JONESBORO - Four Arkansas State defensive linemen didn’t even bother to get into a stance as they prepared for what would be their last of 95 plays against Troy last week.
When Corey Robinson took the snap, three Red Wolves burst through the line. Just as defensive tackle Amos Draper was ready to drive Robinson into the turf,the Troy quarterback got off a fluttering pass that was intercepted by Frankie Jackson.
Disaster was averted for ASU, thanks in large part to a defensive line that has shined through much of the first three weeks of the season.
“The difference in that game,” defensive coordinator John Thompson said of the play by his defensive linemen.
ASU knows the key to a better pass defense may lie in what it has up front going into today’s game against Memphis at Liberty Bowl Stadium in Memphis. ASU’s veteran group of big linemen has shown an ability to get pressure on the quarterback without requiring help from a blitzing linebacker.
Thompson said before the season that a youthful secondary might prevent him from blitzing as much as he desired. So far, Draper and Ryan Carrethers, who has a team-bestthree sacks, and ends Eddie Porter and Chris Stone have made it so Thompson hasn’t had to worry about it.
ASU’s defensive line, which rotates 10 players, has racked up 18½ of the Red Wolves’ 29 tackles for loss, and eight of the team’s 10 sacks. It also has been responsible for five pass breakups.
Linemen had a hand in all three of ASU’s interceptions last week. Porter tipped a pass that was intercepted by Draper, Chris Odom pressured Robinson into an interception by Rocky Hayes, and Draper almost sacked Robinson before he threw his final interception.
“We feel disappointed when we don’t get to the quarterback,” said Porter, a senior who tipped a pass and recovered a fumble in last week’s 41-34 victory. “We tell them that we can get there. If you trustus, we’re going to get there for you.”
It’s when they don’t get there that things get dicey.
ASU gave up 614 total yards to Troy - the most against the Red Wolves since Missouri’s 657 in the 2005 season-opener - with 504 coming through the air.
The focus this week has been better communication in the secondary and, if a playergets beat, making sure the receiver doesn’t break it into a long touchdown.
Seven pass plays of 20 yards or more accounted for 254 yards and two touchdowns against Troy.
“A guy catches a 25-yarder because you’re one-on-one out there, sometimes guys dial it in just right,” ASU Coach Bryan Harsin said. “Keep them from scoring, tackle them, regroup and you’ll be in the red zone and playing some redzone football.”
The Red Wolves will face a different challenge today when they play longtime rival Memphis in what could be the last game in their lengthy series.
Unlike Troy, which used two quarterbacks - one a fifth-year senior - to throw 58 passes out of Spread formations, Memphis freshman Paxton Lynch will make just his third start in an offense that likes to mix zone read plays with play-action passes.
Memphis has combinedfor 29 points and 587 yards through 2 games and ranks 116th or lower nationally in both categories.
That should serve as a welcomed change of pace for an ASU defense that is allowing 277.3 passing yards per game and ranks seventh out of eight teams in the Sun Belt Conference and 106th nationally.
“Everyone knows what happened,” Hayes said. “Everybody knows what went wrong. We got it corrected.”
Troy used a lot of motion before the snap last week, which created plenty of confusion for the Red Wolves. Thompson hopes a week of practice has corrected a problem he has discussed far more than he would have liked to over the past 10 days.
“It’s like you bust a water line, the plumber comes and fixes it. Hopefully it stays fixed,” Thompson said. “It’s got to stay fixed. I’ve kind of stuck my neck out and said we got it fixed, so hopefully we’ve got it fixed.”TODAY’S GAMES All times Central Jacksonville State at Georgia State, 1 p.m.
La.-Monroe at Baylor, 3 p.m.
Arkansas State at Memphis, 3:30 p.m.
La.-Lafayette at Akron, 5 p.m.
Texas Tech at Texas State, 6 p.m.
Morgan State at W. Kentucky, 6 p.m.
Troy at Mississippi State, 6:30 p.m.
Today’s game
ARKANSAS STATE AT MEMPHIS WHEN 3:30 p.m. Central WHERE Liberty Bowl (61,008), Memphis RECORDS Arkansas Stat 2-1; Memphis 0-2 COACHES Bryan Harsin (2-1 in first season at Arkansas State and overall);
Justin Fuente (4-10 in second season at Memphis and overall) SERIES Memphis leads 28-23-5 INTERNET ESPN3.com RADIO KFIN-FM, 107.9, in Jonesboro;
KKSP-FM, 93.3, in Bryant/Little Rock
Sports, Pages 19 on 09/21/2013