Wolves' QB hears about quiet ways

Arkansas State quarterback Justice Hansen, shown during practice Wednesday for the Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla., has thrown for 2,514 yards and 16 touchdowns this season.
Arkansas State quarterback Justice Hansen, shown during practice Wednesday for the Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla., has thrown for 2,514 yards and 16 touchdowns this season.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Justice Hansen never thought his quiet demeanor was a big deal.

Then he became Arkansas State's starting quarterback three months ago, and he still is answering questions about his laid-back attitude.

Cure Bowl

ARKANSAS STATE VS. CENTRAL FLORIDA

WHEN 4:30 p.m. Central, Saturday

WHERE Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Fla.

RECORDS Arkansas State 7-5; Central Florida 6-6

SERIES Central Florida leads 1-0

COACHES Blake Anderson (23-15 in third season at ASU and overall); Scott Frost (6-6 in first season at Central Florida and overall)

TV CBS Sports Network

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

TICKETS $28 (end zone), $53 (sideline)

Hansen game-by-game

OPPONENT;C-A-I;YARDS;TD

TOLEDO;0-1-0;0;0

AUBURN;4-9-0;45;0

UTAH STATE;18-26-1;277;1

UCA;21-38-2;424;3

GA. SOUTHERN;16-27-2;182;2

SOUTH ALABAMA;9-13-1;93;0

UL-MONROE;21-36-0;303;4

GEORGIA STATE;15-35-0;212;0

N.M. STATE;20-27-1;257;2

TROY;13-24-0;149;1

UL-LAFAYETTE;35-57-1;393;1

TEXAS STATE;13-21-0;179;2

TOTALS;185-314-8;2,514;16

"So maybe it is an issue," he cracked Wednesday afternoon at the Portofino Bay Hotel, ASU's headquarters during its preparations for Saturday's Cure Bowl against Central Florida.

Just about everybody who has come in to contact with Hansen on a football field can tell the same story about the hard-to-read 6-4, 207-pound sophomore. Kyle White, Hansen's offensive coordinator at Edmond (Okla.) Sante Fe High School, watched him blossom into a four-star recruit who earned a scholarship offer from Oklahoma while never adjusting his attitude.

"He's always going to be 72 degrees," White said.

Buster Faulkner, ASU's first-year offensive coordinator, noticed it right away when the two met randomly in January while touring ASU's indoor facility. It was the first day on campus for both.

"I remember thinking, 'That's a good-sized kid,' " Faulkner said. "But he's awfully quiet."

Coach Blake Anderson said Hansen still is a little too reserved for his liking.

"There's times where it drives me crazy," said Anderson, who is considered an extrovert by most.

But as Hansen leads ASU (7-5) against Central Florida (6-6) on Saturday with a chance to go 8-2 in his first season as a starter, most have found reasons to appreciate the soft-spoken Hansen's abilities.

His statistics didn't garner anything more than honorable mention all-Sun Belt honors -- he completed 58.9 percent of his passes for 2,514 yards with 16 touchdowns and 8 interceptions -- but they improved over time. After throwing 2 interceptions and losing 2 fumbles in a victory over Georgia Southern, Hansen threw just three interceptions in 126 attempts over the final seven games while leading ASU out of a 0-4 start to win a share of the Sun Belt title.

Faulkner said there were times Hansen's quiet nature was beneficial, in particular during the regular-season finale against Texas State. ASU had mostly sputtered through three quarters, then Hansen threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes in a 36-14 victory.

"I want that switch flipped all the time," Faulkner said. "I don't want him to flip it when it's a tight game or when we have to come back. I want that thing flipped on from the time it starts to the time it ends."

Consistency is what Hansen identified Wednesday as one of his biggest offseason goals, and he's already seen progress with the decrease in interceptions. Since a second-quarter interception Oct. 15 against South Alabama, Hansen has thrown just two, one that came on a tipped ball in a loss at Louisiana-Lafayette.

He credits more comfort and familiarity with a new offense.

"Patience, as in, a 5-yard gain is a good gain," he said. "It doesn't have to be a 55-yard touchdown every time. I'll just continue to move the chains and try not to turn the ball over."

He's far from a finished product, and hes' got one more game this season to show how much he's grown in his first year. Anderson said redshirt freshman quarterback Logan Bonner could push Hansen in the spring, even saying that it's not a "foregone conclusion" Hansen starts next year's opener.

"To me, that's what makes these kind of games important," Anderson said. "Game reps are so much different than practice reps. These are games that he can continue to build, just his confidence and his awareness and knowledge to truly make it to where somebody doesn't come in and take his job at some point."

White, now the head coach at Sante Fe, said he and Hansen talk about him being more vocal, but he could lead simply by being one of the team's most talented players.

"That allowed him to be a little bit more quiet," White said.

Such a status has yet to take hold at ASU. But senior right guard Austin Moreton, a two-year starter who has blocked for three starting quarterbacks with decidedly different personalities, and others have learned that what a quarterback says isn't as important as what one does.

"I'm glad we got him," Moreton said. "He just does his job. Personalities, I don't think it matters as long as they can lead the team."

Sports on 12/15/2016

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