NEW ORLEANS — Arkansas State quarterback Ryan Aplin issued a matter of-fact response to media when asked about the Red Wolves being picked second in the Sun Belt Conference.
“It’s a poll,” Aplin said during the conference’s media day at the Marriott Hotel. “It’s opinions.”
“You don’t want to get too worked up over it. It’s something you can use as motivation, something to help you over that last rep or running gasser. That’s really as far as you take it.”
Florida International was picked by coaches as the preseason favorite, but ASU enters fall camp with plenty of buzz after winning 10 games last season, claiming its first Sun Belt title and making a trip to the GoDaddy.com Bowl.
And hiring Auburn’s celebrated offensive coordinator, Gus Malzahn, to replace Hugh Freeze, who left for Ole Miss, has added to the excitement.
“We’re not sneaking up on anybody,” Malzahn said.
But Malzahn said the Red Wolves’ spot in the poll, which came with two first place votes, stems mostly from last season’s accomplishments.
“We want to have high expectations,” Malzahn said. “This league is outstanding. It’s very tough. ... Just me looking in here being new, there’s not any ‘gimmes’ on that schedule. But our expectations are high, and we’re hoping to do well.”
It helps to have Aplin, who threw for 3,558 yards and 19 touchdowns last season and generated almost 70 percent of ASU’s offense last season. Aplin was honored as the Sun Belt’s preseason Offensive Player of the Year.
“He’s obviously very talented,” Malzahn said of Aplin, who ranked in the top 20 nationally in four passing categories. “He’s had a great career. [It’s] very fortunate for me and my staff to have a veteran guy like that, that’s ran a similar offense to what we use. We’re going to ask a lot of him.”
Senior receiver Josh Jarboe, who caught 54 passes for 730 yards and 2 touchdowns, also landed on the All-Sun Belt team, while senior cornerback Don Jones made the defensive team.
But ASU faces a host of questions before it opens the season Sept. 1 at Pacific-12 contender Oregon.
“We’ve got two weeks to decide our pecking order and get guys with the first group,” Malzahn said. “The first two weeks, we’re giving everyone a chance, including these young guys, to help us. At Week 3, we’re going with what we’ve got and get those guys ready.”
Malzahn’s staff faces the task of rebuilding a defense that returns three starters after leading the Sun Belt last season, ranking No. 23 nationally in total defense at 331.5 yards per game and 25th in scoring defense by allowing 20.8 points per game.
The defensive line took the biggest hit, losing defensive end Brandon Joiner, who led the Sun Belt Conference with 13 sacks and 19 tackles for loss, and a stalwart at the tackle spot in Amos Draper.
“We don’t know what we’re going to get,” Malzahn said. “We open up against Oregon, and that’s a huge challenge. It looks like a video game when you watch them on film. We’ll need to grow up in a hurry.”
Malzahn has said he wants to build his program with Arkansas talent, but attrition and a late start to recruiting required ASU to go the junior-college route, namely Blinn (Texas) College, for immediate help on the defensive line.
ASU brought in John Gandy, a 6-0, 245-pound defensive end from Houston who was a junior college All-American, along with linebacker Eddie Porter and defensive end Ishmail Hayes, who were top-50 junior college prospects.
“Anytime you lose as many people as we did on defense, you need to fill holes with some experienced guys,” Malzahn said. “That’s why we went after four junior-college defensive players, and we expect those guys to come in and fill some needs immediately.”
The Red Wolves also needed to restock the offensive line, where the team had to replace left tackle Delano Moore, left guard Alex Kautai and center Cliff Mitchell.
But Malzahn has said the line, anchored by preseason All-Sun Belt pick Zach McKnight, a 6-4, 300-pound senior, could see a potential infusion of freshman talent, such as Michael Flint, a three-star prospect from Oxford, Ala., whom Malzahn recruited while at Auburn.
Aplin said turnout for voluntary lifting sessions, 7-on-7 games and other workouts has surpassed that of a year ago when Freeze took over as coach.
The fact that ASU will be defending its conference championship helps in that regard, Aplin said.
“That’s what we strive for day in, day out in the summer,” Aplin said.
“That’s where it starts, and it’s somewhere we’ve wanted to be since I’ve been at school. To finally be on top is indescribable. It’s something you want to keep going as long as you’re there.”
Sun Belt Conference preseason poll
TEAM VOTES
- Florida International 92 (5)
- Arkansas State 85 (2)
- Louisiana-Lafayette 81 (2)
- Western Kentucky 70 (1)
- Troy 60
- Louisiana-Monroe 47
- Middle Tennessee 42
- North Texas 36
- Florida Atlantic 23
- South Alabama 14
First-place votes are in parentheses
Sports, Pages 13 on 07/17/2012