Red Wolves starting over with 'new season'

JONESBORO -- Arkansas State will enter October without a victory for the first time since 2001.

A method chosen by coaches to move past a surprisingly rough start after being picked in the preseason among the Sun Belt Conference contenders is simple: Forget it ever happened.

"We've said the season has started over," Coach Blake Anderson said after Wednesday's practice. "It's 0-0 and our destiny is ahead of us."

"This is the renewal," said senior left tackle Jemar Clark. "We're 0-0 right now."

Said offensive line coach Allen Rudolph: "We can't look back to the past because that keeps dragging everything down."

If there's one position group at ASU in need of a restart more than any other, it might be its offensive line.

The line entered this season full of experience and accolades, with five seniors who started at least five games last season. Two of them -- Clark and left guard Colton Jackson -- were first-team All-Sun Belt picks last season and this presason. Senior canter Devin Mondie was a second-team preseason All-Sun Belt pick.

But either by statistics or postgame film sessions, the offensive line has come short of its own expectations. Through four games the Red Wolves have mustered just 80.8 yards rushing per game, more than 150 yards less than it averaged last season. ASU quarterbacks have been sacked 14 times, the most among Sun Belt Conference teams and which ranks 118th nationally.

"We're not where we need to be," Rudolph said. "We've got along way to go."

Coaches have said the running game issues don't exclusively fall on the offensive line, and Mondie said they graded out fairly well in a loss at Auburn. But, for the most part, a line that was expected to be a stabilizing force for an offense with plenty of new pieces at most skill positions has yet to develop into such.

Rudolph, hired last winter after Glen Elarbee left for Missouri, said improvements must start at the most basic level.

"We've got to bring it every day," he said. "We're not going to just show up and be a good football team or be a good offensive line. We've got to push to get there."

Rudolph cut off a notion that a line with five senior starters had gotten complacent coming off last year's overall offensive success. Mondie, who has started 27 games, agreed with Rudolph that a path to success isn't complicated and it doesn't involve changing schemes or personnel.

"We're focusing on the little things and focusing on the effort," he said. "Getting back to what made us great last year, which is execution and playing through the whistle."

Mondie acknowledged what coaches have said since a season-opening loss to Toledo, that an offense with plenty of new pieces haven't jelled yet. But Clark said that it didn't have anything to do with Rudolph, who spent the last three seasons coaching the offensive line of the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

"It's on us, not him," he said. "He gives us all the tools and what we need to do to go out and perform. We're not performing right now. We've got to stay consistent."

Any chance of moving guys around is slight, Anderson and Rudolph said. The two still have confidence in their top group despite the struggles, and those behind them aren't as experienced. Senior center Brandon Berg and redshirt freshman guard Dalton Ford are the only two reserve linemen to play this year. The five starters played all 72 snaps in Saturday's loss to UCA.

"That's kind of where we're at," Rudolph said. "If we've got 10 guys that do that we'll play 10."

A track record of success is a big reason for that, Anderson said. The five who started all four games this year started together in five games last year. Those were in victories over South Alabama, Louisiana-Lafayette, Appalachian State, Louisiana-Monroe and New Mexico State.

"This same group of guys have been effective in the past," he said. "I think as much as anything it's putting them in position to be successful, really trying to find what they've can do and I think it's part of the learning process with new people."

So it's back to work for ASU's linemen, who know that answers need to be found, even if they're not yet sure of what they are.

"I can't really tell you the reasons behind it," Clark said. "But, we've just got to stay consistent. We've had flashes of what we can do when we're playing together, but it's just staying consistent."

Sports on 09/30/2016