Malzahn's imprint endures on ASU O-line

JONESBORO -- Colton Jackson was on track to play college football at Arkansas State in December of 2011 when the business of college football almost rerouted his plans.

Jackson, a 240-pound senior at Ozark High School, had committed to Arkansas State and then-head coach Hugh Freeze. But Freeze, after a 10-2 regular season, left for Ole Miss, leaving ASU without a coach and a recruiting class hanging in the balance.

"I thought I was going to lose my scholarship," said Jackson, now an all-Sun Belt guard at ASU. "I didn't know."

Things settled down quickly.

Gus Malzahn was hired a week after Freeze left and put together a class -- including Jackson -- that has impacted ASU ever since.

Ten of 30 players signed by Malzahn in Feb. 1, 2012, will be in uniform when ASU meets Malzahn and Auburn at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Of the remaining 10, Jackson and six others will likely start. It's a group that has been part of the program for 34 victories over the past five seasons and won at least a share of three conference titles.

The lasting impact of Malzahn's lone recruiting class is felt the strongest along the offensive line, where Jackson and three other fifth-year seniors will start on Saturday.

Left tackle Jemar Clark chose ASU and Malzahn over Oklahoma State; left guard Austin Moreton arrived from Fort Smith after being wooed by Kansas; center Devin Mondie stuck with ASU even when Freeze asked him to follow him to Ole Miss; and Jackson, who was being looked at by Oklahoma state as a center, was glad to stick to his commitment.

Malzahn, in his fourth Auburn season, said he remembers positive thoughts after he unveiled his first recruiting class as a head coach, particularly the linemen.

"We felt like it was very, very strong and that as kind of the future," Malzahn said this week. "So, it doesn't surprise me to see them playing well. They're all good football players, they're physical, they're smart and they've got a lot of experience."

They're all starters now, but came into their current roles in different ways.

Jackson said he showed up on campus thinking he'd play tight end. Moreton, whose father played high school baseball with Malzahn in Fort Smith, was a defensive lineman. Clark, at 6-6, 306 pounds, was always a tackle and Mondie was always an offensive lineman but he bounced around while being a bit hard-headed.

"You couldn't tell him nothing," said Jackson, with a smile.

They all redshirted in 2012 as Malzahn's only ASU team started 2-3, then rattled off seven consecutive victories to win a Sun Belt title. Malzahn left for Auburn just days after a 45-0 drubbing of Middle Tennessee that led to another GoDaddy Bowl berth.

"He was a serious guy and he got down to business," Moreton said of his one season under Malzahn. "He loved football and he loved making sure that we knew what we were doing."

The redshirts played on the scout team while learning from veterans Tim Starson, Nate Herrold, Ryan Aplin and the coaches.

"They showed us how to lead," Mondie said. "They showed us what Arkansas State was all about."

Jackson has been a fixture at right tackle (now right guard), and he will start his 41st consecutive Saturday if he recovers from a stomach virus that hit the team this week. Mondie will be making his 23rd start, Clark his 22nd and Moreton his 15th in a row. The addition of Joe Bacchus at right tackle after injuries hit moved Jackson to right guard and ASU won five consecutive late last season before Clark got hurt in the New Orleans Bowl loss to Louisiana Tech.

They've become the backbone of a pieced-together 25-member senior class: 10 fifth-year seniors recruited by Malzahn, three recruited by Bryan Harsin in 2013 and Coach Blake Anderson has brought in 12 transfers to build depth.

"They've connected and jelled well with that group," Anderson said of the fifth-year seniors. "They've taken what we've asked them to do and bought in, even though they were recruited by other coaches, which at this place is something you had to do."

The four are nearing the end of their respective roads now, with Clark, Moreton and Jackson serving as roommates as well as team leaders. They yearn to atone for the offense's performance in last week's loss to Toledo, and will face Malzahn, the coach who lured them to Jones, for the second time.

Malzahn's first Auburn team beat ASU 38-9 in 2013, a game in which Jackson started and Clark played. All of them expect to seek out Malzahn afterward, for a handshake and words of appreciation. Any feeling of scorn from Malzahn's quick departure have been washed away by now.

"At first, it was a little heated," Jackson said. "Not so much now. You understand the business now and how we've grown, just as a university and as a program. So, meeting the old chief and trying to steal a win. We're looking forward to it."

Sports on 09/09/2016