JONESBORO -- A good portion of Arkansas State's yards were gained in the fourth quarter of Friday's loss to Toledo.
At the time, the Rockets were leading 31-3 in the eventual 31-10 victory over the Red Wolves, so a letdown on the visitor's part could have been a partial explanation. But ASU Coach Blake Anderson thinks another element helped -- when coaches decided to back off their preferred up-tempo offense and let their new quarterback take his time.
Saturday’s game
ARKANSAS STATE AT AUBURN
WHEN 6:30 p.m. Central
WHERE Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Ala.
RECORDS ASU 0-1, Auburn 0-1
TV SEC Network
RADIO KASR-FM, 92.7, in Little Rock/Conway; KFIN-FM, 107.9, in Jonesboro
LINE Auburn by 19 1/2
INTERNET astateredwolves.com
It produced the biggest play of the game -- an 83-yard pass from Chad Voytik to Blake Mack which led to ASU's only touchdown -- and to 80 of its 226 total yards. For a coach who identifies his program with its fast-paced offense, it wasn't a decision made lightly.
"I don't think it's something we want to do all the time," Anderson said. "But it was the right decision at the time."
Instead, the preferred option for Anderson would be for ASU to improve its output on first down, which would allow it to get into its up-tempo offense, play at the pace preferred and put pressure on a defense.
ASU averaged 3.1 yards on 26 first-down plays in Friday's loss. Anderson said a general benchmark is 4 yards per first down.
Some of the plays were thrown off by dropped passes and bad snaps -- Anderson counted eight bad snaps in the loss -- but it's clear there is progress to be made.
"We feel like anything above four yards allows you to start creating tempo and start moving bodies and making the defense kind of move," Anderson said. "We definitely weren't at that standard on Friday."
Essentially, Anderson said, it was hard for ASU to push forward when it was constantly staying in place or moving backward.
"We couldn't really push the tempo like we wanted to push it," left tackle Jemar Clark said.
Voytik, who played all but one series while making his first start, said the need for improvement when starting drives hasn't been talked about much this week, but everyone understands the task.
"It's just a given," he said. "That's assumed. You've got to get that first first down and then go from there."
ASU passed on its first five first downs, three of which Voytik completed, but only one went at least four yards. The one time it reached that benchmark was its only scoring drive of the first half.
Voytik connected with Christian Booker for 11 yards on first and 10 at ASU's 42 on its third series, which set up another first down. Votyik threw an incomplete pass on that one, but later gained eight yards on another first down on that drive, which led to a field goal and a 3-0 lead.
On seven other first downs, ASU gained at least four yards, but one was negated by a penalty. Eleven of ASU's 26 first-down plays went for no gain or a loss of yardage. It averaged 4 yards per 15 rushes coming on first down, but Voytik was 5 of 11 passing on first down for 21 yards.
Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner said decisions or mistakes made before the play even got started was one of ASU's biggest issues.
"We've got to do what we can control when it doesn't matter who we're playing and that's where we've got to start," Faulkner said. "We've got to do a better job there, and when we do, we'll be a better offense."
And that starts with being good on first down, which kick starts ASU's up-tempo offense and can serve as an equalizer against teams with more size like Toledo and Auburn, Saturday's opponent.
"We're not going to match up physically across the board," Anderson said. "That's just something we know going in. We just have to fight it and use some space and maybe use some tempo if we get some continuity going."
Sports on 09/08/2016