JONESBORO — Arkansas State defensive end Tim Starson said he saw something strikingly familiar when studying film of Saturday’s opponent, North Texas.
Stylistically, the Mean Green (3-5, 2-2 Sun Belt Conference), who host ASU (5-3, 3-1) on Saturday in Denton, Texas, look a lot like Western Kentucky, which handed the Red Wolves their only Sun Belt loss this season.
“Without a doubt,” Starson said. “They’re going to have a lot of tight ends motioning, fullbacks shifting. But in the end, they just want to ram it down your throat.”
North Texas is keen on lining up and handing the ball to redshirt freshman Antoinne Jimmerson and junior Brandin Byrd - who have combined for 1,072 yards and seven touchdowns this season - forming the cornerstone of the conference’s second-best rushing attack at 187.4 yards per game.
And don’t forget about senior running back Jeremy Brown, who has added 250 yards and 3 touchdowns on 51 carries.
That level of production is especially impressive considering North Texas came into the season having to replace Lance Dunbar and his school record 4,224 career rushing yards. Dunbar also scored 41 touchdowns.
Being able to rotate three backs presents North Texas Coach Dan McCarney with a pleasant problem, a situation made easier because of the selflessness displayed by his running backs.
“I’m really impressed with how unselfish those guys are,” said McCarney, who is in his second season at North Texas. “There’s no complaining. There’s no, ‘Get me more carries.’ There’s no, ‘Get me in the game.’ There’s no, ‘This guy can’t do that.’ ”
Jimmerson, 5-9, 207 pounds, is the swiftest of the group, averaging 5.3 yards per carry and leads the Mean Green with 15 carries longer than 10 yards.
“He can really run it,” Arkansas State Coach Gus Malzahn said. “He’s got one-play drive ability. You put the ball in his hands, and he can take it the distance. That always concerns you.”
Byrd, 5-10, 211, from Copperas Cove, Texas, is more of a punishing runner used on inside handoffs in picking up 585 yards and 2 touchdowns on 142 carries this season.
“One’s a bit more of a pounder, but he can certainly run it, too,” Malzahn said. “The other is a fast guy. But they both can go between the tackles well.”
Starson said he doesn’t spend much time making distinctions.
“They’re just power backs, plain and simple,” Starson said. “They’re kind of shifty, but they’ll get down hill and come at you.”
That mentality caused problems for ASU in a 26-13 loss on Sept. 29, when Western Kentucky rallied from a 13-0 halftime deficit.
The Hilltoppers wore ASU down with a power-oriented West Coast scheme, gaining 243 yards on the ground, including 157 in the second half.
“We got tired on defense,” Starson said. “A lot of guys’ attitudes have really changed. When we go in the locker room at halftime, we’ve got make those corrections but still play fast.”
What was the other chief lesson learned from the battering by Western Kentucky?
“Being more physical,” senior defensive tackle Ryan Carrethers said.
But the Red Wolves’ defense got a boost in a 50-27 victory at Louisiana-Lafayette 10 days ago. The Red Wolves yielded 76 yards rushing on 23 carries, holding Ragin’ Cajuns leading rusher Alonzo Harries to 27 yards - his second-lowest performance of the season.
“We’ll take that in stride, and try to focus on getting better,” Carrethers said. “You use that previous game as a certain build up.”
At a glance ASU AT NORTH TEXAS WHEN 4 p.m. Central Saturday WHERE Apogee Stadium, Denton, Texas RECORDS ASU: 5-3, 3-1 Sun Belt Conference; North Texas: 3-5, 2-2 COACHES ASU Gus Malzahn (5-3 in first season at Arkansas State and overall); North Texas: Dan McCarney (7-12 in second season at North Texas and 64-97 overall) SERIES ASU leads 12-8 RADIO KFIN-FM, 107.9, in Jonesboro; KKSPFM, 93.3, in Bryant/Little Rock INTERNET astate redwolves.com, meangreen. com
Sports, Pages 23 on 11/02/2012