ASU secondary set for strong test

Andrew Tryon is eager to face Troy and the Sun Belt Conference’s best passing attack.

So eager the Arkansas State cornerback began answering a question about it before the question was even completed.

“It’s our week to shine,” Tryon said Wednesday. “You find out what you’re made of, how good your defense is, and it all gets back to competing. That’s what we love. We don’t shy away from it.”

Arkansas State (7-3, 5-1 Sun Belt Conference) gets its chance to “shine” Saturday at 2 p.m. when it takes on Troy (5-5, 3-3) at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, Ala.

The Trojans are the Sun Belt Conference’s top-ranked offense (499.2 yards per game) and ranks 10th nationally with 325 passing yards per game using a two-quarterback system in a Spread attack.

It’s a stark change for the Red Wolves, who have faced top-10 rushing attacks from Oregon and Nebraska, and didn’t face a true passing team until knocking off Louisiana-Monroe, which was without starting quarterback Kolton Browning.

Troy, though, will be at full strength Saturday.

Quarterback Corey Robinson, who is the Sun Belt’s top passer at 282.3 yards per game with 10 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, will work in tandem with junior quarterback Deon Anthony, a dual threat who has run for 368 yards and thrown for 708 yards and 4 touchdowns.

“It’s not so much like one is a complete runner and the other is a complete passer,” ASU Coach Gus Malzahn said. “They present problems with those quarterbacks being very efficient.”

The Trojans also have lots of capable receivers.

“They do, and the thing that stands out to me is the speed factor at wide receiver,” Malzahn said. “They’ve got a lot of one-play receivers.”

Wide receiver Chip Reeves is second in the Sun Belt with 95.6 receiving yards per game, while his 55 catches rank fourth. Reeves is complemented by Eric Thomas (550 yards on 47 catches) and Chandler Worth (479 yards on 41 catches) to present a formidable task for ASU’s secondary.

ASU’s secondary has defended the seventh-most passes (355) in the conference and has allowed a 64.5 percent completion rate, which ranks ninth. But the Red Wolves allow the fewest yards per completion (6.7) in the conference and have given up only nine completions longer than 30 yards.

ASU’s cornerbacks and safeties rank fourth in the Sun Belt with 33 passes defended.

“We have a pretty young group, but we’ve been getting better each week,” said ASU free safety Sterling Young, who leads the Red Wolves with seven pass breakups. “We’re really focused on just not giving up big plays, and that’s something we take pride in as a group.”

But in victories against Louisiana-Lafayette, North Texas and Louisiana-Monroe the past three weeks, Arkansas State has allowed an average of 349 passing yards and six touchdown passes. But those yards may have been the byproduct of ASU effectively shuting down ground games, allowing only 78.7 yards per game rushing.

Arkansas State at Troy WHEN 2:30 p.m. Saturday WHERE Veterans Memorial Stadium, Troy, Ala.

RECORDS ASU: 7-3, 5-1 Sun Belt Conference; Troy: 5-5, 3-3 COACHES ASU: Gus Malzahn (7-3 in first season and overall); Larry Blakeney (166-87-1 in 21st season and overall) SERIES Tied 5-5 TV KATV, Channel 7, Digital RADIO KFIN-FM, 107.9, in Jonesboro;

KKSP-FM, 93.3, in Bryant/Little Rock INTERNET astateredwolves.com, troytrojans.com

Sports, Pages 18 on 11/16/2012

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