ASU junior fits in nicely with Anderson's offense

Arkansas State wide receiver J.D. McKissic will be used by Coach Blake Anderson in what Anderson calls the “A-back.” It will allow more touches for McKissic in the Red Wolves’ offense.
Arkansas State wide receiver J.D. McKissic will be used by Coach Blake Anderson in what Anderson calls the “A-back.” It will allow more touches for McKissic in the Red Wolves’ offense.

JONESBORO -- Three years ago, Blake Anderson and Larry Fedora were trying to get Southern Miss to take the next step in its rebuilding process.

The Golden Eagles were 22-17 in the coaches' first three seasons in Hattiesburg, Miss., before identifying an undersized wide receiver they felt had been underutilized.

Not just ‘A’ back

• While offensive coordinator at Southern Miss in 2011, Blake Anderson and Coach Larry Fedora created a position called the A-back, which was designed to get the ball more to one of the team’s best athletes. The position remained a key part of their offense the past two seasons at North Carolina, and Anderson has brought it to Arkansas State in his first season as head coach. Here is a look at the players who manned the position for Anderson the past three seasons:

PLAYER (YEAR);SCHOOL;RUSH;REC;PR;KR;TOT.;AVG./G

Tracy Lampley (2011);Southern Miss;463;574;356;405;1,798;128.3

Sean Tapley (2012);North Carolina;0;361;0;725;1,086;90.5

Ryan Switzer (2013);North Carolina;29;341;502;0;872;67.1

So Anderson, the offensive coordinator under Fedora, lined up Tracy Lampley in the backfield. He also used him as a slot receiver and had him return kicks in 2011. All the 5-9, 168-pound Lampley did was average 7.5 yards every time he touched the ball while compiling 1,798 all-purpose yards as the Golden Eagles went 12-2 and won the Conference USA title.

With that, the position known as the "A-back" in Anderson's offense was born.

Anderson said the idea came to him and Fedora after seeing Texas Tech and Oklahoma use versatile players in similar ways. Now it's one of his offense's most important positions.

"Some of it was out of necessity based on the bodies that we had," Anderson said. "We felt like we had a guy that was really, really versatile. We come across Tracy, and it just kind of molded from there."

He won't have to look for a similar player at ASU.

When Anderson was hired away from North Carolina to become the Red Wolves' head coach in December, he inherited J.D. McKissic, a speedy receiver who was used by previous ASU coaches in various ways during his first two seasons. McKissic averaged 121.2 all-purpose yards per game last year while scoring six touchdowns (four receiving, one rushing and another on a kickoff return).

McKissic caught passes, took handoffs on sweeps and returned kicks in former coach Bryan Harsin's offense. It wasn't much different than his role now. It's just more clearly defined in Anderson's offense.

"It's a position where I can get the ball in all types of ways," McKissic said. "I just have to stay up on conditioning and be able to get the ball that many times in a game."

Offensive coordinator Walt Bell said it's easy for most opponents to identify an offense's most dynamic player. Opponents did it with Lampley at Southern Miss and last season with Ryan Switzer at North Carolina. Teams know McKissic will get the ball this season, too, but what the "A-back" does is keep them guessing as to how he'll get it.

"They're going to do everything in their power to limit [McKissic's] touches and limit his space," Bell said. "It kind of allows us to manufacture some touches for him. So, whoever you can put in that spot is really your play-maker. We need those guys to come on."

Bell said McKissic will line up in the backfield as well as at any of the three wide receiver positions. McKissic has handled the larger role so far, but Bell said it can be a grind for incoming freshmen trying to take on a larger than usual load mentally.

ASU has redshirt freshman Brandon Cox and true freshmen Daryl Rollins-Davis and Brandon Byner behind McKissic. Rollins-Davis and Byner were recruited after Anderson was hired for the A-back role. Rollins-Davis has been working with that group since practice began, while Byner has stayed at running back because of depth concerns.

Anderson said Byner could be moved at any time to what Bell described as the most difficult spot for skill players to learn.

"You're a slot receiver, you're a tailback and you're an outside receiver," Bell said. "He's in and out of the backfield, you've got to know everybody's spot. So mentally, [Rollins-Davis] is the furthest behind because he's got the most to learn, not because he can't learn it."

Coaches are giving them every opportunity to learn the position. Each day in practice A-backs run through a period called "run polish," which keeps them familiar with footwork and communication while being set out of the backfield.

"We can use those guys everywhere," running backs coach Anthony Tucker said.

That's the idea, Anderson said.

Lampley thrived in the position at Southern Miss, as did Sean Tapley and Switzer under Anderson's supervision at North Carolina. Tapley gained 1,086 yards at receiver in 2012, and Switzer gained gained 872 yards last season and was named a first-team All-American as a specialist.

Now it's McKissic's turn as a focal point in Anderson's scheme.

"We realized that we liked that type of dynamic," Anderson said. "So we worked really hard to find those kinds of guys, and ever since that we've had success. We're lucky to walk into a position where we've got some guys that can."

Sports on 08/14/2014

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