JONESBORO -- Blake Anderson had just finished watching his Arkansas State football team run through a two-hour scrimmage Saturday morning when he was asked for a general assessment of what he'd seen.
"Who knows?" Anderson said, cracking a smile.
The Red Wolves' second-year coach wasn't ready to make any definitive judgments after the first scrimmage of fall camp in part because he wanted to watch film of it first.
Getting a true gauge of the Red Wolves' progress one week into fall practice figures to be difficult because many key players spent the morning standing on the sideline in red jerseys or limped off the field with minor injuries.
Tight end Darion Griswold (shoulder), defensive end Ja'Von Rolland-Jones (knee) and cornerback Rocky Hayes (hamstring) -- all starters -- watched without wearing pads Saturday, as did reserve tight end Jonah Hill. Guard Daniel Keith (ankle), safety Money Hunter (groin) and linebacker Quanterio Heath (groin) also had to leave at some point during the scrimmage.
Anderson said he didn't want to see that many sidelined, but other than Keith, he doesn't believe any of the other injuries are serious enough to cause anyone to miss the season opener in three weeks at Southern California.
"To know that they're going to be back within the next week or so, I feel pretty fortunate," Anderson said. "Considering I watch Twitter and ESPN and when the ticker goes across and they've lost so-and-so for the year, we haven't had that conversation, and we had that a lot last year."
That's not to say the situation is ideal.
Anderson said ASU still hasn't used its preferred offensive line because of nagging injuries. Tackle Jemar Clark and guard Colton Jackson were both limited Saturday, and Keith left the field on crutches. Anderson said that Devin Mondie, a starting right guard last season, has moved to center but few other spots have been decided.
Rolland-Jones, Hayes and Heath are all slated as defensive starters, while Hunter is battling for the starting spot at nickel back after moving from safety.
Senior defensive end Chris Stone, an established veteran, said such injuries aren't ideal when trying to mold a team, but he'd rather play without them in an August scrimmage than in a game next month.
"I'd rather have them on Sept. 5 full-go, full tilt," Stone said. "So if they need to sit out here for this scrimmage and do some regeneration stuff, then I feel like that's the right thing to do."
There were some positives on the field.
Quarterback Fredi Knighten threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Dijon Paschal and a 30-yard touchdown to Booker Mays over the middle while leading the No. 1 offense. But Knighten also threw an interception to cornerback Blaise Taylor inside the defense's 10, and on two other red zone drills the Nos. 1 and 2 offenses each were held without points.
ASU was third in the Sun Belt Conference last season in red-zone chances (58), total scores (47) and touchdowns (37), but Anderson and offensive coordinator Walt Bell have listed that as a desired area for improvement. It will still be listed that way after the struggles Saturday, even though the Red Wolves were working on a new formation that utilized six offensive linemen and Knighten under center rather than in the Shotgun.
"We're still working on that package," Knighten said. "It's going to be something you see more of throughout the year. It should help us out."
James Tabary led the No. 2 offense on two scoring drives. He threw a 3-yard touchdown to tight end Brandon Brockman and later a 55-yard touchdown pass to freshman Chauncey Mason.
Anderson said Tabary has solidified himself as Knighten's backup over Cameron Birse.
"If we played today he would be," Anderson said. "Now, the competition is still open, but the first week of practice he displayed more of what we needed. Cam knows that and Tabary knows that, and it's time now to see what the two do with it."
Defensive coordinator Joe Cauthen said he was pleased to run through a game-like setting with depth on the defensive line. Cauthen said he'd like to have eight players rotate up front after dealing with depth issues last season.
"It's good to see more beef out there," he said. "There wasn't a surge down there against us like there was last year. My goal is to have eight guys who can start. It doesn't really matter who starts, but there will be eight guys who can do it."
Sports on 08/16/2015