BY Josh Preston

Special to The Daily Iberian

 

Arkansas State has been a staple atop the Sun Belt Conference, earning at least a share of the conference title in five of the last seven years. The Red Wolves finished third in the league last season with a 6-2 record and were 7-5 overall.

Despite their third-place finish in 2017, Arkansas State was still picked to finish first in the West Division in the Preseason Coach’s Poll. They return a total of 12 starters on offense and defense and their primary goal is to bring the Sun Belt title back to Jonesboro, Arkansas.

“I think this is our most athletic team and one of our most experienced teams going in (to the season) and I’m excited about what they have the potential to do,” said Blake Anderson, who’s heading into his fifth season as the Wolves’ head coach. 

“Our standards never change,” Anderson added. “We always expect and need to find a way to win the conference title. Obviously, the media and now the coaches in the league look to us as the favorite but we’ve got a long road ahead. All I know right now is that Troy and App State raised that trophy a year ago and we want to get it back.”

A key piece in helping the Wolves achieve that goal is returning senior quarterback Justice Hansen. The 6-foot-4, 218-pounder was last year’s Sun Belt Player of the Year after leading the conference in yards per game with 365.8.

He was a dual threat throwing for 3,967 yards while rushing for another 423, which ranked second and third, respectively, among quarterbacks in the league.

Hansen’s contributions helped vault Arkansas State to the top of the Sun Belt in both scoring average and yards per game at 37.8 and 495.3. He’ll have six other starters returning alongside him this season, three of which joined him on the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team in running back Warren Wand, receiver Justin McInnis and offensive lineman Lanard Bonner.

“Anytime you go into the season with a senior quarterback and a veteran guy, it’s comforting as an offensive guy,” Anderson said. “I thought he made some big strides (in the offseason) and he only threw one interception in 15 practices. That was the biggest step for us to truly control and protect the football…I think mentally his approach to the game is better than it’s even been. That along with the weapons we’ve got, I feel good about what we have offensively.”

Defensively, Arkansas State was solid last season finishing fourth in points allowed per game (25.7) and third in yards allowed per game (342.7). The unit has a solid nucleus returning including Preseason All-Sun Belt selections Ronheem Bingham on the defensive line, Justin Clifton at defensive back and second-teamer B.J. Edmonds, also at defensive back.

The Red Wolves open the season at home against Southeast Missouri State before traveling to national powerhouse Alabama. They expect to improve on last year’s 7-5 mark and hope to retain their spot at the top of the league in this year’s inaugural championship game.

“I don’t think anybody wants to share (the conference championship) and we’ve always wanted to win it outright,” Anderson said. “I think the addition of the championship game is going to be a lot of fun. 

“I’ve been able to play in one of those games before and it’s one of the most memorable parts of my career as a coach,” he added. “Somebody’s going to get to lift it for the first time, somebody’s going to get to host it for the first time and we want to be the program that does that.”