Gimmick just drop in bucket

Arkansas State wide receiver Booker Mays had two catches for 38 yards Saturday against Miami, but it was his antics on ASU’s “Fainting Goat” fake punt that has drawn national attention.
Arkansas State wide receiver Booker Mays had two catches for 38 yards Saturday against Miami, but it was his antics on ASU’s “Fainting Goat” fake punt that has drawn national attention.

JONESBORO -- Booker Mays' cell phone started buzzing about 10:30 p.m. Monday.

A friend had sent him an email, and in it was a link to an online video.

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ARKANSAS STATE VS. UTAH STATE

WHEN 6 p.m. Saturday

WHERE Centennial Bank Stadium, Jonesboro

RECORDS Arkansas State 1-2, Utah State 2-1

TV None

INTERNET ESPN3, astateredwolves.com

RADIO KFIN-FM, 107.9, in Jonesboro; KKSP-FM, 93.3, in Bryant/Little Rock

The Arkansas State wide receiver knew immediately what had happened.

"Oh, no," Mays recalled after Wednesday's practice. "It's out there."

Mays has become an unlikely sensation for the Red Wolves, but it has nothing to do with the receiving skills of the sophomore who has five career receptions.

All the national attention can be traced to his involvement in a fake punt during Saturday's 41-20 loss at Miami, a play that didn't work and one that he had no bearing on where the ball went.

A video of the play made its way online Monday, and the response has been overwhelming. The video had been viewed more than 17 million times by Wednesday morning, and at least four national media outlets have interviewed the Pine Bluff Dollarway graduate who walked on with the Red Wolves last season.

"It's been really crazy," Mays said.

The video is of a play that occurred in the second quarter of ASU's loss. The Red Wolves were lined up for a fake punt, with Mays split out to the right. But because a receiver was lined up to the right of him, Mays would have been an ineligible receiver if he crossed the line of scrimmage.

So, to avoid a penalty, special teams coordinator Luke Paschall suggested that Mays stand straight up, cross his arms over his chest and fall onto his back.

Or "The Fainting Goat," as ASU called it.

"Luke's like, 'Why don't we just have him do The Fainting Goat?' " ASU Coach Blake Anderson explained Wednesday. "I'm like, 'Absolutely. Why didn't I think of that?' "

So Mays fell backward, but Frankie Jackson's route was disrupted by an official, which allowed a Miami linebacker to intercept punter Luke Ferguson's pass.

Mays' performance -- and the big hit he took from a Miami player on the interception return -- ended up being the talk of college football after the video went viral. Even Anderson admitted he was surprised by all the attention.

"I knew a few people would raise an eyebrow but, yeah, it went a little crazier than I expected," said Anderson, who did interviews Tuesday with NFL.com, CBS Sports.com and Sports Illustrated among others. "It was all in fun. People forgot about the score of the game and thought about how much fun we had, so I guess that's a positive."

The play had some critics -- "Our atmosphere is not for everybody," Anderson admitted -- but it served as the latest example of how Anderson is still developing his coaching style in his first season at ASU.

The tag line printed on ASU's promotional posters reads "Fast. Physical. Fun." Anderson said he is proud that he's installed the last part of that motto in less than a full year as coach.

ASU already has run "The Fainting Goat," a throwback pass in which all five offensive linemen fall to the ground immediately after the ball was snapped, and two fake punts through three games this season. The Red Wolves also have gone for it on fourth down 10 times, which is second-most of any team in the country.

"We think outside the box," Anderson said. "I want them to have a great time being here. We ask a lot out of them, so we've got to look on the other side of things, too. We've got to be willing to have fun with them."

Quarterback Fredi Knighten said he got a kick out of all the text messages he's received the past two days from friends asking about "The Fainting Goat."

"It makes it more exciting," Knighten said. "When you have trick plays like that, guys are excited to go out there and make some plays."

Anderson said the play ASU ran during the third quarter of a victory over Montana State -- when the linemen fell face-first on the ground before Knighten took a pass from receiver Tres Houston and ran for 45 yards -- was called "Plum." Right guard Alan Wright said that play didn't work the way ASU had planned, either, because a defender came behind the line and eventually pushed Knighten out of bounds.

"It was weird, but, yeah, it keeps things fun," Wright said.

Knighten and Wright said there could be something else in store for Saturday's game against Utah State in Jonesboro. With Anderson, it's likely there always will be something new and different.

"That's kind of how our group is," Anderson said. "We always have something like that in our hip pocket. [Mays] was the first. People just have to pay better attention to who the next one is to drop."

Sports on 09/18/2014

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