JONESBORO -- Arkansas State coaches promised after last season to address the deficiencies the Red Wolves had on defense. The answers appear to be in the form of a plethora of new faces.
ASU Coach Blake Anderson released a depth chart for the first time this season Monday, and on it are five players expected to start at No. 8 Southern California on Saturday night who weren't on the team last season.
Up next
Arkansas State at Southern Cal
WHEN 10 p.m. Central Saturday
WHERE Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
TV PAC-12 Network
RADIO KASR-FM, 92.7, in Little Rock/Conway; KFIN-FM, 107.9, in Jonesboro
INTERNET astateredwolves.com, usctrojans.com
Anderson doesn't appear to be entering the season opener with any nervousness, though, considering all those new faces will be trying to stop an offense led by quarterback Cody Kessler, a Heisman Trophy candidate and projected first-round NFL Draft pick.
"It depends on how you want to look at it," Anderson said during Monday's weekly news conference. "We didn't stop anybody a year ago. So, in that sense, if I had to go out there with the same guys and not have addressed our issues, that would be terrifying."
Kickoff from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday is 10 p.m. Central, and the game will be aired on the Pac-12 Network.
Five players who will start Saturday night were not on last year's team that suffered late-season losses to Louisiana-Lafayette, Appalachian State, Texas State and Toledo. The group includes four junior-college transfers -- defensive tackles Waylon Roberson and Jake Swalley and safeties Cody Brown and Allen Sentimore -- as well as freshman weakside linebacker Tajhea Chambers, who was a quarterback when he arrived on campus this summer.
In addition, five other defensive players who have arrived at ASU since the end of last season are listed as backups -- tackles Donovan Ransom and Robert Mondie, end Griffin Riggs, nickelback Justin Clifton and safety Chauncey Mason.
Anderson acknowledged the inexperience could be cause for some stress, but added that improvement wasn't likely possible without it.
"Inexperience? Yeah, it's a concern," he said. "You can't get one without the other. I'll take the nervousness of them not playing a lot with each other. Now we're going to make some mistakes, but we'll make some mistakes going full speed. We're going to be running into some things."
Defensive coordinator Joe Cauthen had similar praise for the group with which he's starting his second season at ASU. But he added that competition for some positions haven't been decided.
He said tackles Swalley and Mondie are so close you could "flip a coin" and that Chambers surprised everyone, including the coaches, in his ascent to the top of the depth chart.
"The young man has really come along," Cauthen said. "He is a really, really impressive guy. Not just as a football player. He's a really good person. I like everything about him. I love him. He keeps his mouth shut, he goes to work, and tries to bring his 'A' game."
Chambers' ability to rise so fast had some to do with junior Xavier Woodson, who is officially suspended for the first half of Saturday's game after he was ejected during January's loss to Toledo in the GoDaddy Bowl.
Woodson, who started every game at weakside linebacker last year, did not participate in ASU's second preseason scrimmage and was not listed on Monday's depth chart and Cauthen said they have yet to decide if he will travel.
"It's more than just playing football," Cauthen said. "That's what Coach Anderson talks to us and preaches to us about. ... Let's try to grow them and help them mature. When that happens, you'll see him out there on the field."
With or without Woodson, ASU's second-leading tackler last season, the Red Wolves are facing perhaps their biggest challenge since a 2013 loss at Auburn, that year's national runner-up, or a 2012 loss at Oregon, which brought with it a similar season-opening atmosphere and late kickoff time.
USC features 16 returning starters, including nine on an offense that averaged 35.8 points per game last season. Along with Kessler, who passed for 3,826 yards with 39 touchdowns and 5 interceptions last season, the Trojans return all five offensive linemen and two receivers.
Anderson said he understands the challenges, but cited the Red Wolves' losses last season to Tennessee and Miami, which didn't get out of reach until the third quarter, as reasons to be positive.
"They're one of the best teams in the country, athletically," Anderson said of Southern Cal. "If we can minimize mistakes and take advantage of any opportunity they give us, our goal is the same as it was in those games. I think it's possible to be in the game and in position to win in the fourth quarter, regardless of how good they are."
Sports on 09/01/2015