Arkansas State University's run game has taken a back seat to redshirt junior quarterback Justice Hansen right arm during the Red Wolves' first three games.
That could be about to change, with ASU set to open Sun Belt Conference play Wednesday at Statesboro, Ga., against Georgia Southern.
Up next
ARKANSAS STATE
AT GEORGIA SOUTHERN
WHEN Wednesday, 7 p.m. Central
WHERE Paulson Stadium, Statesboro, Ga.
RECORDS Arkansas State 1-2, Georgia Southern 0-3
TV ESPN2
INTERNET ESPN3/WATCHESPN
ASU (1-2) has justly leaned on Justice for offense.
Hansen entered the SMU game as the NCAA's sixth-ranked passer (375.5 yards per game) after setting the single-game school records for most passes (68) and completions (46) in the 43-36 loss to Nebraska and tying the school record for most touchdown passes in a game (5) in the 48-3 victory over the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
He still ranks No. 11 in the FBS in passing yards per game (328.3).
But Hansen is recovering from a lower back strain he suffered against SMU, and he said Saturday the has not practiced "at 100 percent" and his status is day to day.
If he does not recover in time to play the Eagles, ASU would turn to backup redshirt freshman quarterback Logan Bonner and a running game that operated quietly but efficiently in Hansen's shadow.
Through three games, ASU running backs have averaged 4.2 yards per rush on an average of 29 carries per game. On average, that's 10 carries per game less than last season.
Red Wolves running backs have been productive.
Junior Warren Wand has a career-high 6.2 yards per carry, though he's doing that on less carries (33) than when ASU entered Sun Belt Conference play a year ago (58).
Part of that is because of the cancellation of the Miami game in week 2, and the other part, Wand said Saturday, is that the Run-Pass-Option offense can favor the pass or the run depending on the opponent.
"It's just any day, any play," said Wand, who is 5-5, 191 pounds and leads the team with 203 yards and 2 touchdowns. "And the past couple games haven't been those games."
ASU offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner said last Monday that Bonner doesn't possess the same type of running ability as Hansen, which changes the offense "a little bit."
"A little bit" could mean that defenses will not respect Bonner's running ability to the point where there's more attention dedicated to the running backs, which may cause Faulkner and ASU Coach Blake Anderson to shift the run game away from Bonner almost entirely.
That would set up a more traditional role for ASU running backs, where they would be the main outsource of the running game.
It might be a coincidence, but the Red Wolves picked up their run game against Georgia Southern when conference play began last season.
Wand and senior running back Johnston White both had 100-yard games (Wand 140 yards, 1 touchdown; White 126 yards), and ASU beat a 3-1 Georgia Southern team 27-26 in Jonesboro.
ASU offense averaged 162.3 rushing yards per game after that, and ran the ball an average eight more times a game.
These Eagles (0-3) rank 120th in the nation in rushing defense with 259.3 yards allowed per game -- including a 52-17 loss to Indiana in which it surrendered 282 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns.
The Red Wolves rushed for 143 yards in the 44-21 loss to SMU, when Wand contributed a season-high 72 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown.
He said he felt it could have been more.
"We went in thinking we could do well running the ball," Wand said. "It came down to my individual battle, to where I had to make on guy miss. And I didn't do very well at my job. Ankle tackles, those are the ones that hurt the most."
Wand said he adjusts by "just making moves on the field, always finishing, always trying," and he'll enter the field with both White (deep thigh bruise) and senior Armond Weh-Weh (ACL, ankle) fully healthy.
A healthy backfield could bump the ASU run game from the secondary option to the primary.
Both running backs practiced Saturday with no restrictions, along with senior wide reciever Dijon Paschal, who missed the SMU game with a bruised upper sternum and shoulder that he sustained when he dropped a pass against UAPB and fell on top of the football.
Sports on 10/02/2017