JONESBORO -- Arkansas State Coach Blake Anderson reflected Monday on the first three weeks of a season with lofty expectations.
FCS opponent Southeast Missouri State was supposed to be a Week 1 victory for Arkansas State University.
Week 2 at Alabama was, well, a typical week for an opponent at Alabama -- the Tide won 57-7 -- and was the matchup headlining the Red Wolves' four-game nonconference slate.
Saturday's victory at Tulsa was a resume booster.
A victory against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas this Saturday at 6 p.m. at Centennial Bank Stadium would be a statement.
"The biggest thing is three games of improvement," Anderson said Monday. "We've gotten better each week. That, to me, generates excitement about what's possible.
"I'd love to come out of this 3-1. Based on who our Power 5 opponent was, and just how big a challenge that was going to be all the way through, I mean 3-1 would be a tremendous nonconference schedule.
"If I thought they were tapped out or if I didn't think they were coachable or if I thought at any point this wouldn't work out, then I think I'd feel differently. I'm really excited about where we're headed, because this group works."
The first two weeks played out as expected. ASU was 1-1 after a 48-21 thrashing of SEMO, and a trip to the No. 1 Crimson Tide spawned the only digit in ASU's loss column.
"That 57-7 looks a little bit more in perspective now that they handled Ole Miss the way they did," Anderson said of Alabama's 62-7 victory over the Rebels on Saturday.
Week 3 was a barn-burner at Tulsa. ASU's offense mostly rolled through Tulsa's defense and, with the help of its defense's three-turnover output and a game-saving safety late in the fourth quarter, the Red Wolves upset the Golden Hurricane 29-20 in Oklahoma.
This week presents something much different: a run-heavy UNLV team unafraid to shove a pair of powerful ball carriers into an opposing defense.
"UNLV is running the ball as good as anybody in the country right now," Anderson said. "They've got all the weapons to run the ball well. It'll be a huge challenge for the defense."
Ten of UNLV's 16 offensive touchdowns this season are runs. In three games -- a 22-point loss at USC, and two blowout victories at home against the University of Texas at El Paso and Prairie View A&M -- the Rebels (2-1) have eclipsed 300 rushing yards.
"They know what they want to do," Anderson said. "They're committed to running the ball and making you stop it."
It's no surprise who UNLV wants to have the ball, either.
A former high school sprinter who's clocked in a 100-meter dash in 10.7 seconds, senior tailback Lexington Thomas and sophomore quarterback Armani Rogers have combined for nine rushing touchdowns and 690 rushing yards. Thomas (127.67 yards per game) and Rogers (102.33 ypg) have carried UNLV.
UNLV has yet to reach 150 passing yards in a game and has four or more rushing touchdowns in each of the past two weeks.
Arkansas State has taken notice.
"You've got to take something away," Anderson said. "Obviously a team that rushes the ball as well as they do, you've got to make them one-dimensional somehow. I'll tell you, stopping the run is our best chance to put them in an uncomfortable situation. Not that they can't throw the ball, but they're obviously good at running it."
Sports on 09/18/2018