Lacewell beats drum for game

FILE — Former Dallas Cowboys director of scouting and Arkansas State coach Larry Lacewell unpacks his replica Super Bowl trophies and his championship rings Monday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club in this Oct. 24, 2011 file photo.
FILE — Former Dallas Cowboys director of scouting and Arkansas State coach Larry Lacewell unpacks his replica Super Bowl trophies and his championship rings Monday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club in this Oct. 24, 2011 file photo.

— Larry Lacewell spent 11 seasons as Arkansas State’s head football coach, so it’s not surprising he supports the Red Wolves.

And, since he was raised in Fordyce, he has been a long-time fan of the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Speaking Monday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club luncheon at the Embassy Suites hotel in Little Rock, Lacewell, 74, argued that both programs could benefit if the Razorbacks and Red Wolves began an annual rivalry.

“For a while, I understood [former Arkansas athletic director] Frank Broyles’ position,” said Lacewell, 69-58-4 as the head coach of Arkansas State (1979-1989), leading ASU to a NCAA Division I-AA championship game where it lost 48-21 to Georgia Southern. “He was in a terrible conference with a terrible stadium, no highway and a small airport and all of those things made sense. But now, all of those things have changed. ...

“I don’t like it when Arkansas plays the Northeast Louisianas or Florida Atlantic Oceans or those people out of the Sun Belt. To me, Arkansas should beat Arkansas State 98 out of 100 times, and I think this state has grown enough to where we’re big enough for it to happen. I think a game would be good for the state, but I can’t see it happening.”

Arkansas has maintained a long-standing policy against playing in-state schools. But the Razorbacks play other Sun Belt schools including Troy and Florida International. Arkansas also made a deal with Louisiana-Monroe in which the Warhawks counted the attendance from playing a neutral-site game in Little Rock as a home game to help maintain its status as a NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision member.

Still, an Arkansas-Arkansas State game does not appear to be in the works.

“I told Frank one time that this state could handle two teams and he said, ‘Never!’ [But] Oklahoma has three teams.”

Big-12 members Oklahoma and Oklahoma State both played Tulsa, a member of Conference USA, this season. Oklahoma defeated Tulsa 47-14 on Sept. 3, while Oklahoma State beat Tulsa 59-33 Sept. 17.

Lacewell said there is nothing wrong with ASU being No. 2 in the state, adding it’s “better than being No. 3, 4 or 5.”

“I used to dream of being No. 2 and having people pay attention to us,” Lacewell said. “Now, you look at them and they’re on national television occasionally and playing in front of good crowds.”

Arkansas State’s game last Tuesday night against Florida Atlantic was on ESPN2, and the Red Wolves have averaged 24,454 fans for their three home games this season.

Lacewell said he likes what he’s seen from first-year head Coach Hugh Freeze, who has the Red Wolves off to a 5-2 start and leading the Sun Belt Conference with a 3-0 record.

“They’ve got a good quarterback [in Ryan Aplin] and an experienced defensive coordinator in Dave Wommack, and Hugh [Freeze] seems to know what he’s doing,” Lacewell said. “. ...Whatever it is, Hugh seems to have it.”

Sports, Pages 15 on 10/25/2011

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