MOBILE, Ala. — Harsin meets, greets

Bryan Harsin shook hands and chatted with his future football players while watching about 90 minutes of practice Friday evening.

It was as close to football as the newly hired Arkansas State coach has gotten in about three weeks.

Harsin was introduced as ASU’s replacement for Gus Malzahn on Dec. 12, and has spent his time putting together a coaching staff and getting acclimated to Jonesboro.

He still has three assistants slots to fill, but he’ll spend the weekend getting close to his new players as they prepare to play No. 25 Kent State (11-2) on Sunday.

Harsin said he plans to watch Sunday’s GoDaddy.

com Bowl from the sideline at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

“I’m here to support them and evaluate them and get to know them,” Harsin said.

“I want to be a part of it. I want to be a part of what they’re doing, and ultimately I’m here just to support them in this game.”

Harsin has hired six assistant coaches and a strength and conditioning coach for his first ASU staff.

John Thompson, who is serving as interim coach for Sunday’s game, has been retained as ASU’s defensive coordinator and Eliah Drinkwitz will be the running backs coach.

Harsin’s four other hires are coaches he worked with during his time at either Texas or Boise State.

Harsin said he has no timetable for completing his staff, but he said it would be done “when the time is right.”

Ticket sales OK

Arkansas State Athletic Director Terry Mohajir said Friday he’s not sure how many tickets have been sold through the school’s ticket offices for Sunday’s GoDaddy.com Bowl, but it’s approaching what ASU sold a year ago.

ASU sold about 6,000 tickets when it played Northern Illinois in last year’s GoDaddy.com Bowl - the school’s first bowl game in six years that ended in a 38-20 loss. The announced attendance was 38,734 in the 40,000-seat stadium.

“We might be 100, 150 shy of what they had last year,” Mohajir said. “But I’m very pleased. And it’s even picking up this week.”

Bowl spokesman Julie Jeter said the game is approaching a sellout.

Sun Belt pride?

A victory by Arkansas State on Sunday would give the Sun Belt a 2-2 overall bowl record.

The Sun Belt, which placed four teams in bowl games for the first time, is 1-2.

Louisiana-Lafayette beat East Carolina 43-34 in the New Orleans Bowl, before Western Kentucky lost to Central Michigan 24-21 in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl and Louisiana-Monroe lost to Ohio 45-14 in the Independence Bowl.

ASU interim coach John Thompson jokingly said Friday that he only knows about the league’s bowl record because reporters keep reminding him about it.

“We’re proud to represent the Sun Belt, but this is about Arkansas State,” Thompson said. “I think I said this the other day, if the Sun Belt is undefeated or the Sun Belt is [not], it’s going to be the same for us. It’s not a motivational factor.”

40-year drought

Sunday’s GoDaddy.com Bowl will mark Kent State’s third bowl appearance, and its first in 40 years.

The Golden Flashes (11-2) were coming off three consecutive 5-7 seasons before winning 10 consecutive games this fall and advancing to their first Mid-American Conference Championship Game.

The Golden Flashes lost to Northern Illinois, which earned a berth in the Orange Bowl and lost to Florida State 31-10. Kent State came into the game with Northern Illinois with a No. 17 ranking in the BCS standings.

Kent State’s last bowl appearance was the 1972 Tangerine Bowl, a game it lost to the University of Tampa with a team that included former Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert, Alabama Coach Nick Saban and Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel.

“We hear about it all the time,” Kent State safety Luke Wollett said. “Maybe they’ll start talking about Dri Archer, Roosevelt Nix and Luke Batton. It’s cool to think about that.”

Sports, Pages 24 on 01/05/2013