JONESBORO -- Saturday was the gut punch, and the past few days for Arkansas State University's offensive line have not been much easier.
After gathering late Sunday to assess how and why Georgia Southern plowed through the group for six sacks -- some of which derailed multiple scoring opportunities -- the line has begun to rebound from its rockiest weekend of the season.
"It's definitely been frustrating, man," redshirt senior left tackle Lanard Bonner said. "The first thing, I kind of came up with the assumption that we needed to change up some things. We just needed to attack practices and meetings totally different. We just need to do way more than what we're doing currently."
Three of ASU's six sacks -- the most the offensive line has allowed in a single game this season -- were the direct reason ASU (3-2, 0-1 Sun Belt) was unable to score in Saturday's 28-21 loss.
They've taken this reality check on the chin.
"They responded the right way and challenged themselves," ASU Coach Blake Anderson said. "They came and practiced hard and haven't made excuses. They took blame for it. That's all you can ask a group to do."
ASU's opening offensive drive ended with a sack on fourth and 3, just 31 yards away from the end zone. Zero points.
Locked in a scoreless tie, ASU's first drive to begin the second quarter went from a first-down sack on Georgia Southern's 29 -- yards away from the red zone, where ASU has scored a touchdown on 57 percent of drives inside the opposing 20-yard line -- to a 45-yard field goal. Three points, not seven, were scored.
"Too many mistakes," Anderson said. "We just seemed to bog down when we got right there. Most of it was due to mental mistakes or physical mistakes that we've got to overcome."
Anderson, who said Georgia Southern is equipped with one of the strongest defensive lines in the Sun Belt, said the Eagles exposed the most glaring weakness of ASU's offensive line: experience.
The Red Wolves have used two returning starters, Bonner and redshirt sophomore Jacob Still, through five games. The other starters -- redshirt freshman left guard Andre Harris Jr., senior right guard Marvis Brown and redshirt junior right tackle Nour-Eddine Seidnaly -- are all first-year starters at ASU.
Harris Jr. and Seidnaly each redshirted last season. Brown played in 11 games as a reserve.
"Inexperience was always the concern going in on both sides of the ball," Anderson said. "O-line is where it shows up the most for us on offense."
Development among offensive linemen is a gradual process, Anderson said. Experience cannot be hurried, and repetitions in practice come only one snap at a time.
"You try to be as patient as you can," Anderson said. "That's hard to do. But as long as you're getting effort and honest work ethic out of them and they're trying -- then all you can do is try with them."
Up next
APPALACHIAN STATE AT ARKANSAS STATE
WHEN Tuesday, 7 p.m.
WHERE Centennial Bank Stadium, Jonesboro
TV ESPN2
Sports on 10/03/2018