Wolves QB needs to bark a bit more

Arkansas State University's quarterback Fredi Knighten is shown in this file photo.
Arkansas State University's quarterback Fredi Knighten is shown in this file photo.

JONESBORO -- Fredi Knighten remembers plenty of times last season when his team looked to him when things got tough.

One that sticks out came in Moscow, Idaho.

ARKANSAS STATE AT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

WHEN 10 p.m. Central Saturday

WHERE Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

TV Pac-12 Network

RADIO KASR-FM, 92.7, in Little Rock/Conway; KFIN-FM, 107.9, in Jonesboro

INTERNET astateredwolves.com, usctrojans.com

Arkansas State trailed Idaho 28-24 late in the third quarter of their Sun Belt Conference matchup. At some point, running backs coach Anthony Tucker found the then-junior quarterback on the sideline.

"Rally your guys," Knighten recalled of Tucker's message. "At that time I was like, 'I don't really know what you're telling me.' "

ASU rallied to win that game 44-28, but Knighten isn't sure how much of it had to do with his play on the field or any of his direction off of it.

Coach Blake Anderson and others noticed Knighten's hesitation, and overcoming that tendency became one of the quarterback's most important tasks during the offseason. ASU's coaches want the senior signal caller to be more vocal, no matter whether he enjoys it or not.

"It's never something I feel comfortable with," Knighten said. "But you've got to be uncomfortable until it becomes comfortable."

Statistically, Knighten had one of the best seasons ever for an ASU quarterback last season. He piled up 4,056 yards of total offense (3,277 yards passing and 779 rushing), which is the school's second-highest total for a single season, and was named the league's offensive player of the year.

This season Anderson or offensive coordinator Walt Bell are more concerned about how Knighten handleshis teammates when ASU needs an extra push than bettering his statistics from last season.

Knighten will get his first chance Saturday night against No. 8 Southern California.

"It's been fun to watch," Anderson said of Knighten's development. "He's got to be that guy for us to be our best, and he's done that."

It hasn't been easy. Knighten said he has always felt hesitant to tell other players what to do and when to do it, but Knighten said he's realized over the past year that his position supersedes manners.

"Who says, hey, make this play, make that play, when I don't always make the play?" Knighten said. "With the position we are, you're going to make more mistakes just because you have the ball in your hands. ... I don't want to be a hypocrite. That's the biggest thing."

Knighten expressed those concerns to Anderson sometime during the offseason, and Anderson told him that was a similar problem Southern Miss quarterback Austin Davis experienced while Anderson was his offensive coordinator.

Davis finished his career by leading Southern Miss to a 12-2 season in 2011 and started eight games last season for the NFL's St. Louis Rams.

So Knighten set out to get better and sought out strength and conditioning coach Matt Shadeed for guidance. Knighten said he began to feel more comfortable during winter workouts and then in spring practice, but Shadeed saw the biggest jump during the summer.

"It goes back to the realization of I have to step outside the box and take a little bit of a risk,'" Shadeed said. "He is assertive. He is a talented quarterback. He's not an introvert. He's not a shy guy. It's just that, like any area of your game that needs improving, we needed to work on his [voice] a little bit."

Shadeed said Knighten became more vocal during summer workouts and was more willing to share his thoughts on what occurred afterward.

It's carried over into fall practice. Rather than bark at teammates about specific mistakes, Knighten has constantly preached about an increase in energy. When a Taylor Swift song came over on the speakers during a recent practice, Knighten saw his teammates' shoulders slump and encouraged them to perk up.

"It's, 'Hey, guys, c'mon, let's just go,' " Knighten said. "That's really what I try to do. Try too keep guys upbeat, try to keep guys smiling."

Knighten will be the first to admit that he isn't perfect, but he's getting there. Now, if any coach asks him to do what Tucker asked of him last year at Idaho, Knighten believes he'll think of something to say.

"It gets better every single day," Knighten said. "I can definitely see it. The happier guys are, the more focused guys are, the more ready to play guys are. So as long as I can keep doing that, I can do my part."

Sports on 09/04/2015

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