JONESBORO -- Arkansas State University Coach Blake Anderson announced Monday that starting quarterback Justice Hansen will be out until at least Thursday with a strained muscle in his lower back, which he suffered during the 44-21 loss at SMU on Saturday.
Anderson said he could wait as long as game time Oct. 4, when ASU plays at Georgia Southern, to decide whether Hansen has recovered from the injury, which was diagnosed after an MRI.
Hansen, a redshirt junior, entered the SMU game as the NCAA's sixth-ranked passer (375.5 yards per game), and he was 13-of-22 passing for 209 yards and 2 touchdowns when he was sacked during the second quarter while attempting a fourth-down pass.
He came up rubbing his lower back and was removed from the game.
At halftime, Hansen was given a steroid injection.
"Which is how you would treat it regardless," Anderson said. "We were hoping that it would respond immediately, but it didn't. That's part of the process to treat it in the long term. If you don't get the immediate effect of it, it's something you would do anyway to work towards long-term treatment."
Redshirt freshman Logan Bonner replaced Hansen before halftime and finished 7-of-17 passing with 50 yards and an interception.
Hansen returned for one series before the end of the third quarter, when ASU was down 37-14, but he was pulled by Anderson when it was obvious Hansen was playing with pain.
Anderson said Monday the team needed to be smart about how it handles Hansen's injury.
"If he responds like we expect, he should be fine by Saturday," Anderson said. "If his body doesn't respond well, then Logan's got to be ready to go."
Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner said Bonner does not have the same running ability as Hansen, who had five carries and 25 yards Saturday.
"Can [Bonner] still run it? Yeah," Faulkner said. "He can get you 5, 6, 7 yards here or there. He's really good in the pocket as far as stepping up, sliding and avoiding pressure and things like that. He's got great pocket awareness. But Justice is a kid that can really run."
Sports on 09/26/2017