JONESBORO, Ark. - Turnovers and penalties were the Achilles heel for the UWG football team on Saturday night in Arkansas as the Wolves dropped a 52-7 road contest at Arkansas State.
West Georgia (0-3) turned it over four times which resulted in 24 points for Arkansas State (1-1) who had nearly 400 yards of offense. The Wolves also committed 12 penalties for 97 yards while the home team were flagged just six times.
Two of the Wolves' turnovers were directly turned into points as the Arkansas State defense found the endzone on a scoop and score and a pick six. The other two turnovers were converted into a total of 10 points by the A-State offense, which finished with nearly 400 yards of offense.
UWG's offense had 246 yards of offense, their best game of the season offensively, and were highlighted by TJ Lockley who hauled in six passes for 76 yards with a touchdown, and eclipsed the 1,000 career receiving yard mark in the process.
The UWG defense was led by Chidu Bekee who had eight tackles including five solo stops while Stephan French chipped in with six tackles.
Both teams traded punts to start the contest, with the Wolves using a pooch punt to pin Arkansas State deep inside their own five-yard line and win the early field position battle.
After a scoreless first, Arkansas State got on the board at the 12:50 mark of the second quarter as Trey Owens found Chauncey Cobb in the flat and Cobb did the rest of the work on the 28-yard score to put the Red Wolves up, 7-0.
Costly penalties put UWG behind the chains on their next drive, and their punt from deep in their own territory set up Arkansas State in good field position and the Red Wolves marched 57 yards in eight plays, scoring on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Owens to Jaylen Bonelli to make it a two-score game.
UWG had a drive going late in the half, moving the ball across the ASU 30-yard line, but the Red Wolves would force a fumble and scoop it 68 yards for the score to make it 21-0.
It looked like it would go to the locker room that way as the Wolves got the ball with 1:19 left, but Colton Fitzgerald led the Wolves down the field and he found TJ Lockley for a 37-yard score, putting the Wolves on the board and making it a 21-7 ASU lead at the break.
Arkansas State got the ball to start the second half, and Holton Harris quickly forced a fumble on a strip sack and Chidu Bekee recovered for the Wolves, but just four plays later, ASU's Five Hamilton picked off Fitzgerald's pass and took it 91 yards to the house to put the home team up 28-7.
The first play of the ensuing drive was another UWG fumble and this one was again recovered by A-State. The Red Wolves then punched it in, making it a 35-7 advantage with 8:26 left in the third.
A fourth UWG turnover would result in more points for Arkansas State as the Red Wolves' Clune Van Andel knocked in a 25-yard field goal to make it 38-7 with 1:43 left in the third.
Arkansas State would score two more times in the final quarter to account for the final margin.
West Georgia is back in action on Saturday, September 19, on the road for a third-straight game taking on the ETSU Buccaneers
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- A-State's scoop-and-score was the first time a defense has scored a fumble recovery since the 2023 season against Delta State. The pick six was the first surrendered by the Wolves since the Austin Peay loss last season.
- TJ Lockley went over the 1,000 career receiving yard mark, becoming the first player to hit that mark since LaPerion Perry in 2023.
- UWG matched their most penalties in a single-game in the Division I era.
- West Georgia is now off to an 0-3 start for the first time since the 2009 season.
- It was the first time since 2023 that A-State has had a fumble recovery and an interception each go for a touchdown.
