Gordon jumps in full speed

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

JONESBORO - Sophomore running back Michael Gordon mostly watched from the sidelines during the first half of Arkansas State’s season. Gordon has never really liked watching, though he maintained all season he understood the circumstances.

But when ASU’s season-finale kicks off at 8 p.m. Sunday tin the GoDaddy Bowl in Mobile, Ala., Gordon will be right in the middle of the action - where he thought he should have been all along.

“I always feel like if I can get in the game, I can make something happen,” Gordon said.

Gordon showed flashes early when playing behind senior David Oku, who rushed for 1,061 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2012. Oku was a preseason All-Sun Belt Conference pick.

Mostly, Gordon waited behind Oku. There was a 91-yard touchdown run in the season-opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and he rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns in a victory over Troy. But a knee injury cost him one game, and heading into November, ASU was 3-4 and Gordon was still behind Oku on the depth chart.

Then, Oku was suspended for a violation of team rules and did not make the trip to Monroe, La., for a Nov. 9 game against the Warhawks.

Gordon scored three touchdowns in ASU’s 42-14 victory and he never gave the job back, helping ASU (7-5) go 4-1 down the stretch to set up Sunday’s meeting with Ball State (10-2) in Mobile.

Gordon, 5-9, 190, finished the regular season with 717 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 18 carries and 108.5 yards the final five games.

“It’s been a great progression,” co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Eliah Drinkwitz said. “We knew he was going to be a special player.”

ASU was one of the few schools who kept track of Gordon, who is from Camden, Miss., after he suffered a hamstring injury while running track as a junior that kept him from running at summer camps before his senior season.

Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Miss were among those eyeing Gordon before the hamstring injury. And even though he rushed for 2,002 yards as a senior, ASU was one of the few schools that stayed interested.

“I felt like everybody just gave up on me,” Gordon said. “That kind of makes you work harder. I feel like I’ve got a lot to prove. It’s not to the coaches, but I have to prove it to myself that I’m good enough.”

Drinkwitz said he noticed what Gordon calls a “chip”during spring practice, when he sometimes had to wait behind Oku and Sirgregory Thornton for carries.

“That’s Mike in general,” Drinkwitz said. “He probably felt like he should have been highly recruited, which he should have been. He’s just got a chip to prove who he is.”

Gordon said he knew he couldn’t afford to lose his edge after his three-touchdown splash against Monroe, and he hasn’t. He followed with a season-high 184 yards in a victory over Texas State, and though he was held to 46 yards against Georgia State, his 5-yard touchdown run gave ASU its final lead in a 35-33 victory.

He’ll head into Sunday’s game against Ball State with the same mind-set.

“I still work like I’m at the bottom,” Gordon said. “When you get more carries, you still have to go make something happen every play, run all out regardless if you’re tired.”

Gordon’s emergence has pushed Oku into a secondary role - the senior has 27 carries since his one-game suspension - and gives Gordon a strong resume entering his junior season.

But another coaching change - Blake Anderson takes over as ASU’s fifth coach in five seasons after Sunday’s game - puts Gordon in a position where he might have to prove himself yet again.

Gordon doesn’t have much to prove to Drinkwitz, his current coach, but Drinkwitz’s status after the bowl game is uncertain with former Coach Bryant Harsin forming a new staff at Boise State and Anderson getting ready to build his own at ASU.

But Drinkwitz said he knows that whoever coaches Gordon is getting a good running back.

“There’s no doubt about that,” Drinkwitz said.

Opportunity taken

Arkansas State running back Michael Gordon showed flashes early in the season while backing up David Oku. But when he was given his first start Nov. 9 at Louisiana-Monroe, he never gave the spot back. Below are Gordon’s game-by-game statistics. NOTE Gordon did not play against Missouri.

GoDaddy Bowl

ARKANSAS STATE VS. BALL STATE

WHEN Sunday 8 p.m. Central WHERE Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Ala.

RECORDS Arkansas State 7-5, Ball State 10-2 TV ESPN RADIO KFIN-FM, 107.9, in Jonesboro;

KKSP-FM, 93.3, in Bryant/Little Rock

OPPONENT

CAR. YDS YPC TD

UAPB 4 102 25.5 1

Auburn 4 -7 -1.8 0

Troy 8 115 14.4 2

Memphis 2 9 4.5 0

Missouri - - - -

Idaho 3 7 2.3 0

La.-Lafayette 7 31 4.4 0

South Alabama 6 26 4.3 0

La.-Monroe 17 72 4.2 3

Texas State 19 184 9.7 0

Georgia State 17 46 2.7 1

Western Kentucky 19 132 6.9 0

TOTALS 106 717 6.8 10

Sports, Pages 19 on 01/01/2014