belief we were going to win the game.”

After a huge defense stop from the Red Wolves, Raynor Sorcery struck again, this time in the form of a 62 yard Raynor TD run that sealed the outcome. Red Wolves closed out the game with a strip from Mackey and a fumble recovery from Samy Johnson.

Jayen Raynor finished the game with five total touchdowns – three passing and two on the ground, plus 97 rush yards and 233 yards passing. Courtney Jackson had 94 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while the defense (which struggled at times against the pass, but came up with big plays when in counted most) came away with a pair of picks.

Frank Gore Jr. finished with 132 rushing yards and a score.

“We’re a good team,” said Jackson. “We have good coaches. It didn’t look like that in the first two games, but we knew it heading in the off season.”

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