Arkansas State and Troy combined to score 93 points on Saturday, but it was Arkansas State who pulled out a 50-43 win over the Trojans in the Sun Belt Conference opener.

The loss drops the Trojans to 2-2 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.

“Obviously we are all disappointed we didn’t win the game,” Troy head coach Chip Lindsey said. “We had a lot of opportunities. I was really proud with how our guys fought back. I like our team and I love our guys. They’re all disappointed, but when you play good football teams, mistakes come back to bite you.”

Trailing by seven, Carlton Martial picked off a pass giving the Trojans possession on their 46 with 2:44 remaining in the game. The Trojans drove it all the way down to the Red Wolves eight-yard line brining up a fourth and three. With no timeouts remaining and the clock running, Austin Stidham went to the turf with an injury forcing a 10-second runoff. The play was reviewed to see if there was more than 10 seconds on the clock, but ultimately the call was upheld.

“I thought we had outside 10 seconds, maybe 13 or 12, but they reviewed it and that was the decision they made,” Lindsey said. “Stidham, hopefully he’s not hurt bad, but you can’t do anything about that.”

The Trojans and Red Wolves combined to score 62 first half points and went into the half tied at 31.

The two teams combined to score eight first half touchdowns and Arkansas State added two more field goals.

The 62 combined first half points was the most since the Trojans played South Carolina in 2010.

The Red Wolves scored the game’s first 14 points after running just one offensive play. Omar Bayless hauled in a 92-yard touchdown catch and Logan Wescott took a Kaleb Barker fumble into the end zone.

Bayless’ 92-yard touchdown was one of two touchdown plays that went over 40 yards in the first half for the Red Wolves. They also had a 45-yard touchdown in the half that at the time gave them an 11-point lead.

The Trojans found themselves looking up at the Red Wolves for much of the first half.

After a 20-yard field goal by Tyler Sumpter, the Trojans found themselves down 14-3.

The Trojans had a pair of big pass plays of their own in the first half. Barker found Tray Eafford for a 29-yard touchdown and Bret Clark hauled in a 27-yard pass.

Down 31-24, the Trojans evened the score on an eight-yard touchdown by wide receiver Khalil McClain and the game went into the half tied at 31.

After the Trojans scored their 10^th unanswered point on a made field goal by Tyler Sumpter, the Trojans had their first lead of the game. It didn’t last long as the Red Wolves scored on their next possession on a seven-yard run by Jamal Jones.

The Trojans inched closer when Sumpter made his second 22-yard field goal. But after a blocked punt by ASU, quarterback Layne Hatcher found receiver Johnathan Adams for a 32-yard touchdown, bringing the score to 45-37 late in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter trailing by eight, Kaylon Geiger hauled in a nine-yard touchdown pass. Barker was sacked on the two-point conversion to keep the Trojans behind by two.

The Red Wolves answered with a one-yard touchdown run and a 19-yard field goal to pull ahead by seven with 5:12 remaining in the fourth.

Barker finished the game with 34 completions for 367 yards and had four touchdowns. For the third consecutive home game the Trojans had at least two players with at least 100 receiving yards. Geiger finished with eight catches for 111 yards, while Reggie Todd had four catches for exactly 100 yards.

The Trojans will be back in action next week when they travel to take on Missouri.