Arkansas State's 101-play scrimmage Friday night at War Memorial Stadium did not reveal a leader at quarterback or much depth on the offensive line.
But Coach Blake Anderson said he still found value in the Red Wolves' two-hour scrimmage, which marked the ASU football team's first appearance in Little Rock in more than a decade.
"It was great," Anderson said. "We had beautiful weather, the stadium was awesome, we had a good crowd. I don't know how many people there were, but it was a good crowd, hopefully they'll travel to Jonesboro in the fall."
Those in attendance got to see the offense put together four touchdown drives, and there were kickoff returns for touchdowns from Cameron Echols-Luper and Blaise Taylor.
ASU's three-man quarterback race continued, with James Tabary, Cameron Birse and Justice Hansen each taking snaps with the top offense. And while Anderson said no one emerged as the outright leader Friday, he said that Hansen "stood out a little bit."
Hansen, a transfer from Butler County (Kan.) Community College, unofficially completed 14 of 19 passes for 113 yards and led two touchdown drives. He connected with Omar Bayless on a 34-yard touchdown pass, and then led a drive that ended with a 3-yard Echols-Luper run on a pitch from Hansen, who also had the longest rush of the night, 31 yards.
"A guy that can create," Anderson said. "If he can connect the dots and make the decisions, the guy that can move the chains with his feet, that's a plus."
Hansen said he felt the intensity of the scrimmage was upped a bit by Anderson's decision earlier in the week to make the quarterbacks live targets for the defense when playing behind the first-team offensive line.
Anderson said the live scrimmage was an aspect the still-close quarterback race needed, even if left him tossing and turning Thursday night.
"I was concerned about it all night about somebody going down," Anderson said. "We had eight offensive linemen, and those guys played a lot of snaps, and it's not the same together. You don't want just a guy to turn loose and come free and we really didn't have that."
Defensive end T.J. Harris sacked James Tabary on consecutive plays and Cameron Birse was sacked by defensive tackle Dee Liner. Hansen didn't get sacked, but he did tackle safety Bo Sentimore, who had recovered a fumble.
"A lot of time in practice the whistle is blown so quick when you try to scramble," Hansen said. "Now, we really get to see who can make plays and what happens."
Tabary, who took the first snaps, finished 8 of 10 passing for 51 yards with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Brockman.
Birse finished 5 of 10 for 80 yards with a 62-yard touchdown to Darveon Brown, but he threw the scrimmage's only interception.
Birse said he thought all the quarterbacks played well, but playing behind a depleted offensive line might have stunted the race. Injuries made it so ASU had only eight offensive linemen dressed out for Friday's scrimmage.
"I think the biggest thing for all of us is just consistency," Birse said. "But, I think there will be more opportunity in the fall, when you get two healthy offensive lines and you can really see what happens. It's kind of not there yet."
ASU knows plenty about its kick returners.
Taylor was on his way to returning the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown before it was blown dead. Then, Echols-Luper, a transfer from TCU, returned a kick 92 yards for a touchdown.
Echols-Luper, who is playing the A-Back position occupied the past two seasons by J.D. McKissic, caught 6 passes for 39 yards. The kick return, in which he took down the left sideline, is what turned the most heads.
"I love special teams," Echols-Luper said. "That's the key way to making the league. So, just being around special teams you just get the hang of it. Returning punts and kicks, it's always fun to use your speed."
ASU will hold its spring game at 6 p.m. next Friday, signaling the end of spring drills.
Before then, Anderson said he'd like to see more consistency in all phases and some clarity at quarterback.
"We would love to see that quarterback race really kind of heat up over the next few days so we can really see where we're at," he said.
Sports on 04/09/2016