JONESBORO -- Once upon a time, Arkansas State University's offensive line was figured out.
ASU had four starters returning to the line from the 2017 season. Troy Elliott was slated at ASU's starting left guard. Dalton Ford would start at right guard. Center Jacob Still and left tackle Lanard Bonner also would anchor a group that only needed a replacement for the outgoing Jaypee Philbert.
Much like this season, little has gone according to plan for the Sun Belt Conference preseason favorite.
Elliott, a junior who started all 12 games last season, has not played any meaningful minutes this season. Consecutive shoulder and knee surgeries have sidelined him for the first eight games after being listed as a participant in ASU's season-opening win but not a starter.
Ford, a junior who also started every game in 2017, retired from football before fall camp because of a severe back injury.
"It changed the whole plan," ASU Coach Blake Anderson said. "We didn't know that was coming."
There's hope Elliott will return at some point this season, Anderson said.
With four regular-season games remaining, Arkansas State (4-4, 1-3 Sun Belt Conference) has used two different offensive line combinations to work around three first-year starters at left guard, right guard and right tackle. The Red Wolves play Saturday at Centennial Bank Stadium at 2 p.m. against South Alabama.
Junior Klint Harvey, who has started the past two games at left guard, has rotated with redshirt freshman Andre Harris. Harvey jumped Harris on the depth chart prior to ASU's victory Oct. 18 against Georgia State, and started again in Saturday's 47-43 loss at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Senior right guard Marvis Brown and junior right tackle Nour-Eddine Seidnaly have each started all eight games.
The group has allowed two or fewer sacks in each of the previous three games, a resounding response to a season-high six sacks given up at Georgia Southern on Sept. 29, which contributed heavily to ASU's first of three conference losses.
"We were expecting to replace one starter on the O-line," Anderson said. "We were not expecting to replace three. So we've plugged in guys, and they've done a good job gradually getting better, but that was a hurdle we were not expecting to face."
Sports on 11/02/2018