Oodles of optimism: Red Wolves return offensive firepower

Arkansas State senior quarterback Justice Hansen talks to reporters during media day Thursday at the ASU football complex in Jonesboro. The Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year is back to lead the offense after a 2017 season in which he threw for 3,967 yards and 37 touchdowns and completed 62.6 percent of his passes.
Arkansas State senior quarterback Justice Hansen talks to reporters during media day Thursday at the ASU football complex in Jonesboro. The Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year is back to lead the offense after a 2017 season in which he threw for 3,967 yards and 37 touchdowns and completed 62.6 percent of his passes.

JONESBORO -- Arkansas State University has won five Sun Belt Conference championships since 2011 and has played in seven consecutive postseason bowl games, but expectations for the Red Wolves may be at an all-time high entering the 2018 season.

"The excitement and participation may be as high as its ever been here," said Coach Blake Anderson at Thursday's media day. "It's something we want to be a part of. For me, I'm just anxious to get out there and see what this group of guys can become."

The Red Wolves have not only been picked to win the Sun Belt title, but they have earned some national recognition as well. ASU received 19 points in the preseason Amway Coaches Poll released Thursday, which would place the Red Wolves No. 37, tied with conference rival Troy.

The Red Wolves have plenty of optimism with the return of senior quarterback Justice Hansen, the reigning SBC Offensive Player of the Year, and a horde of talented receivers.

Hansen threw for 3,967 yards and 37 touchdowns in 2017, completing 62.6 percent of his passes. Three of the Red Wolves' top five receivers from last season also return.

"He shows a lot of confidence and trust in us," senior receiver Justin McInnis said of Hansen. "With as many awards and accolades that he's gotten when you start seeing him put trust in his receivers you don't want to let him down."

McInnis caught 49 passes for a team-high 800 yards in 2017. Senior Kendrick Edwards caught 38 passes for 434 yards and junior Omar Bayless had 32 catches for 439 yards.

"The best thing about that group is that we're not just counting on one guy to carry the load," Anderson said. "There's several big-time players in the room and I think they feed off of each other."

"All of those guys are talented," Hansen said. "It's not a situation where you pick one guy and think, 'this is the guy I need to get it to.' All of them across the board can make plays at any time."

Hansen said he must cut down on turnovers this fall. While he threw at least two scoring passes in all but one game, he was intercepted 16 times in 2017, including a combined seven times in losses to South Alabama and Troy.

"I think if I eliminate that our football team is going to be a lot better," Hansen said. "A lot of those interceptions were ball placement. I wasn't throwing to the wrong guy but maybe it was because the ball was too high and it would deflect off my receiver and allow them to make a play on it."

ASU is also counting on running back Warren Wand to post some big numbers. The senior enters the season with the 11th most rushing yards (2,303) in school history and is 697 yards shy of becoming the fifth player with 3,000 yards.

Despite missing two games in 2017, Wand rushed for 715 yards and averaged 5.2 yards a carry.

"He's finally healthy and feels like himself," said Anderson, who is entering his fifth season as the Red Wolves' head coach. "He has the confidence to run the way he's capable of. We only saw a glimpse of it before he got hurt a few years ago. He may have had the best spring of anybody. He definitely had the most improved spring than anybody. That last week, you could see a guy really getting confident."

Wand said a 1,000-yard rushing season is possible.

"That would be very big for me because that's been one of my goals since I've been year," he said. "One of the reasons I haven't been able to reach that goal has been all of the nagging injuries that I've had. I tried to fight it off but I was never really 100 percent. That's part of the game."

Even though the Red Wolves have received plenty of hype, Anderson knows preseason polls mean little.

"I'm flattered with how we've been perceived coming into this season," Anderson said. "The rankings and how some of the media have talked about us is great for the exposure. Ultimately all that really matters is what we produce on the field."

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Arkansas State Coach Blake Anderson, who is entering his fifth season, said Thursday that “the excitement and participation may be as high as its ever been here.”

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Arkansas State running back Warren Wand takes a photo with his phone of teammate Andrew Harris Jr. while Harris speaks with a reporter Thursday during the team’s media day in Jonesboro.

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ASU safety Michael Johnson (left) waits his turn Thursday while Andrew Harris Jr. speaks at the team’s media day.

Sports on 08/03/2018

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