Wolves over moon with GoDaddy bid

Coach Blake Anderson plans to lead ASU into the GoDaddy Bowl on Jan. 4, which will be a nice change for the Red Wolves after making three previous trips to the bowl with an interim coach.
Coach Blake Anderson plans to lead ASU into the GoDaddy Bowl on Jan. 4, which will be a nice change for the Red Wolves after making three previous trips to the bowl with an interim coach.

JONESBORO -- Arkansas State is going back to the GoDaddy Bowl, but this time the Red Wolves plan to take their coach with them.

ASU accepted a bid Wednesday to play in the GoDaddy Bowl in Mobile, Ala., marking the fourth consecutive season the Red Wolves will play in the bowl and the fifth time since January 2012 they will play in Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

GoDaddy Bowl

Arkansas State vs. TBD

WHEN 8 p.m. Central Jan. 4

WHERE Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Ala.

RECORDS Arkansas State 7-5. Opponent: TBD

PAYOUT $250,000 from the Sun Belt. Can earn up to $750,000 from the GoDaddy Bowl depending on ticket sales.

TV ESPN

TICKETS $45 (sidelines) and $15 (end zone). Tickets can be purchased at astateredwolves.com or by calling the GoDaddy Bowl office at (251) 635-0011

Athletic Director Terry Mohajir said Wednesday during a news conference at the ASU Football Facility that neither the Red Wolves nor the bowl has grown tired of the other.

"If it's on the moon, or in Alaska, or in Mobile, it's fantastic," Mohajir said. "It's the greatest bowl in the world because you're invited. There are people staying home this year that are bowl eligible."

Besides, this trip to the Gulf Coast will be different than all of ASU's previous trips because its head coach is expected to be there this time.

ASU was led by an interim coach in each of its past three trips to the GoDaddy Bowl -- victories over Ball State and Kent State and a loss to Northern Illinois -- after Hugh Freeze left to become Ole Miss' head coach, Gus Malzahn left for Auburn and Bryan Harsin left for Boise State following successful regular seasons that earned them a trip to Mobile.

This time, a year and a day after Harsin accepted an invitation to last year's GoDaddy Bowl, ASU Coach Blake Anderson said he isn't going anywhere.

"I'm planning to be there, I'm planning to go, and we're planning to find a way to win it," Anderson said. "Great end for this senior class. If we can find a way to win it, leave here with 36 victories ... what a great legacy."

Quarterback Fredi Knighten, who threw the game-winning touchdown to Allen Muse in the final minute to defeat Ball State last year, said the continuity will allow the Red Wolves (7-5) to make better use of their 15 bowl practices than in years past.

"It's good knowing that your head coach for next year is going with you," Knighten said.

ASU's opponent for the 8 p.m. game Jan. 4 won't be determined until this weekend.

The GoDaddy Bowl gets first pick of Mid-American Conference teams, but it does not have to take the league champion, which will be determined when Northern Illinois and Bowling Green play Friday night in Detroit. That pick will be made after the College Football Playoff selects the Group of Five representative Sunday.

The Sun Belt has three direct bowl tie-ins and four eligible teams after league champion Georgia Southern and Appalachian State had their waiver appeals for postseason eligibility denied Tuesday by the NCAA. Both are ineligible for a bowl game because they are in their first season at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.

Mohajir said he started putting together ASU's bowl pitch the week before its 45-27 loss at Texas State on Nov. 20. Since Saturday, he said his talks were with executives from the GoDaddy Bowl and the Camellia Bowl, a first-year bowl game in Montgomery, Ala., that chose South Alabama on Wednesday.

The New Orleans Bowl, which gets first pick of Sun Belt teams, is expected to invite Louisiana-Lafayette for the fourth consecutive season.

Mohajir said he never felt completely comfortable with ASU's bowl chances until the call came, and he spent the past few days explaining to bowl committees that ASU losing two of its final three games was due in part to mounting injuries. He said he even called in a prayer request from his mother.

"I'm just trying to sell these guys," Mohajir said, pointing to Knighten and senior cornerback Andrew Tryon, who were sitting at a table alongside him during Wednesday's news conference. "It's the work they do on the field, and we're just trying to sell them. We take the packages that we have and we're out there selling."

ASU has lost five defensive contributors to season-ending injuries, but Anderson said some players thought to have been lost for the rest of the season could return considering the GoDaddy Bowl will be played Jan. 4.

Nickelback Charleston Girley, who had wrist surgery in September, linebacker Quanterio Heath, who had wrist surgery in October, and cornerback Rocky Hayes, who missed last week's game with a collarbone injury, are all expected to be ready for the game.

If they are, Anderson said his team will be as healthy as it's been in six weeks.

"This is the beginning of 2015," Anderson said. "For us to be able to do that together and continue to build what we want to build, that's one of the biggest benefits.

"I don't think those are measurable."

Sports on 12/04/2014

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