JONESBORO — Arkansas State will take on Auburn on Saturday without its opening-game starter at running back.
ASU Coach Blake Anderson said Monday that junior Johnston White didn’t practice Sunday because of a pulled hamstring and listed him as “fairly questionable” for the 6 p.m. Saturday game at Auburn, which comes a week after ASU’s 31-10 loss to Toledo.
Without White, who didn't have a carry and watched Friday’s second half in street clothes, Warren Wand rushed for 77 yards on 12 carries, and Armond Weh-Weh rushed for 29 yards and a touchdown.
Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner said the absence of White won’t affect the game plan this week and that a better performance is more about limiting mistakes and doing a better job of involving playmakers. Anderson said coaches counted eight plays thrown off by poor snaps and 176 yards gained by Toledo after missed tackles.
“The task gets even tougher physically,” Anderson said. “We’re going to have a lot of matchup issues with these guys because they’re big. … We’re not going to have many mismatches in our favor, but we’ve got to play perfect football.”
Anderson and Faulkner said Chad Voytik will again get the start at quarterback, but that a plan to incorporate Justice Hansen hasn’t yet been set. Hansen played one series Friday night, throwing one pass that fell incomplete.
Faulkner said he stuck with Voytik, a senior, because of his experience. He said a plan could involve Hansen but preached “continuity” for an offense that has so many new pieces. Two quarterbacks, one running back and three wide receivers made their ASU debuts Friday night.
Voytik completed 11 of 24 passes for 124 yards, 83 of which came on a completion to tight end Blake Mack.
“We need some continuity,” Faulkner said. “That’s the biggest thing. We’ve got a bunch of new guys who haven’t played a lot of football together, and that was pretty evident the other night. We have to establish the continuity, and it always starts at that position.”
Senior center Devin Mondie, who was responsible for the poor snaps, won't be moved, Anderson said.
"He took ownership; he was critical of himself," Anderson said. "I've never been a guy who was really, really quick just to remove a guy. I want to give him a chance to fix it."
Defensive coordinator Joe Cauthen said he counted 19 missed tackles as Toledo gained 556 yards offense. It came after ASU had few live tackling drills during fall camp because of health concerns. Improving upon that was discussed in Sunday's meeting, Cauthen said.
"If you can't tackle you can't play defense," Cauthen said. "A lot of fundamentals. Eyes, feet, body position. That's really what it is."
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.