Page 20 - 2018 Arkansas Football

20K Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Sunday, August 26, 2018
ARKANSAS STATE PREVIEW
Not satisfied
Lean finish leaves Red Wolves hungry for more
TIM COOPER ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
JONESBORO — Arkansas State has compiled a winning record in all four years Blake Anderson has been the Red Wolves’ head coach.
Settling for a winning record is not on Arkansas State’s agenda for 2018. The Red Wolves want and expect a little more.
“Every year I’ve been here, the team has had a great chance of breaking all types of records, but what’s held us back is penalties and not being focused,” senior running back Warren Wand said. “This year, we’re fo- cused on the little things, the details, the way we
DATE
ASU schedule OPPONENT
TIME
6 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 6 p.m. TBA
TBA
7 p.m. 6:30 p.m. TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
RESULT
L, 43-36 Canceled W, 48-3 L, 44-21 W, 43-25 W, 51-17 W, 47-3 W, 37-21 L, 24-19 W, 30-12 W, 67-50 L, 32-25 L, 35-30
Southeast Missouri State at Alabama
at Tulsa
UNLV
at Georgia Southern* Appalachian State* Georgia State*
at Louisiana-Lafayette* South Alabama*
Sept. 1
Sept. 8
Sept. 15
Sept. 22
Sept. 29
Oct. 9
Oct. 18
Oct. 27
Nov. 3
Nov. 10
Nov. 17
Nov. 24
*Sun Belt Conference game
at Coastal Carolina* Louisiana-Monroe* at Texas State*
Anderson
at Georgia Southern* Coastal Carolina* Louisiana-Lafayette* at New Mexico State* at South Alabama* Texas State*
start.”
Arkansas State Univer-
sity has a “commanding edge” to win the Sun Belt’s West Division, according to
at Nebraska
Miami Arkansas-Pine Bluff at SMU
2017 results OPPONENT
Sept. 2
Sept. 9
Sept. 16
Sept. 23
Oct. 4
Oct. 14
Oct. 19
Oct. 28
Nov. 11
Nov. 18
Nov. 25
Dec. 2
Dec. 16
*Sun Belt Conference game ^Camellia Bowl, Montgomery, Ala.
DATE
Athlon Sports magazine.
Justice Hansen returns at quarterback
after earning the conference’s offensive player of the year honors in 2017. The Red Wolves are loaded at the receiver and run- ning back positions. Defensively, Arkan- sas State has five returning starters from a group that gave up 25.8 points per game, which ranked fourth among Sun Belt teams in 2017.
“The excitement and anticipation may be higher than it’s ever been here,” Ander- son said. “That’s what we want to be a part of, and hopefully we’ve got something to do with those expectations and the excitement level being as high as it is.”
The Red Wolves were 7-5 in 2017 but lost three of their last five games, including a 32-25 home loss to Troy in the final regu- lar-season game and a 35-30 loss to Middle Tennessee State in the Camellia Bowl.
Arkansas State led the Sun Belt in scor- ing offense, passing offense, total offense, first downs, punt return average and third- down conversions. The Red Wolves also led the conference in penalties, and their 25 turnovers were second only to New Mex- ico State’s 29.
“I think the players want a shot at re- demption,” Anderson said. “Not to put words in their mouths, but there’s work to be done and they are very aware of it. We’ve made that clear.”
at Louisiana-Monroe* Troy*
Middle Tennessee State^
Hansen completed 305 of 487 passes for
3,967 yards. His 37 passing TDs were 10 more than any other quarterback in the Sun Belt, but he was also intercepted 16 times.
The Red Wolves receivers will give Han- sen plenty of options. Senior Justin McInnis (49 catches, 800 yards) is the team’s leading returning receiver, but junior Omar Bayless (32-439) and senior Kendrick Edwards (38- 434) will also be targets. Transfers Dahu Green (Oklahoma) and Kirk Merritt (East Mississippi Community College) may also find themselves on the receiving end of Hansen’s passes.
“Those guys are very talented,” Hansen said. “It’s certainly a situation where you walk out there and you don’t have to pick one guy and say, ‘OK, this is the guy I have to get it to.’ All of them can make plays at any time.”
“There are several big-time players in
that group, and they feed off of each other,” Anderson said. “We’re at a point to where we’re welcome to have any of those guys on the field.”
Wand was the team’s leading rusher in 2017, running for 715 yards on 138 attempts, but Armond Weh-Weh, who was granted a sixth year of eligibility, should get a share of the running load after turning in an im- pressive spring.
“It’s huge for us,” Anderson said of Weh- Weh’s return. “The NCAA made the cor- rect decision to give him a year back. It was well-deserved and huge in the fact that he’s finally healthy, feels like himself and has confidence in himself to run the way he’s capable of.”
With four linemen returning, the offen- sive line should be another strength for the Red Wolves, although Anderson said the
Democrat-Gazette file photo
Senior quarterback Justice Hansen returns for Arkansas State after passing for 3,067 yards last season. He finished with 37 touchdown passes — 10 more than any other quarterback in the Sun Belt Conference.
right tackle position is “a spot of concern.” On the defensive line, two-time confer- ence defensive player of the year Ja’Von Rolland-Jones has run out of eligibility. Rolland-Jones came up with 13 sacks and
three forced fumbles a year ago.
“We’ve got to replace Jones’ productivi-
ty, and there’s not just one player who can do that,” Anderson said.
Anderson said for this team to be considered a success, it “must pick up where it left off and cannot take steps backwards.”
“We’re excited about the athletic ability we’ve put together,” Anderson said. “We’ve recruited every young man that’s a part of our program to this point for the last four-and-half years to go into year five. We feel like we’re going to be putting our most athletic team on the field.
“We have more experience than we had a year ago, which we knew was a big concern going into last season. It obvious- ly showed itself throughout the year last year. We’re hoping to overcome that this season.”