5 Things To Know: Arkansas State
Written by Brant Freeman on 3:28 PM
I can still remember it like it was yesterday.
September 28th, 2013, at Bobcat Stadium, Texas
State vs Wyoming. That was the date and
site of Tyler Jones’ Bobcat debut. Texas
State was 2-1 going into that game but the offense looked listless in those
first three games and so the decision was made to turn he reigns of the offense
over to the freshman quarterback out of Stephenville.
On Jones’ second play from scrimmage, he raced past
several Cowboy defenders for a 38-yard run. Five plays later, he handed the
ball off to Robert Lowe who ran the ball in for a 1-yard touchdown run, capping
off a successful first drive for Jones as a college quarterback.
There would be a 3 hour, 29 minute lightning delay later
in the game but Jones remained unfazed, throwing his first career touchdown
pass, a 26-yard connection with Ben Ijah to tie the game at 14-14 right before
halftime. Jones would guide the Bobcats
on four more scoring drives the rest of the game as Texas State beat the
visitors from Laramie 42-21.
Tyler Jones would start 40 more games after that night
with several other memorable games along the way. His 4th and 24 connection with
Ijah later that season in a 33-31 win over South Alabama. A bowl eligible-clinching win at Idaho a week
later. An emotional triple-overtime win
at Tulsa in 2014, a game which saw Jones make play after play in the bonus
football periods. A come-from-behind
victory at ULM and dominating wins against Arkansas State and Georgia State as
well that season. His masterpiece in a
losing effort against Southern Miss last season and his clutch play against
Ohio this year, another triple-overtime thriller that resulted in a Texas State
victory.
No quarterback gained more total yards in their career
wearing the maroon and gold than Tyler Jones.
To date, he has 9,847 yards, recently surpassing Barrick Nealy for the
record. He’s second all-time in school
history in passing yards (8,450) and second in touchdown passes (55) and he’s
done it all with a quiet confidence.
Unfortunately, Jones’ final season isn’t ending the way
he, or anyone else would’ve liked and the same goes for the other 17 seniors
who are suiting up for the final time on Saturday. There will be no bowl game to go to or
championship to celebrate. But there are
the memories, and Jones and this senior class have given us their share. Perhaps they can give us one more memorable
moment with a win over Arkansas State at Bobcat Stadium. Here are five things to know about the game.
1) Arkansas
State has had an unconventional path to success this season
To say the Red Wolves struggled to start the season would
be an understatement. The reigning Sun
Belt champions were beaten soundly at home by Toledo in their season opener,
31-10. After (an expected) loss to
Auburn, the Red Wolves lost their next two games as well against Utah State (a
team which finished 3-9) and FCS Central Arkansas (at home). While Arkansas State had bounced back from a
1-3 start the year before to win the Sun Belt, it seemed highly unlikely that
the Red Wolves could pull that trick off again.
Wrong.
According to a conversation I had with Arkansas State
broadcaster Matt Stolz, the Red Wolf players held a players only meeting after
that loss to Central Arkansas to try and figure out how they were going to dig
themselves out of their 0-4 hole.
Initially, it appeared that meeting had gone for not as
Arkansas State was staring down the barrel of an 0-5 record, trailing Georgia
Southern in its Sun Belt opener 26-20 with just two minutes left to play and
facing 4th and 16 at its own 24-yard line. That game, and really the Red Wolves’ season,
looked over. However, quarterback
Justice Hansen scrambled for 18 yards to keep the possession alive and later
threw the game winning touchdown pass to Omar Bayless with nine seconds left.
Arkansas State hasn’t looked back ever since. The Red Wolves rattled off six straight wins
after that 0-4 start, a streak that ended last Saturday in a 24-19 loss at
Louisiana. But that was just a minor
bump in the road for the Red Wolves who are still in a position to win a share
of the Sun Belt title on Saturday, what would be the programs’ fifth
championship in six years. All of this
for a team that was 0-4, a play away from being 0-5, and left for dead. Remarkable.
2) The Red
Wolves’ Defensive Line is the Best in the Sun Belt
While Arkansas State’s offense improved dramatically
during its six game win streak (from 17 PPG during the 0-4 start to over 32 PPG
since), the Red Wolves’ defense is what has truly led the way to the team’s
in-season turnaround. A-State hasn’t
given up more than 26 points since September 24th and in conference
play, the Red Wolves are surrendering just 15.4 PPG. They’ve enjoyed that success with a fearsome
defensive line.
At the two defensive end positions are Ja’Von
Rolland-Jones and Chris Odom who have combined for 20.5 sacks this season, the
second best sack duo in the FBS. Those
two have more sacks than six Sun Belt teams do all season and a lot of their
damage has come in recent weeks. All but
four of those 20.5 sacks have come in the last five games alone (9 for
Rolland-Jones, 7.5 for Odom). In fact,
Rolland-Jones, who is only a junior, is one of the greatest pass rushers to
ever play in the Sun Belt. His 28 career
sacks are the most ever for a Sun Belt player and are tied for the most in
A-State history.
The job of a defensive end is easier when the secondary
is good (and Arkansas State’s secondary is great) and also when you get some
help from the interior of the defensive line.
Like the secondary, that’s another check for the Red Wolves who have one
of the better nose guards in the country in Waylon Roberson, a pre-season 1st
team all-conference defensive lineman.
Roberson, who will likely be drafted this coming spring, measures out at
a massive 6’2”, 341 pounds. Needless to
say, the Bobcats’ offensive line will have its hands full Saturday night.
3) Justice
Hansen is Developing Into a Solid Quarterback
The biggest hole to fill for Arkansas State this past
off-season was at quarterback as Fredi Knighten, a veteran and talented
quarterback, had graduated. To fill that
void, the Red Wolves turned to a couple of transfer quarterbacks, first handing
over the reins of the offense to Chad Voytik, a graduate transfer from Pitt. Voytik started the first three games of the
season for Arkansas State and struggled, eventually being sent to the bench
after a poor start at Utah State. The
Red Wolves gave the “keys to the car” to Justice Hansen (a former 4-star
recruit and Oklahoma Sooner) and haven’t looked back since.
Hansen has been Arkansas State’s starting quarterback
since Week 4, and while he lost his first start to Central Arkansas, he has
since settled in nicely, guiding the Red Wolves to a 6-2 record in his time as
the starter, including a 2-1 record on the road. He’s twice been named as the Sun Belt’s
Offensive Player of the Week and is currently second in the conference in pass
efficiency and is tied for third in touchdown passes with 14. Even in defeat last week, Hansen played well,
completing 35 of 57 passes for 393 yards and a touchdown at Louisiana.
At season’s start, everyone knew Arkansas State would
have a great defense, a veteran offensive line, and great players at the skill
positions but questioned whether or not that would be enough to overcome a lack
of experience at football’s most important position: quarterback. While that in fact seemed warranted during
the first month of the season, this appears to no longer be an issue for
Arkansas State.
4) The State of
Texas Has Been Good to A-State
It should come as little surprise that a good chunk of
Arkansas State’s talent comes from Texas: 17 of the Red Wolves’ players hail
from the Lone Star State. The only state
that Arkansas State draws more players from is from the state of Arkansas. In
fact, the three defensive lineman highlighted a few paragraphs above are all
from Texas.
Not only do the Red Wolves poach the state for talent,
but they have a habit of beating teams from Texas as well. Over the past nine years, Arkansas State is
11-1 against teams from the state of Texas.
That lone loss? I’ll
give you one guess.
5) It’s Senior
Day at Texas State
This of course is something I went into detail earlier,
reminiscing about the great career of Tyler Jones. He isn’t the only player taking the field for
the final time on Saturday, so here is a list of the 18 seniors playing their
final game on Saturday. Please click the
links provided for more information on each player and if you’re at the game,
please be sure to give them your support and make their final college football
experience as memorable as possible.
Thank you to each of them for what they’ve done for the
Texas State Football program, here’s to hoping their careers end on a winning
note Saturday night against Arkansas State.
And those are five things you should know about
Saturday’s game. Eat ‘Em Up!
- Brant Freeman
