Lineman learns; Wolves benefit

Arkansas State defensive end Ja’Von Rolland-Jones tackles Georgia Southern quarterback Kevin Ellison in the Red Wolves’ 27-26 victory Oct. 5. Rolland-Jones had three sacks in Saturday’s victory over New Mexico State and is closing in on career records for both Arkansas State and the Sun Belt Conference.
Arkansas State defensive end Ja’Von Rolland-Jones tackles Georgia Southern quarterback Kevin Ellison in the Red Wolves’ 27-26 victory Oct. 5. Rolland-Jones had three sacks in Saturday’s victory over New Mexico State and is closing in on career records for both Arkansas State and the Sun Belt Conference.

JONESBORO -- Ja'Von Rolland-Jones' first task at Arkansas State was to learn a bit of history.

The defensive end who signed in 2013 from Mesquite, Texas, hadn't been on campus more than a few weeks when he approached the school's sports information department to find out about records. He asked about the school sack record and the Sun Belt Conference record, and he tucked away the numbers for reference.

Up next

ARKANSAS STATE AT TROY

WHEN 8:30 p.m. Central on Thursday

WHERE Veterans Memorial Stadium, Troy, Ala.

RECORDS Arkansas State 5-4, 5-0 Sun Belt Conference; Troy 8-1, 7-0

SERIES ASU leads 7-5

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

TV ESPNU

Rolland-Jones year-by-year

YEAR;UT;AT;TOT;TFL;SACKS

2016;14;19;33;11.5;8.0

2015;23;15;38;13.0;9.0

2014;21;9;30;12.0;8.0

TOTAL;58;43;101;36.5;25.0

"I was like, 'I'm going to break them,' " Rolland-Jones said.

With three games remaining in his junior season, Rolland-Jones is getting close.

He had three sacks in last week's victory over New Mexico State to give him 25 for his career. With the rest of this season and all of next to play, he's second on the career lists at ASU and in the Sun Belt. He needs three to tie ASU leader Marvin Neloms and one to tie Western Kentucky's Quanterus Smith for the conference record.

But Rolland-Jones' push for the marks has as much to do with his improvement in areas other than rushing the passer. ASU coaches have always known about his ability in that phase of the game, but Rolland-Jones regained his role as a starter, giving him more opportunities to do so thanks to his long-awaited improvement in stopping the run.

That part of Rolland-Jones' game has been an admitted weakness, and it had kept him from being on the field as much as coaches would like, defensive line coach Brian Early said. Rolland-Jones started 14 games before this season, when he spent five of the first six games as a reserve.

"The tools have been there," Early said. "But, being physical is mental as much as it is physical. For him to buy into that and embrace being physical is something that he has finally done."

Early isn't quite sure how it happened. He saw it click about a month ago in practice.

Rolland-Jones was defending a tight end during a play in which he was asked to play against a run block. Early remembers liking what he saw on the field, then when the team gathered later to review the film, Early remembers telling Rolland-Jones "welcome back" to ASU's top defensive unit.

Since then, he's made 12 tackles, including 6½ for a loss, and 4 sacks in 3 games.

Rolland-Jones said it's a combination of health -- he missed part of fall camp with a sore back -- and an increased intensity.

"A lot of it has to do with just running to the ball," he said. "The energy level. I need to have more energy and that's what I try to do. That's not just something you go out there and find. You just keep working at it."

Rolland-Jones' emergence followed a few weeks behind that of senior Chris Odom, who starts at the other defensive end spot. Together, they have 14½ sacks, tops among Sun Belt tandems, and 21 tackles for a loss.

Early doesn't think it's a coincidence. Odom has started every game this season after earning the job in fall camp, an emergence that Early thinks caught Rolland-Jones' eye.

"I don't know that he's had the greatest work ethic since he's been here," Early said of Rolland-Jones. "But seeing what happened to Chris Odom has helped him. He sees how much time Chris invests and he sees, 'Maybe there is something to all this hard work stuff.' "

Said Rolland-Jones: "If you're good at something, and then there's something you're bad at, you've got to work twice as hard on the stuff that you're bad at."

Now that he is doing it to Early's satisfaction, Rolland-Jones has more opportunities to do what he set out to do when he first got to ASU -- chase the sacks record. But his mindset has changed about the records.

"It's not one of my top priorities," he said. "If it falls into my hands, it falls into my hands. But I'm just worried about winning."

Sports on 11/16/2016

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