Anderson, ASU hoping new pieces can come together

Arkansas State University's head coach Blake Anderson
Arkansas State University's head coach Blake Anderson

JONESBORO -- Blake Anderson talked all summer about the possibilities for his third Arkansas State football team.

On more than one occasion Anderson said that with a slew of transfers at offensive skill positions, the potential for the Red Wolves was encouraging. He even mentioned the possibility of contending for a spot in the Cotton Bowl, which goes to the highest-ranked team from the "Group of Five" conferences at the end of the season.

Up next

Arkansas State at Auburn

WHEN Saturday, 6:30 p.m. Central

WHERE Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Ala.

TV SEC Network

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

LINE Auburn by 19

INTERNET astateredwolves.com

Anderson always attached a caveat to those claims, though. In the back of his mind, he said Monday, was the thought that the new pieces at quarterback, running back and receiver, along with a new offensive coordinator, could make things difficult in the early going.

That showed Friday night in front of a national audience, when the Red Wolves lost 31-10 at home to Toledo.

"You throw that many new parts into the mix, and it was a concern," said Anderson, whose team plays at Auburn on Saturday. "I was hoping the learning curve was going to be shorter. I was hoping it wasn't going to happen.

"We can shorten the curve and make dramatic improvements in a week or two, but we didn't really well play Friday, obviously. I'm not sure that it surprised me completely."

Two quarterbacks, three wide receivers and a running back took their first snaps Friday for ASU.

As a result, Anderson said, ASU "had no rhythm."

The Red Wolves were held to 266 yards of offense, the fourth-lowest total in Anderson's 27 games at ASU.

First-year offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner said a cure begins with a better effort at getting the best players the ball.

Cameron Echols-Luper, a transfer from TCU, caught three passes for 6 yards Friday. Kendall Sanders, a transfer from Texas, caught the first pass of the game, but it went for 3 yards and he didn't catch another. Armond Weh-Weh, who came from an Arizona junior college after starting at Texas Tech, scored ASU's touchdown, but that came in the fourth quarter.

Continuity at quarterback is one way to give the offense a kick start, Faulkner said.

Chad Voytik started and played the first three series before Justice Hansen played one series. Voytik the played the rest of the game.

"There's a chance that we'll play two" quarterbacks against Auburn," Faulkner said.

But he also said Voytik showed Friday that "he can be a really, really good player."

Faulkner said the situation in which he inserted Hansen -- ASU at its 20-yard line -- wasn't the best, but indicated that a need for continuity could supersede opportunities for Hansen.

"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," Faulkner said. "We have to establish some continuity and it always starts at [quarterback] ."

Anderson said Faulkner was "still kicking himself" over the struggles, with the paltry receiving statistics as Faulkner's biggest gripe. Voytik completed 11 of 24 passes for 124 yards. Blake Mack's 83 yard catch-and-run set up ASU's lone touchdown, but there were few other big plays.

Christian Booker caught three passes for 13 yards, Chris Murray had one catch for 11 yards and Justin McInnis had one reception for 4 yards.

"We've got skill kids that can do pretty good things with the football. We've got to make sure they get the ball," Faulkner said. "Hopefully having a game under our belt really helps us. We're going to emphasize this week: 'Let's just do the things that we can control. Don't worry about anything else. Do the things that we can control.' Hopefully we can make good strides doing that."

Sports on 09/06/2016

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