2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL 2009 ASU FOOTBALL SPRING PROSPECTUS 3 astateredwolves.com OFFENSE LT 67 Kiano Prater, 6-3, 292, Sr., 1L, San Bernardino, CA

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL

2009 ASU FOOTBALL SPRING PROSPECTUS 1 astateredwolves.com

Contents and Quick Facts

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2009 Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22009 Post-Spring Depth Chart . . . . . . . . .32009 Roster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-5Head Coach Steve Roberts . . . . . . . . .6-72009 Season Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-112009 Spring Scrimmage . . . . . . . . . .12-13Spring 2009 Notebook . . . . . . . . . . .14-15Final 2008 Notebook . . . . . . . . . . . . .16-192009 Top Returners Bios . . . . . . . . . .20-27Records Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .272009 ASU Signing Class . . . . . . . . . .28-312008 Game Recaps . . . . . . . . . . . . .32-432008 Final Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . .44-46

ARKANSAS STATE QUICK FACTS

Location . . . . . . .Jonesboro, Ark. (60,489)Nickname . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Red WolvesEnrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11,490Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Scarlet & BlackFounded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1909Stadium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ASU StadiumCapacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30,406Affiliation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NCAA FBSConference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sun BeltPresident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dr. Les WyattChancellor . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dr. Robert PottsDirector of Athletics . . . . . . . .Dr. Dean LeeAthletic Dept. Phone . . . . . .870-972-3880Athletic Web Site . . .astateredwolves.com

ASU FOOTBALL HISTORY

First year of football . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1911All-time record . . . . . . . . . . . . .408-435-37All-time bowl/playoff record . . . . . . . .9-8-1Last postseason appearance:

2005, New Orleans BowlSouthern Mississippi 31, ASU 19

2009 TEAM INFORMATION

2008 Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6-6Conference Record/Finish . . . . . .4-3/T3rdBasic Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MultipleBasic Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-3Lettermen Returning . . .50 (20 off./27 def.)Lettermen Lost . . . . . . . . .15 (9 off./5 def.)Starters Returning . .17 (6 off./8 def./3 spec.)

Offense (6): Reggie Arnold (Sr., RB), Jeff Blake (Jr.,FB), Drew Hilton (Jr., OL), Corey Leonard (Sr., QB),Jahbari McLennan (Sr., WR), Dominic Padrta (Sr., OL)Defense (8): Alex Carrington (Sr., DE), Darius Glover(Jr., LB), Bryan Hall (Jr., DL), M.D. Jennings (Jr., SS),Khari Mays (Sr., DL), Javon McKinnon (Jr., LB), EvanVan Dolah (Sr., FS), Daylan Walker (Sr., CB)Specialists (3): Josh Arauco (Sr., K), Adam Gaston

(Jr., DS), Brandon Thompkins (RS)

Starters Lost . . . . .10 (5 off./3 def./2 spec.)Offense (5): Brandon Ciaramitaro (OL), MarkClemons (OL), David Johnson (TE), Kevin Jones(WR), Matt Mandich (OL)Defense (3): Brian Flagg (DE), Ben Owens(LB), Dominique Williams (CB)

Specialists (2): Brett Shrable (P), Kevin Jones (RS)

COACHING STAFF

Head Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . .Steve Roberts(Ouachita Baptist ‘87)

Record at ASU . . . . . . . . . .37-47 (7 years)Career Record . . . . . . .86-80-1 (15 years)Football Office Phone . . . . .870-972-2082Asst. HC/Def. Coord./LB . . .Kevin CorlessOff. Coord./Quarterbacks . . . . .Doug RuseCorners/Recruiting Coord. . . .Tony GilbertSafeties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Corey BatoonRunning Backs . . . . . . . . . . . .David GunnTight Ends . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Maurice HarrisOffensive Line . . . . . . . . . . . .Darren HillerDefensive Line . . . . . . . . . . .Kevin PeoplesWide Receivers . . . . . . . . . . . .Tyler SiskeyStrength Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . .John ArceGraduate Asst. Coach . . . . . . . .Joe BrownGraduate Asst. Coach . . . . . . . .Kyle ShippAthletic Trainer . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ron CarrollFacilities/Equip. Manager . . .Ryan Dickson

SPORTS INFORMATION

Assistant AD/SID . . . . . . . . . . . .Jerry ScottOffice Phone . . . . . . . . . . . .870-972-3405Cell Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . .870-243-6021E-Mail Address . . . . . . [email protected] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .870-972-3367Press Box Phone. . . . . . . . . 870-972-2541Mailing Address:P.O. Box 1000, State University, AR 72467

Overnight Address:217 Olympic Dr., Jonesboro, AR 72401

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL2009 Schedule


DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME

SEPT. 5 . . . . . .MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE . . . . . . . . . . JONESBORO, ARK. . . . . . . . . . . . .TBA

(Hall of Honor, Paint the Town Red)

Sept. 12 . . . . . .at Nebraska. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lincoln, Neb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .TBASept. 19 OPENSEPT. 26 . . . . .TROY*. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JONESBORO, ARK. . . . . . . . . . . . .TBA

Oct. 3 . . . . . . . .at Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Iowa City, Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .TBAOct. 13 . . . . . . .at Louisiana-Monroe* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Monroe, La. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 p.m.

(ESPN2)Oct. 17 OPENOCT. 24 . . . . . .FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL*. . . . . . . . . . . JONESBORO, ARK. . . . . . . . . . . . .TBA

(Homecoming)

Oct. 31 . . . . . . .at Louisville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Louisville, Ky. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .TBANOV. 7 . . . . . . .LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE* . . . . . . . . . . . . . JONESBORO, ARK. . . . . . . . . . . . .TBA

Nov. 14 . . . . . . .at Florida Atlantic* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Boca Raton, Fla. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .TBANov. 21 . . . . . . .at Middle Tennessee* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Murfreesboro, Tenn. . . . . . . . . . . . . .TBANOV. 28 . . . . . .NORTH TEXAS*. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JONESBORO, ARK. . . . . . . . . . . . .TBA

(Senior Day)

Dec. 3 . . . . . . . .at Western Kentucky* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bowling Green, Ky. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .TBA

*Sun Belt Conference Game All Times Central



OFFENSE

LT 67 Kiano Prater, 6-3, 292, Sr., 1L, San Bernardino, CA74 Brian Evans, 6-5, 308, Fr., RS, Oxford, MS

LG 60 Dominic Padrta, 6-4, 312, Sr.-R, 2L, Sandy, OR68 Alfred Louis, 6-3, 306, Jr-R., 2L, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

C 73 Tom Castilaw, 6-3, 297, Jr., 2L, Flower Mound, TX65 Eric Allen, 6-0, 300, Fr., RS, Daphne, AL

RG 61 Drew Hilton, 6-3, 302, Jr-R., 2L, Batesville, AR71 Sifa Etu, 6-1, 304, Jr., TR, Hayward, CA

RT 72 Derek Newton, 6-5, 313, Sr., 1L, Utica, MS70 Delano Moore, 6-3, 306, So.-R, 1L, Sunrise, FL

TE 87 J.T. Jordan, 6-1, 274, Sr.-R, 3L, Monticello, AR80 Trevor Gillott, 6-2, 218, Sr.-R, 3L, Little Rock, AR

WR 9 Jahbari McLennan, 5-11, 188, Sr., 1L, Austin, TX‘Y’ 4 Jarriel Norman, 5-9, 183, Sr.-R, 2L, Troup, TXWR 14 Brandon Thompkins, 5-9, 180, Sr., 3L, West Palm Beach, FL

‘W’ 24 Taylor Clements, 5-10, 183, Sr., 1L, Chico, CAFB 42 Jeff Blake, 5-10, 239, Jr., 2L, Paragould, AR

43 Jermaine Robertson, 5-11, 230, So-R., 1L, Tuscaloosa, AL

RB 2 Reggie Arnold, 5-9, 219, Sr.-R, 3L, Little Rock, AR22 Derek Lawson, 5-11, 214, So.-R, 1L, Jonesboro, AR

QB 1 Corey Leonard, 6-1, 207, Sr.-R, 3L, Covington, LA16 Ryan Aplin, 6-1, 213, Fr., RS, Tampa, FL

-or- 18 Andre Smith, 6-1, 213, Fr., RS, Killeen, TX

DEFENSE

DE 98 Alex Carrington, 6-5, 284, Sr.-R, 3L, Tupelo, MS95 Jeremy Gibson, 6-5, 260, So.-R, 1L, Eutaw, AL

DT 99 Khari Mays, 6-2, 288, Sr.-R, 3L, Memphis, TN92 Dorvus Woods, 6-3, 261, So.-R, 1L, St. Louis, MO

DT 90 Bryan Hall, 6-1, 284, Jr.-R, 2L, Paducah, KY79 Greg McCall, 5-11, 297, So., 1L, Prattville, AL

DE 54 Stanley Wakwe, 6-1, 246, Sr., 2L, Little Rock, AR91 Timothy Starson, 6-5, 240, Fr., RS, Fort Smith, AR

SLB 46 Darius Glover, 6-1, 220, Jr.-R, 2L, Bossier City, LA23 Demario Davis, 6-3, 231, So.-R, 1L, Brandon, MS

MLB 30 Michael Adams, 6-1, 245, So.-R, 1L, Cuthbert, GA50 Nathan Herrold, 6-2, 234, Fr., RS, Ozark, MO

WLB 7 Greg Hardy, 6-0, 246, Sr.-R, 3L, Memphis, TN5 Javon McKinnon, 6-0, 236, Jr.-R, 2L, Memphis, TN

FS 39 Evan Van Dolah, 6-2, 213, Sr.-R, 3L, Mountain Home, AR

32 Jaquan Kilcrease, 6-2, 199, So.-R, 1L, Nashville, TNSS 26 M.D. Jennings, 6-0, 172, Jr.-R, 2L, Calhoun City, MS

21 Kelcie McCray, 6-2, 190, So.-R, 1L, Columbus, GALC 28 Paul Stephens, 5-9, 166, Sr., 1L, Missouri City, TX-or- 1 Cordarious Mingo, 5-11, 182, Sr., 1L, Terrell, TXRC 13 Daylan Walker, 5-9, 177, Sr.-R, 3L, Milan, TN

19 Walter Moody, 5-11, 178, Jr., 1L, Oakland, MS

SPECIAL TEAMS

P 83 Ryan Wilbourn, 5-10, 157, So., 1L, Searcy, AR12 Brice Beck, 6-3, 238, Sr., 1L, Blytheville, AR

PK 89 Josh Arauco, 5-9, 218, Sr.-R, 3L, Grand Prairie, TXKO 83 Ryan Wilbourn, 5-10, 157, So., 1L, Searcy, AR

36 Brandon Parker, 6-0, 176, Fr., RS, Coral Springs, FLKR 14 Brandon Thompkins, 5-9, 180, Sr., 3L, West Palm Beach, FL

-or- 9 Jahbari McLennan, 5-11, 188, Sr., 1L, Austin, TX-or- 28 Paul Stephens, 5-9, 166, Sr., 1L, Missouri City, TXPR 13 Daylan Walker, 5-9, 177, Sr.-R, 3L, Milan, TN

14 Brandon Thompkins, 5-9, 180, Sr., 3L, West Palm Beach, FL

DS 84 Adam Gaston, 5-9, 215, So., 1L, Hattiesburg, MS

RETURNING STATISTICAL LEADERS

Rushing . . . . . . . . . . . . .Reggie Arnold (197 att., 1,117 yds., 7 TD)Derek Lawson (97 att., 710 yds., 4 TD)

Corey Leonard (157, 516 yds., 4 TD)Passing . . . . . . . . . .Corey Leonard (166-306-8, 2,347 yds., 16 TD)Receiving . . . . . . . . .Brandon Thompkins (32 rec., 511 yds., 2 TD)

Jahbari McLennan (32 rec., 451 yds., 1 TD)Total Offense . . . . . . . . . . . .Corey Leonard (463 plays, 2,863 yds.)

Reggie Arnold (197 plays, 1,074 yds.)All-Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Reggie Arnold (1,209 yds.)

Brandon Thompkins (823 yds.)Punt Returns . . . . . . . . . . .Daylan Walker (3 ret., 27 yds., 9.0 avg.)Kickoff Returns . . . . . . .B. Thompkins (15 ret., 296 yds, 19.7 avg.)

Paul Stephens (10 ret., 266 yds., 26.6 avg.)Field Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Josh Arauco (17-20 FG, 37-38 XP)Scoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Josh Aruaco (88 points)

Reggie Arnold (48 points)Tackles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .M.D. Jennings (67)

Daylan Walker (65)Tackles For Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alex Carrington (19.0-76 yds.)

Bryan Hall (8.5-59 yds.)Sacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alex Carrington (10.5-59 yds.)

Bryan Hall (5.0-52 yds.)Interceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .M.D. Jennings (3-13 yds.)

LOST STATISTICAL LEADERS

Receiving . . . . . . . . . . . . .David Johnson (22 rec., 356 yds., 5 TD)Kevin Jones (17 rec., 217 yds., 1 TD)

All-Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kevin Jones (741 yds.)David Johnson (356 yds.)

Punt Returns . . . . . . . . . . .Kevin Jones (25 ret., 213 yds., 8.5 avg.)Kickoff Returns . . . . . . .Kevin Jones (14 ret., 311 yards, 22.2 avg.)Scoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .David Johnson (30 points)

Travis Hewitt (12 points)Tackles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ben Owens (87)

Dominique Williams (49)Tackles For Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Brian Flagg (5.5-25 yds.)

Ben Owens (5-16 yds.)Dominique Williams (5-52 yds.)

Sacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ben Owens (2.0-14 yds.)Brian Flagg (2-3 yds.)

Interceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ben Owens (2-14 yds.)Dominique Williams (2-23 yds.)

Punting Average . . . . . . . . .Brett Shrable (55-2102 yds., 38.2 avg.)

Post-Spring Depth Chart

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL2009 Spring Roster


No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. CL Exp Hometown (previous school)

1 Corey Leonard QB 6-1 207 Sr.-R 3L Covington, La. (Covington)

1 Cordarious Mingo DB 5-11 182 Sr. 1L Terrell, Texas (Trinity Valley (TX) CC)

2 Reggie Arnold RB 5-9 219 Sr.-R 3L Little Rock (McClellan)

2 Greg Smith DB 5-8 178 Jr. SQ Hope (Hope)

3 Shederick Austin WR 5-9 163 Fr.-R RS Crossett, Ark. (Crossett)

3 Marquette Williams DB 5-11 210 Jr.-R 2L West Memphis (West Memphis)

4 Jarriel Norman WR 5-9 191 Sr.-R 2L Troup, Texas (Troup)

5 Javon McKinnon LB 6-0 236 Jr.-R 2L Memphis, Tenn. (Melrose)

6 Keith Wilcots DB 5-9 177 Jr. SQ Hot Springs (Hot Springs)

7 Greg Hardy LB 6-0 246 Sr. 3L Memphis, Tenn. (Melrose)

8 Lucious Henderson WR 5-11 177 Jr. TR Austin, Texas (Navarro (TX) Junior College)

9 Jahbari McLennan WR 5-11 188 Sr. 1L Austin, Texas (Trinity Valley CC)

9 Jonathan Victorian DB 6-0 176 So. HS St. Louis, Mo. (Pattonville)

10 Anthony Robinson WR 5-8 169 Jr. 2L Little Rock (Little Rock Hall)

11 Cole Lorigan DB 5-10 161 Fr.-R RS Hot Springs (Hot Springs)

12 Brice Beck P 6-3 238 Sr. 1L Blytheville (Northeast Mississippi CC)

12 Joseph Barker WR 5-9 166 Fr.-R RS Trumann, Ark. (Trumann)

13 Daylan Walker DB 5-9 177 Sr.-R 3L Milan, Tenn. (Milan)

14 Brandon Thompkins WR 5-9 180 Sr. 3L West Palm Beach, Fla. (Palm Beach Lake)

15 Neely Sullivent QB 6-0 193 So.-R SQ Bauxite (Bauxite)

16 Ryan Aplin QB 6-1 213 Fr.-R RS Tampa, Fla. (Fleming Island)

16 Jackie Hawkins WR 5-5 156 Fr.-R RS Texarkana, Ark. (Arkansas)

17 Allen Muse WR 6-4 211 Fr. HS Leesville, La. (Leesville)

17 Isaiah Shepard DB 5-11 214 Jr. SQ Akron, Ohio (Walsh Jesuit)

18 Gavilan Bland RB 5-10 192 Fr.-R RS Sikeston, Mo. (Sikeston)

18 Andre Smith QB 6-1 213 Fr.-R RS Killeen, Texas (Shoemaker)

19 Walter Moody DB 5-11 178 Jr. 1L Oakland, Miss.(Northwest Mississippi CC)

21 Kelcie McCray DB 6-2 190 So.-R 1L Columbus, Ga. (Columbus)

22 Derek Lawson RB 5-11 216 So.-R 1L Jonesboro (Nettleton)

22 Justin Robertson LB 6-2 230 So. HS Memphis, Tenn. (Whitehaven)

23 Demario Davis LB 6-3 231 So.-R RS Brandon, Miss. (Brandon)

23 Michael Reed DB 5-9 185 Jr. HS Memphis, Tenn. (Trezevant)

24 Taylor Clements WR 5-10 183 Sr. 1L Chico, Calif. (Butte College)

25 Bryant Miller WR 5-10 173 So.-R SQ Little Rock, Ark. (Central)

25 Leroy Trahan DB 5-10 178 Jr. 1L Rialto, Calif. (San Bernardino Valley Coll.)

26 M.D. Jennings DB 6-0 172 Jr.-R 2L Calhoun City, Miss. (Calhoun City)

27 Taylor Stockemer WR 6-4 195 Fr.-R RS Van Buren, Ark. (Van Buren)

28 Paul Stephens DB 5-9 166 Sr. 1L Missouri City, Texas (Blinn Junior College)

29 Marcus Brown DB 6-1 186 Sr.-R 2L Marianna (Lee)

29 Donte Jones WR 6-1 191 Jr. HS Memphis, Tenn. (Cordova)

30 Michael Adams LB 6-1 245 So.-R 1L Cuthbert, Ga. (Randolph-Clay)

31 Lawrence Henning LB 6-2 211 Fr.-R RS Chicago, Ill. (Mt. Carmel)

32 Jaquan Kilcrease DB 6-2 199 So.-R 1L Nashville, Tenn. (McGavock)

33 Jonathan Looney LB 6-0 208 Jr. SQ Memphis, Tenn. (Germantown)

34 Najel Byrd RB 5-11 215 Jr. SQ West Helena, Ark. (Central)

35 Tim Dunn RB 5-10 190 Fr.-R RS Little Rock (Little Rock Central)

36 Brandon Parker K 6-0 176 Fr.-R RS Coral Springs, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas)

37 Graham Bates DB 6-0 183 So. 1L Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (Allen D. Nease)



2009 Spring Roster

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. CL Exp Hometown (previous school)

38 Don Jones RB 5-10 197 Fr.-R RS Town Creek, Ala. (Hazlewood)

39 Evan Van Dolah DB 6-2 213 Sr.-R 3L Mountain Home (Mountain Home)

40 Thaddaeus Haney DB 5-11 193 Fr.-R RS Lake Village, Ark. (Lake Side)

42 Jeff Blake FB 5-10 239 Jr. 2L Paragould (Greene County Tech)

43 Jermaine Robertson FB 5-11 230 So.-R 1L Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Northridge)

46 Darius Glover LB 6-1 220 Jr.-R 2L Bossier City, La. (Airline)

48 Julian Green DE 6-6 239 Fr.-R RS Forrest City, Ark. (Forrest City)

48 Kedric Murry TE 6-3 265 Fr.-R RS Pleasant Grove, Ala. (Pleasant Grove)

49 Bray Brooks P 5-11 183 Fr.-R RS Jonesboro (Nettleton)

50 Nathan Herrold LB 6-2 234 Fr.-R RS Ozark, Mo. (Ozark)

51 Sean Maxfield LB 5-11 240 Fr.-R RS Greenbrier (Greenbrier)

52 Elroy Brown LB 6-0 232 So.-R 1L Osceola (Osceola)

54 Stanley Wakwe DE 6-1 246 Sr. 2L Little Rock (Arkansas Tech)

56 Cody Prater LB 6-0 222 Fr.-R RS Jonesboro (Valley View)

57 Trey Outlaw DS 6-0 213 So.-R SQ Monticello (Monticello)

60 Dominic Padrta OL 6-4 312 Sr.-R 2L Sandy, Ore. (Sandy)

61 Drew Hilton OL 6-3 302 Jr.-R 2L Batesville (Batesville)

62 Brandon Johnson OL 6-4 274 So.-R SQ Memphis, Tenn. (Whitehaven)

65 Eric Allen OL 6-0 300 Fr.-R RS Daphne, Ala. (Daphne)

67 Kiano Prater OL 6-3 292 Sr. 1L San Bernardino, Calif. (San Bernardino Coll.)

68 Alfred Louis OL 6-3 306 Jr.-R 2L Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Fort Lauderdale)

69 Cainan Taylor DL 6-0 348 Fr.-R RS Marion (Marion)

70 Delano Moore OL 6-3 306 So.-R 1L Sunrise, Fla. (Piper)

71 Sifa Etu OL 6-1 304 Jr. TR Hayward, Calif. (Chabot (CA) Junior College)

72 Derek Newton OL 6-5 313 Sr. 1L Utica, Miss. (Hinds CC)

73 Tom Castilaw OL 6-3 297 Jr.-R 2L Flower Mound, Texas (Flower Mound)

74 Brian Evans OL 6-5 308 Fr.-R RS Oxford, Miss. (Oxford)

76 Tyler Barnes OL 6-3 293 Fr.-R RS Bentonville, Ark. (Bentonville)

77 Tyson Holligan OL 6-2 336 Jr.-R SQ Carrollton, Texas (Newman-Smith)

78 Otto Collins DL 6-5 265 Fr.-R RS Jonesboro (Nettleton)

79 Gregory McCall DL 5-11 297 So. 1L Prattville, Ala. (Prattville)

80 Trevor Gillott TE 6-2 218 Sr.-R 3L Little Rock (Pulaski Academy)

81 Jonathan White WR 5-11 188 Jr.-R SQ Franklin, Tenn. (Battle Ground Academy)

82 Justin Schoemehl TE 6-3 230 Fr.-R RS St. Louis, Mo. (Oakville)

83 Ryan Wilbourn P/K 5-10 157 So. 1L Searcy (Searcy)

84 Adam Gaston DS 5-9 218 Jr. 2L Hattiesburg, Miss. (Oak Grove)

87 J.T. Jordan TE 6-1 274 Sr.-R 3L Monticello (Monticello)

88 T.J. Burk WR 6-2 189 So.-R SQ Hot Springs (Jubille Academy)

89 Josh Arauco K 5-9 218 Sr.-R 3L Grand Prairie, Texas (South Grand Prairie)

90 Bryan Hall DL 6-1 284 Jr.-R 2L Paducah, Ky. (Tilghman)

91 Timothy Starson DE 6-5 240 Fr.-R RS Fort Smith, Ark. (Northside)

92 Dorvus Woods DL 6-3 261 So.-R 1L St. Louis, Mo. (Vashon)

93 Stanley Porter DL 6-3 259 Jr. 2L Rosedale, Miss. (West Bolivar)

95 Jeremy Gibson DE 6-5 260 So.-R 1L Eutaw, Ala. (Greene County)

97 Levi Thompson DL 6-3 284 Jr.-R 2L Peculiar, Mo. (Raymore-Peculiar)

98 Alex Carrington DE 6-5 284 Sr.-R 3L Tupelo, Miss. (Tupelo)

99 Khari Mays DL 6-2 288 Sr.-R 3L Memphis, Tenn. (Germantown)

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALLHead Coach Steve Roberts


Not long after leading Arkansas State to the 2005 Sun Belt Conference championship and New Orleans Bowl, head coach Steve Robertscontinues to make ASU a dominant force in the Sun Belt Conference and has ASU on track for continued success in the upcoming years.

When the 2005 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year took over the program in December 2001, he impressed everyone with his wide-eyed enthusiasm and limitless energy. And, most of all, they believed that Roberts would bring success to the ASU football program.Roberts has been the driving force behind ASU’s recent success, leading the football program to its most victories over a seven-year spansince 1985-91.

Roberts came to Arkansas State University and brought with him a fresh enthusiasm, energy, and an “I Will” philosophy that has beenadopted by everyone associated with the program.

“I Will” became the rallying cry as Roberts and his staff charged ahead through a grueling 13-game schedule in 13 weeks with no opendate in his inaugural season and came within 11 points of winning the Sun Belt Conference championship and playing in the Sun Belt Con-ference prize—the New Orleans Bowl.

ASU ended the season with a record of 6-7 and finished third in the league rankings. That tied the most wins since rejoining Division I-Ain 1992. The Red Wolves finished in the top ten turnarounds by Division I-A football schools for improving football records after finishing2-9 in 2001. Also, attendance increased significantly in 2002.

The 2003 season saw a lot of success as well. Among ASU’s many achievements was another increase in attendance, two defensivelinemen ending up in the National Football League and the team winning the Sun Belt Conference Academic Award.

Under Roberts’ direction, ASU continues to add to the achievements that began upon his arrival. The 2006, 2007 and 2008 ASU teamsbacked up the 2005 Sun Belt championship with non-conference wins over teams such as Army, Memphis, SMU and Texas A&M. The 2006squad knocked off New Orleans Bowl champion Troy and the 2007 team fell to then-ranked No. 4 Texas by just eight points and pushedNew Orleans Bowl champion Florida Atlantic to the final minutes. Last year’s victory over the Aggies was one of the biggest wins in schoolhistory as ASU picked up its first victory over a BCS conference school since joining the FBS.

The 2006 team posted six wins for the second consecutive year, marking the first time since the 1986 and 1987 seasons that the RedWolves had recorded at least six victories in back-to-back seasons.

The 2007 team won the Sun Belt Conference Academic Award, marking the fourth time in the last five years ASU had earned the honor.The 2007 squad posted the second most yards of total offense in school history only to see the 2008 team break the 57-year old record.The 2007 and 2008 ASU defense also ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the Sun Belt Conference.

Roberts already holds the fifth most wins among ASU’s 26 all-time head coaches and has led the Red Wolves to a 26-8 record at ASU



Head Coach Steve Roberts

Stadium, which included a 4-1 record in 2008.

During his tenure, ASU has upgraded its facilities with a new training room,weight room, locker room, recruiting room and state-of-the-art ProGreenturf on the field.

Roberts was named Arkansas State’s 26th head football coach on De-cember 21, 2001, to bring full circle his coaching odyssey from his homestate through Louisiana and back. But, the trek has been a successful one,including an 8-4 record and national ranking in Division I-AA in 2000 atNorthwestern (La.) State.

Roberts spent two seasons at NSU, where he and his staff and team tookon a tough schedule which included a 27-24 overtime upset at TCU. Whileat NSU, Roberts was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of theYear Award. Prior to going to NSU, Roberts served as the head coach anddefensive coordinator at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia from1994-99. While there, his 1997 team won the Gulf South Championship,earning him Gulf South Coach of the Year honors. The Muleriders finishedwith a cumulative record of 26-5 from 1997-99, including 9-1 in 1999, 8-2in 1998 and 9-2 in 1997.

During that span, his teams enjoyed top conference rankings in scoring of-fense, scoring defense, total offense and total defense. At SAU, he alsoserved as the defensive secondary coach and recruiting coordinator from1990-94 before being named head coach. Academically, his programranked first in academic achievements in the Gulf South Conference threeseasons.

Roberts, an avid fisherman, graduated from Robinson High School in Lit-tle Rock. A 1987 graduate of Ouachita Baptist University, where he was anAcademic All-American, Roberts received his masters from SAU in 1989.He and his wife Sherri have one daughter – Abby (15).

THE ROBERTS FILE

Born: October 13, 1964Age: 44Wife: SherriDaughter: AbbyAlma Mater: Ouachita Baptist (Arkadelphia, Ark.) ‘87

B.S.E., Math and Physical EducationGraduate School: Southern Arkansas Univ. (Mag-

nolia, Ark.), Master of Education, 1989Record at ASU: 37-47 (7 years)Record: 86-80-1 (15 years)Previous Coaching Experience: Northwestern

State (Head Coach, 2000-01), SouthernArkansas (Head Coach, 1994-99; AssistantCoach, 1990-93), Texas High School (AssistantCoach, 1988-89), Southern Arkansas (Asst.Coach, 1987)

High School: Robinson (Little Rock, AR) HS

ROBERTS YEAR-BY-YEAR (HC)

2008 Arkansas State 6-6 T3rd Sun Belt2007 Arkansas State 5-7 T5th Sun Belt2006 Arkansas State 6-6 T3rd Sun Belt2005 Arkansas State 6-6 T1st Sun Belt2004 Arkansas State 3-8 5th Sun Belt2003 Arkansas State 5-7 T4th Sun Belt2002 Arkansas State 6-7 3rd Sun Belt2001 Northwestern St. 8-42000 Northwestern St. 6-51999 Southern Arkansas 9-11998 Southern Arkansas 8-21997 Southern Arkansas 9-21996 Southern Arkansas 4-61995 Southern Arkansas 4-61994 Southern Arkansas 1-7-1

ROBERTS’ ASU HIGHLIGHTS

� Roberts has led Arkansas State to its most victories over a seven-year

span since 1985-91.

� Already holds the fifth most wins among ASU’s 26 all-time head coaches.

� 2005 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year.

� Under Roberts, ASU has been bowl eligible three of the last four seasons.

� Holds non-conference victories over teams such as Tulsa, Army, SMU,

Memphis and Texas A&M. Last year’s victory over the Aggies was one of

the biggest wins in school history as ASU picked up its first victory over a

BCS conference school since joining the FBS.

� Led ASU to the 2005 Sun Belt Conf. Championship, the Red Wolves’ first

league championship since 1986.

� The Red Wolves were undefeated at home in 2005 and are 26-8 at ASU

Stadium under Roberts.

� ASU’s 2005 New Orleans Bowl appearance was the first for ASU since the

1970 Pecan Bowl.

� Under Roberts the Red Wolves have picked up 64 all-conference selec-

tions, including at least 10 three of the last four years. ASU had 11 players

named all-conference last season, its most ever as a member of the SBC.

ASU placed 10 players on the list in 2002, 2005 and 2006 and nine in 2007.

� Roberts has coached a Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year, Of-

fensive Player of the Year, two Defensive Player of the Year winners and a

Newcomer of the Year. In 2006, he coached two players that were named to

at least one Freshman All-America team.

� The Red Wolves finished in the top 10 turnarounds by a Division I-A

school his first season at the helm, going from 2-9 in 2001 to 6-7 in 2002.

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL2009 Outlook


Arkansas State has a multitude of reasons to be optimistic head-ing into a new season which holds a great deal of promise forthe Red Wolves. Considering ASU has been bowl eligiblethree of the last four years, and the 2009 squad returns 50lettermen and 17 starters from last season’s 6-6 team thatplaced 11 players on the postseason All-Sun Belt Con-ference Team, the 2009 campaign holds great potentialto extend the Red Wolves’ recent run of success.

ASU’s 11 All-Sun Belt Conference choices were its mostto any all-conference team since 1986 when it was amember of the Southland Conference. The RedWolves have now had at least nine playerstabbed All-SBC each of the last four yearsand had the second most selections amongthe league’s eight teams in 2008.

ASU picked up its first ever win over aBCS school since it joined NCAA FBSwhen it defeated Texas A&M in last sea-son’s opener, and the Red Wolves fin-ished tied for the third in the Sun BeltConference with a 4-3 league record.

ASU brings back its top three leading rush-ers, top two receivers and top passer froma team that broke the 57-year old schoolrecord for total offense last season. Theteam will have offensive All-Sun Belt Con-ference selections Corey Leonard (QB),Reggie Arnold (RB) and J.T. Jordan (TE)back.

Defensively, ASU returns eight startersfrom a team that ranked No. 2 in total de-fense in the Sun Belt Conference lastseason. The returning defensive playersinclude 2008 Sun Belt Conference De-fensive Player of the Year Alex Carring-ton.

All-Sun Belt Conference kicker andLou Groza Award finalist Josh Araucois back for his senior season and al-ready holds the school record for fieldgoals made in a career.

ASU Head Coach Steve Roberts entershis eighth season as ASU’s head coach.He has led ASU to its most victoriesover a seven-year span since 1985-91and already holds the fifth most victo-ries among ASU’s 26 all-time headcoaches. Roberts has also led theRed Wolves to a 26-8 record at ASUStadium since 2002, his first sea-son at ASU.

QUARTERBACK

While the No. 2 quarterback has yetto be determined, ASU is in goodhands with Corey Leonard back totake the snaps with the first unit.Leonard enters his senior season asthe school’s No. 2 all-time leader incompletions (457), passing yards(5,903), passing touchdowns (40) and totaloffense (7,297 yards). The 2008 All-Sun

Belt Conference selection is on pace to break the ASU recordin each category. He is a six-time Sun Belt Conference

Player of the Week selection and a 2007 Davey O’BrienAward semifinalist. Leonard broke his own school-

record for total offense with 2,863 yards and rankedfourth in the Sun Belt Conference and 38th in the na-tion in total offense in 2008. He also tied his ownschool record with 16 touchdown passes as a jun-ior and finished with a career-best 2,347 passingyards that stands as the second most in school

history. Including Leonard, ASU had fourquarterbacks on its spring roster. Neely

Sullivent, Ryan Aplin and Andre Smith allcompeted at the position during thespring with Aplin and Smith taking themajority of the snaps in the back-up role.ASU also signed highly-touted Phillip

Butterfield out of Lake Hamilton, Ark. aspart of its 2009 recruiting class. Leonardis essentially the only quarterback onASU’s roster with game experience at

ASU. Sullivent, who drew a redshirt in2007, was injured during the 2008 sea-son, while both Aplin and Smith tooka redshirt last year. Sullivent, Aplin,Smith and Butterfield all enjoyedstandout high school careers andare all capable of making an impactwith the ASU football team. Sul-livent earned all-state honors atBauxite (Ark.) High School, Smithrecorded 2,096 yards of total of-fense and accounted for 18 touch-

downs as a senior at ShoemakerHigh School in Killeen, Texas, and Aplin threw

for 2,300 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2007 atFleming Island High School in Tampa, Fla.

Butterfield was a two-time all-state selec-tion and named the Arkansas Class 6APlayer of the Year by the Arkansas De-mocrat-Gazette last season with LakeHamilton. He was ranked the No. 36best quarterback in the nation byESPN.com when he signed with ASU.

RUNNING BACK

A talented group of ASU running backsis led by Reggie Arnold, who enters hissenior season as a three-time All-SunBelt Conference selection and formerSun Belt Conference Freshman of the

Year. After piling up 3,206 yards duringhis first three seasons, Arnold could be-

come just the eighth running back in NCAAhistory to rush for over 1,000 yards in four

consecutive seasons. Arnold finished the2008 season ranked No. 2 in the Sun BeltConference in rushing yards among runningbacks (89.5 yards per game) and No. 39 in the

nation in rushing among all players. Heposted a career-high eight touchdownsthat led ASU and were the ninth mostin the Sun Belt. Arnold currentlystands second all-time at ASU in ca-reer rushing yards. The Little Rock,

Ark. native needs 742 yards in 2009to pass the late Richie Woit (1950-53)

for the school record. The Red Wolves also

Corey Leonard

Sr., QB



2009 Outlook

return sophomore Derek Lawson, whobusted onto the scene last season with710 rushing yards and four touch-downs. He averaged an impressive7.2 yards per carry and becamejust the 11th player in ASU historyto rush for over 200 yards in agame with 209 against TexasSouthern. A strong candidate forSun Belt Conference Freshmanof the Year honors in 2008, Law-son was one of 10 players rec-ognized by CBSSports.comon its Sept. 24 “FreshmanWatch List”, which featuredthe best freshmen in collegefootball throughout the year.ASU has plenty of depth atthe position with redshirtfreshman Don Jones, sopho-more Jermaine Robertson andsophomore Najel Byrd all fig-uring into the mix. The RedWolves had seven runningbacks on their spring roster,which also included redshirtfreshman Gavilan Bland andredshirt freshman Tim Dunn.ASU also returns starting

fullback Jeff Blake fromParagould, Ark., while Robert-son has also seen time at theposition. Blake rushed five timesfor 40 yards and a touchdown andalso added five receptions for 25 yardsand two touchdowns last season as a sopho-more.

TIGHT END

Arkansas State lost the services of All-SunBelt Conference selection David Johnson atthe tight end position, but also returns all-conference choice J.T. Jordan and TrevorGillott, who was fifth on the team in recep-tions last season, at tight end. Jordan, asenior, was a consistent blocker up front forthe Red Wolves and also had a touchdownreception last season. Gillott, also a senior,finished 2008 with 15 receptions, a career-high 228 receiving yards and two touch-downs. While Jordan has just nine careerreceptions for 82 yards and three touch-downs, his presence in the blocking game hasbeen critical to ASU’s success. Gillott enters hissenior campaign with 35 receptions for 411 yardsand two touchdowns. Redshirt freshmen Kedric Murry and Justin Schoe-mehl also saw a lot of action during ASU’s spring camp and give ASU ad-ditional depth at the position. Both players had a solid spring both catchingthe football and blocking and were highly touted recruits in 2008.

OFFENSIVE LINE

ASU returns two starters from its offensive line in guards Dominic Padrtaand Drew Hilton, but also lost the services of four-time All-Sun Belt Confer-ence selection Matt Mandich, starting center Brandon Ciaramitaro and 2008All-Sun Belt pick Mark Clemons. ASU’s situation along the offensive line thisyear is similar to 2008 in that it is replacing the majority of its starters upfront. Also much like last season, ASU has several upperclassmen with awealth of maturity that could possibly step into a starting role. ASU had three

seniors that started on the offensive line in 2008 when the Red Wolvesbroke the 57-year-old school record for total offense, and this year threeseniors and two juniors are currently at the top of the depth chart. WhilePadrta and Hilton are the only two returning offensive linemen with exten-sive playing experience at ASU, senior tackles Kiano Prater and Derek New-ton, who saw a lot of work with the first team during the spring, have beenin ASU’s system for a year and have experience at the junior-college level.Padrta started 10 games and Hilton seven last season for ASU’s offense

that ranked No. 2 in the Sun Belt Conference in rushing and No. 38 in thenation in total offense. Castilaw, a redshirt junior, has had three years

to work with ASU’s offensive scheme and is currently listed asthe No. 1 center. Eric Allen is a redshirt freshman that will also

factor in at the center position. There are two juniors, a soph-omore and a redshirt freshman included among the otherfour players on the o-line depth chart. At the guard posi-tion, Sifa Etu, a transfer from Chabot (Calif.) Junior Col-lege, could possibly make an immediate impact and hasturned in a solid effort this spring. Alfred Louis is listed as

the No. 2 left guard and started two games last season.Redshirt freshman Brian Evans and redshirt sopho-more Delano Moore are competing at tackle. ASU

added four high school players to its offensive linein the 2009 signing class as well.

WIDE RECEIVERS

ASU returns its top two leading receivers from lastyear’s team and has a wealth of experience anddepth at the position. Seniors Brandon Thomp-kins and Jahbari McLennan both recorded ateam-high 32 receptions last year and wereresponsible for a combined 962 receivingyards. Thompkins finished the year with 511yards, while McLennan accounted for 451yards. Clements and Norman also return in2009 for their senior seasons and AnthonyRobinson will be a junior, adding to ASU’s ex-perience at the position. Clements, Normanand Robinson all saw extensive playing time

last season and give ASU three more playersthat have made contributions to the passing game

in the past. The five players combined to accountfor over half of ASU’s 167 receptions and 2,346 re-

ceiving yards. Thompkins became the 11th player inschool history to record 1,000 re-

ceiving yards in a career last sea-son and now has 1,103 yards tohis credit. His 81 career recep-tions are tied for the 10th mostin ASU history as well. He en-ters the 2009 campaign need-ing just 19 receptions tobecome the fifth player inschool history to catch at least100 passes. Each standing 6-4, a pair of highly-touted re-cruits in true freshman AllenMuse and redshirt freshmanTaylor Stockemer give startingquarterback Corey Leonard

some bigger targets as well andcould factor into the mix. Muse

was an all-state selection atLeesville (La.) High Schooland Stockemer, out of VanBuren (Ark.) High School, anationally-ranked top-100

wide receiver (No. 92) by Ri-vals.com.

Reggie Arnold

Sr., RB

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL2009 Outlook


DEFENSIVE LINE

ASU returns three starters along the defensive line, includingtackles Bryan Hall and Khari Mays and senior defensive endAlex Carrington, who was the 2008 Sun Belt Conference De-fensive Player of the Year. Those three players combinedfor 17.5 of ASU’s 27 total sacks and 30.5 of its 81 tacklesfor loss last season. ASU’s 2.33 sacks per game rankedNo. 2 in the Sun Belt Conference and No. 37 in the na-tion last year, while its 6.75 tackles for loss average wasranked third in the SBC and tied for 21st in the nation.Those three players are expected to anchor the de-fensive line, a group which helped ASU rank secondin the conference and 46th in the nation last seasonin total defense. In addition to being named theleague’s defensive player of the year in 2008, Car-rington was a Second Team Midseason All-Amer-ica selection by CollegeFootballNews.com andranked among the top 14 players in the countryfor both sacks (11.5) and tackles for loss (19) tomake him the most decorated player returningalong the defensive line. Hall, a junior, was astrong candidate for All-Sun Belt Conferencehonors in 2008 as well, completing the seasonranked fifth in the SBC in sacks and 11th in tack-les for loss. His 8.5 tackles for loss and six sackswere both the second most in the SBC among in-terior defensive linemen. Mays finished his juniorseason with three tackles for loss, two sacks and15 tackles. The Red Wolves lost the services ofstarting defensive end Brian Flagg, a 2008 ESPNThe Magazine First Team Academic All-America se-lection, but senior Stanley Wakwe is currently listedas a starter on the depth chart at the position and hehas two years of playing experience at ASU under hisbelt. Sophomore Jeremy Gibson and redshirt fresh-man Timothy Starson will also compete for playingtime and add depth at the position. At defensivetackle, sophomores Dorvus Woods and Greg Mc-Call and juniors Levi Thompson and StanleyPorter all saw playing time last year and will giveASU additional experience inside. Those fourplayers combined to record 34 tackles, 8.5tackles for loss and two sacks last season.ASU added two defensive tackles and a thirdhigh-school signee, who could play in thetrenches on either side of the ball, with its2009 recruiting class. The Red Wolves alsosigned two high school players expected toplay defensive end that will join the team inthe fall as well, adding to ASU’s depth onthe defensive front.

LINEBACKER

ASU has a group of talented linebackers thatmakes the position one of the deepest on theteam. Senior Greg Hardy, juniors Darius Gloverand Javon McKinnon, sophomores Demario Davis,Michael Adams and Elroy Brown and redshirt freshmanNathan Herrold all figure into the rotation heading into fallcamp. Hardy and Glover are currently listed as the starters atoutside linebacker, but will be pushed for a starting role by Davis,McKinnon and Brown. Hardy has played middle linebackerthroughout his career at ASU, but was moved to the outside duringspring camp. He posted 17 tackles, including one tackle for loss, ina back-up role last year. McKinnon and Glover were both starterslast year at the position and combined to record 78 tackles. Adamsand Herrold both had an outstanding spring at middle linebacker,leading to the move for Hardy. While neither has much experi-

ence at the collegiate level, both are expected to help fill the gap in the mid-dle left by the departure of All-Sun Belt Conference selection Ben

Owens.

SECONDARY

The ASU secondary returns three starters and plenty of experi-ence from last year’s team that ranked No. 2 in the Sun BeltConference and No. 46 in the nation in total defense. The RedWolves intercepted 15 passes last season, ranking tied for 39thin the nation in the stat. Three of ASU’s four leading tacklers in

2008 were defensive backs and all three of thoseplayers return in 2009. Junior safety M.D. Jen-

nings finished with a career-high 67 tackleslast year and also posted a team-high threeinterceptions. Senior cornerback Daylan

Walker was the third on the team in tack-les with 65 and fellow senior Marcus

Brown finished with 57 stops fromhis safety position. Senior safety

Evan Van Dolah joins Walkerand Jennings as returning

starters. Van Dolah posted52 tackles, the seventhmost on the team, and an

interception last season.Seniors Cordarious Mingo

and Paul Stephens are bothcompeting for the starting corner

position opposite Walker. Mingoand Stephens both had an intercep-

tion last season and combined for 31tackles. Jaquan Kilcrease is listed as the

No. 2 strong safety, Kelcie McCray the No. 2free safety and Walter Moody the No. 2 corner be-

hind Walker, giving ASU plenty of experience in thesecondary.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Josh Arauco headlines the special teams players asa returning All-Sun Belt Conference selection and

Lou Groza Award Finalist in 2008. He has been themodel of consistency throughout his career, making

44-of-59 field goal attempts and holding the schoolrecord for consecutive field goals made. His 44 field

goals are the most in ASU history and the second mostever by a Sun Belt Conference player. ASU will have toreplace Brett Shrable, who was the team’s punter the lastthree seasons and put up solid numbers. While sopho-more Ryan Wilbourn has no game experience at punter,he had an outstanding spring at punter and handled kickoffduties for the Red Wolves last season. ASU returns MarcusBrown, Brandon Thompkins and Paul Stephens to returnkickoffs and all three have had some success. Thompkinsis actually among the all-time leaders in Sun Belt Confer-ence history with 89 career returns for 1,906 yards. Heholds the school record in both categories. The RedWolves lost their leading punt returner in Kevin Jones, butDaylan Walker has also fielded punts throughout his ca-reer and will compete for the job along with Thompkinsand Stephens.

SCHEDULE

The 2009 Arkansas State football schedule features the startof a home-and-home series with a Louisville program that

Alex Carrington

Sr., DE



2009 Outlook

has consistently been ranked in the Top-25 during the currentdecade, an eight-game conference schedule for the first timein school history, a nationally televised game at Louisiana-Monroe and road games against college football powersIowa and Nebraska. The Red Wolves will open the sea-son Sept. 5 at ASU Stadium against Mississippi ValleyState, one of five home games on their 2009 schedule.Arkansas State is set to begin its season with a homecontest for the first time since it defeated Army in frontof a home crowd of 23,426 to start the 2006 campaign.The season opener will be featured as the Hall ofHonor game and the annual Paint the Town Red tra-dition will also be held, while MVSU’s band willalso be in attendance at the game. ASU willtravel to Nebraska, catching a Corn-huskers team that finished lastseason with a 9-4 record afterdefeating Clemson in the Kon-ica Minolta Bowl. The 2009meeting will make theHuskers the 10th Big 12 op-ponent all-time for ASU,which picked up an 18-14victory at Texas A&M lastseason for its first ever winagainst a member of theleague. The game will beplayed at Memorial Stadium,which seats 81,067, andcould potentially draw oneof the top crowds to everwitness an ASU footballgame. ASU will host de-fending Sun Belt Confer-ence champion Troy inits league opener. TheTrojans completed2008 with an 8-5record and are one offour teams on theRed Wolves schedulethat competed in abowl game last sea-son. ASU catches tra-dition-rich Iowa atKinnick Stadium. Themeeting between theRed Wolves andHawkeyes will be thefirst-ever between the twoschools in football. Iowawill also become the thirdBig 10 opponent in thehistory of ASU football,joining Illinois and Min-nesota. ArkansasState’s last gameagainst at Big 10 op-ponent was a 2002matchup at Illinois.With a capacity of70,585, Kinnick Stadium ranks as one of the 20largest college-owned stadiums in the nation. TheHawkeyes enter the 2009 season with 37 consecu-tive sellouts at Kinnick Stadium. The Hawkeyes fin-ished last season ranked No. 20 in the final AssociatedPress Poll and have been to a bowl game seven of the last eight seasons.The Red Wolves catch Louisiana-Monroe at Malone Stadium in a game

that will be televised by ESPN2, marking the Red Wolves first na-tionally televised game since the 2005 New Orleans Bowl.

ASU and ULM, which have a long-standing history datingback to when both schools were a member of the South-

land Conference, have split the last four meetings. ASUwon last year’s game at ASU Stadium by a 37-29

score. ASU’s homecoming game will be playedagainst Florida International on Oct. 24. The Red

Wolves will play Louisville at Papa John’sCardinal Stadium on Oct. 31. Louisville

and ASU will meet again in 2010 whenthe Cardinals travel to Jonesboro in

the return game of two-year home-and-home series. The game will bethe first ever meeting between ASUand Louisville, which will be just thesecond Big East opponent the RedWolves have ever played. ASUsplit a pair of games with Cincinnati,

defeating the Bearcats in 1975 be-fore playing them again in 1998.Louisville has been to nine bowlgames over the last 11 seasons

and finished the 2006 yearranked No. 6 in the final Asso-ciated Press Poll. The $63-million Papa John’s CardinalStadium was opened in Sep-tember of 1998. The state-of-the-art facility features 42,000seats and is the only univer-sity-owned and operatedstadium in the nation with all

seats being of the chairbackvariety. ASU’s final five regu-

lar-season games will all beagainst Sun Belt Conference oppo-

nents, starting with a home game againstLouisiana-Lafayette on Nov. 7. ASU will face

the Ragin’ Cajuns in the 38th all-time meet-ing between the two schools. ArkansasState’s 37 games played against theRagin’ Cajuns ties the third most againstany opponent in school history. A com-petitive series, five of the seven meet-ings between the Red Wolves andRagin’ Cajuns as Sun Belt foes havebeen decided by a touchdown orless. The Red Wolves will continuetheir SBC slate when they thentravel to Boca Raton for a Nov. 14game against a Florida Atlanticteam that finished last seasonwith a 24-21 victory over Central

Michigan at the Motor City Bowl.ASU remains on the road for a Nov.21 match-up at Middle Tennessee

before holding its Senior DayNov. 28 against North Texas atASU Stadium. ASU will play at

Western Kentucky, whichwill play its first season as a

football-playing memberof the league, Dec. 3 inits regular-season fi-

nale.

Brandon Thompkins

Sr., WR/KR

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALLSpring Scrimmage 2008


JONESBORO (4/18/09) – The Arkansas Statefootball team wrapped up its 2009 spring campSaturday at ASU Stadium, holding its annualspring scrimmage that featured 94 plays and sawthe offense top the defense 47-27 using an alter-nate scoring system put in place by the RedWolves’ coaching staff.

The offense came out on top in the spring scrim-mage for the second time in the three years thatASU has used the scoring system which allows theoffense and defense to not only score points in tra-ditional ways, but also by other methods such as“explosive plays”, stringing together three consec-utive first downs, forcing a three-and-out series,causing turnovers and creating sacks. The de-fense won last year’s scrimmage by a 52-36 score,while the offense picked up a 56-46 victory in2007.

The scrimmage consisted of three different seg-ments, the first starting each drive from the of-fense’s 30-yard line, the second focusing on redzone situations and third spotting the ball at the of-fense’s 25-yard line to begin each offensive series.

The offense marched down the field on the firstdrive of the scrimmage, picking up three explosiveplays (runs of 12 yards or more and passes for atleast 16 yards) and putting together three consec-utive first downs for additional points that gave itan early 11-0 lead. Senior quarterback Corey

Leonard, who completed 7-of-19 passes for ateam-best 91 yards on the day, hit junior AnthonyRobinson on a four-yard touchdown pass to capthe drive.

The defense got a sack from sophomore line-backer Demario Davis and an interception fromjunior cornerback Leroy Trahan, while also forcingback-to-back three-and-out series during the nextthree drives to pull within 11-7. Davis finished theday with three tackles, two tackles for a loss, twosacks, a forced fumble and one pass break-up,while Trahan was responsible for the defense’sonly turnover.

The offense led 24-22 after the end of the red zonesegment, which saw ASU make all three of its fieldgoal attempts on the day. The score remained thesame for the first two drives of the final segment,but the offense scored touchdowns on two of itsfinal three possessions to pull away. Redshirtfreshman quarterback Ryan Aplin found redshirtfreshman receiver Taylor Stockemer on a 15-yardpass for the first touchdown. Redshirt freshmanquarterback Andre Smith hit junior wideoutJonathan White on an 18-yard completion for thesecond score that ended the scrimmage.

“I’m excited to go watch film and see who got bet-ter today,” said ASU Head Coach Steve Roberts.“I think the competition was pretty good. We’vegot a corp group of leaders on this football team

with some experience at some critical positionsand I feel like we’re going to have the ability tomake some plays offensively and do some thingsdefensively to give some people some problems.We’re looking forward to getting this team back to-gether at fall camp and continuing our preparationfor the 2009 season.”

Leonard’s 91 yards led the ASU passing game,but Aplin added 72 yards, Smith 47 yards andsophomore Neely Sullivent 20 yards through theair. Sophomore Jermaine Robertson rushed for ateam-high 53 yards on 15 attempts, also a teamhigh. Redshirt freshman Don Jones followedRobertson with 32 yards on nine carries, includinga one-yard touchdown run. White, who led the re-ceivers with three catches for 56 yards, was one ofnine players with at least one reception.

Defensively, junior safety M.D. Jennings and jun-ior Isaiah Shepard had a team-high seven tackles.Senior defensive lineman Khari Mays and redshirtfreshman defensive lineman Otto Collins joinedDavis with a sack each.

“We had 13 or 14 guys out today and had someguys that didn’t get a whole lot of work after all theaction our second-and-third team players sawtoday,” said Roberts. “I’m excited to go watch filmand see who got better today.”

Offense Takes 47-27 Victory Over Defense at ASU Football Spring Scrimmage



2009 Arkansas State Spring Scrimmage � Scoring Summary and Stats

Saturday, April 18, 2009 � ASU Stadium (Jonesboro, Ark.)

Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16+ Pass (Corey Leonard to Brandon Thompkins, +19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 1, Defense 0Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12+ Rush (Derek Laswons, +14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 2, Defense 0Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16+ Pass (Corey Leonard to Jahbari McLennan, +23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 3, Defense 0Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Consecutive First Downs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 4, Defense 0Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Touchdown (Corey Leonard pass to Anthony Robinson, +4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 10, Defense 0Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extra Point (Josh Arauco) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 11, Defense 0Defense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sack (Demario Davis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 11, Defense 2Defense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-and-Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 11, Defense 3Defense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Turnover (Leroy Trahan interception). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 11, Defense 6Defense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-and-Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 11, Defense 7Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Touchdown (Don Jones rush, +1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 17, Defense 7Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extra Point (Josh Arauco) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 18, Defense 7Defense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sack (Khari Mays) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 18, Defense 9Offense/Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Red Zone Field Goal (Ryan Wilbourn, 35 yards). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 21, Defense 13Offense/Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Red Zone Field Goal (Brandon Parker, 25 yards) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 24, Defense 16Defense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sack (Demario Davis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 24, Defense 18Defense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Red Zone no TD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 24, Defense 22Offense/Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Red Zone Field Goal (Josh Arauco, 20 yards). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 27, Defense 25Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16+ Pass (Ryan Aplin to Jonathan White, +28) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 28, Defense 25Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12+ Rush (Jermaine Robertson, +14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 29, Defense 25Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Consecutive First Downs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 30, Defense 25Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Touchdown (Ryan Aplin pass to Taylor Stockemer, +15). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 36, Defense 25Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extra Point (Josh Arauco) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 37, Defense 25Defense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sack (Otto Collins) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 37, Defense 27Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12+ Rush (Andre Smith, +13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 38, Defense 27Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Consecutive First Downs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 39, Defense 27Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16+ Pass (Neely Sullivent to T. J. Burk, +20). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 40, Defense 27Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Touchdown (Andre Smith pass to Jonathan White, +18). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 46, Defense 27Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extra Point (Josh Arauco) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offense 47, Defense 27

Offensive Statistics:

Passing (C-A-Yds-TD-Int)

Corey Leonard (7-19-91-1-0), Ryan Aplin (6-12-72-1-1), Andre Smith (5-7-47-1-0), Neely Sullivent (1-4-20-0-0)Team: 19-42-230-3-1

Rushing (No-Yds-TD)

Jermaine Robertson (15-53-0), Don Jones (9-32-1), Derek Lawson (5-29-0), Andre Smith (5-19-0), Tim Dunn (6-15-0), Ryan Aplin (3-5-0), Jahbari McLennan (1-(-2)-0),Corey Leonard (1-(-9)-0), Neely Sullivant (1-(-11)-0)

Team: 46-131-1

Receiving (No-Yds-TD)

Jonathan White (3-56-1), Jahbari McLennan (2-38-0), T.J. Burk (2-27-0), Justin Schoemehl (2-20-0), Anthony Robinson (2-7-1), Brandon Thompkins (1-19-0), Lucious

Henderson (1-5-0), Kedric Murry (1-11-0), Shederick Austin (1-7-0), Jackie Hawkins (1-4-0)

Field Goals

Ryan Wilbourn (35, good), Brandon Parker (25, good), Josh Arauco (20, good)

Individual Defensive Leaders:

M.D. Jennings (7 Tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU), Isaiah Shepard (7 Tackles), Jaquan Kilcrease (6 Tackles), Khari Mays (4 Tackles, 1 TFL, 1 Sack), Sean Maxfield (4 Tackles), De-

mario Davis (3 Tackles, 2 TFL, 2 Sacks, 1 FF, 1 PBU), Michael Adams (3 Tackles), Leroy Trahan (2 Tackles, 1 INT, 1 PBU), Timothy Starson (2 Tackles, 1 TFL), Kelcie Mc-

Cray (2 Tackles, 1 TFL), Marcus Brown (2 Tackles, 1 PBU), Lawrence Henning (2 Tackles, 1 TFL), Justin Robertson (2 Tackles, 1 PBU), Greg McCall (2 Tackles, 1 TFL),Dorvus Woods (2 Tackles, 1 TFL), Otto Collins (2 Tackles, 1 TFL, 1 Sack), Greg Hardy (2 Tackles), Bryan Hall (2 Tackles), Javon McKinnon (2 Tackles), Evan Van Dolah

(2 Tackles), Darius Glover (2 Tackles), Cole Lorigan (1 Tackle, 1 PBU), Cordarious Mingo (1 Tackle, 1 TFL), Greg Smith (1 Tackle, 1 PBU), Keith Wilcots (1 Tackle), Nathan

Herrold (1 Tackle), Jeremy Gibson (1 Tackle), Alex Carrington (1 Tackle), Elroy Brown (1 Tackle)

Punts

Ryan Wilbourn (43 yards, 39 yards, 34 yards, 30 yards)

Spring Scrimmage 2008

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALLSpring 2009 Notebook


NATIONALCHAMPS.NET TABS THREE

ASU PLAYERS PRESEASON ALL-AMER-

ICA: Senior kicker Josh Arauco, senior run-ning back Reggie Arnold and seniordefensive end Alex Carrington have beennamed to NationalChamps.net’s 2009 Pre-season All-America Football Team. Araucohas been chosen as a second team honoreeon the All-America list, while Arnold and Car-rington have received honorable mention sta-tus. All three players have also been named tothe third annual 2009 NationalChamps.net Un-derdog Award Watch List, which is presentedto the nation’s best mid-major player. Araucois the only kicker that made the UnderdogAward Watch List. ASU’s three selection toNationalChamps.net’s Preseason All-AmericaTeam are its most ever in one season. Thiswill be the 10th season NationalChamps.nethas released a preseason college football pre-view.

CARRINGTON NAMED TO 2009 LOTT TRO-

PHY WATCH LIST: Senior defensive endAlex Carrington has been named to the 2009Lott Trophy Watch List, made up of 42 of thenation’s top defensive players who have hadthe biggest IMPACT on their teams on and offthe field. IMPACT stands for Integrity, Matu-rity, Performance, Academics, Community andTenacity. Named after Hall of Famer RonnieLott, the Lott Trophy is awarded to collegefootball’s defensive IMPACT Player of theYear. The Lott Trophy is the only college foot-ball award to equally recognize athletic per-formance and the personal characterattributes of the player. Sponsored by The Pa-cific Club IMPACT Foundation, the award isgiven to a player who exhibits the same char-acteristics Lott embodied during his distin-guished career: Integrity, Maturity,Performance, Academics, Community andTenacity. The winner will be announced at agala black-tie banquet at The Pacific Club inNewport Beach, Calif., on Dec. 13, 2009.

CARRINGTON NAMED TO PRELIMINARY

LOMBARDI AWARD WATCH LIST: Senior

defensive end Alex Carrington, the 2008 SunBelt Conference Defensive Player of the Year,is one of 48 players that has been named tothe 2009 Rotary Lombardi Award PreliminaryWatch List, released March 2 by the RotaryClub of Houston. Eligibility for the Rotary Lom-bardi Award is limited to down lineman andthose defensive players who line up within fiveyards of the football. The Rotary LombardiAward Watch List will be updated prior to thestart of the 2009 season. Carrington joins MattMandich (2008), Tanner Jenkins (2006) andGarry Johnson (2001 and 2002) as ASU play-ers who have been Lombardi Award nomi-nees. He is one of seven Sun Belt Conferenceplayers on this year’s watch list as the leaguehas the third most representatives on the listbehind eight from both the Big 12 and SEC.

TEAM AWARDS: The Red Wolves held theirannual Family Day Cookout following theirspring scrimmage on April 18, moving it fromASU Stadium to Grace Baptist Church due tothe chance of bad weather. Roberts recog-nized the players for their hard work on thefield and performance in the classroom. Fiveplayers received the Academic ExcellenceAward, two the “I WILL” award, two the MostImproved Player Award and one the HustleAward and Weight Room Excellence Award.The award winners were:Academic Excellence: Cody Prater, LB(Freshman); Adam Gaston, DS (Sophomore);Isaiah Shepard, DB (Junior); Alex Carrington,DE (Senior); Brian Flagg, DE (Fifth-Year Sen-ior)Most Improved: Jarriel Norman, WR, Sr. (Of-fense); Kelcie McCray, DB, So. (Defense)Hustle Award: Jahbari McLennan, WR, Sr.“I WILL” Award: Alex Carrington, Sr, DE;Corey Leonard, Sr. QBWeight Room Excellence Award: StanleyWakwe, Sr., DE

ON THE NATIONAL STAGE: ASU’s gameversus Louisiana-Monroe will be televised byESPN2, marking the Red Wolves’ first ap-pearance on national television since their

New Orleans Bowl game against SouthernMiss was aired by ESPN2 as well.

PRO DAY: Ten former Arkansas State footballplayers, including 2008 All-Sun Belt Confer-ence selections David Johnson, Ben Owens,Dominique Williams and Kevin Jones, workedout for scouts from six NFL Franchises atASU’s 2009 “Pro Day” on March 31. Eightseniors from last year’s team were in atten-dance, including Johnson, Owens, Williams,Jones, Vernon Catlin, Travis Hewitt, RichardNeal and Brett Shrable. Darren Toney, whosigned a rookie free agent contract in 2008with the Carolina Panthers, and former ASUrunning back Antonio Warren also worked outfor the pro scouts. Included among the NFLteams represented were the New OrleansSaints, St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills, Indi-anapolis Colts, Green Bay Packers and NewYork Giants.

JOHNSON DRAFTED: The Super Bowl XLIIIchampion Pittsburgh Steelers selected formerArkansas State standout tight end David John-son (Pine Bluff) with the 32nd pick in the sev-enth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Johnsonbecame the 41st ASU player to ever be se-lected in the NFL Draft. Johnson is the thirdASU player to be drafted over the last threeyears, along with fullback Oren O’Neal in 2007and safety Tyrell Johnson in 2008. The lasttime ASU had at least one player taken in theNFL Draft in three consecutive years was1989-91. Over 90 all-time Arkansas Stateplayers have signed pro contracts with an NFLfranchise.

BATOON JOINS ASU COACHING STAFF:

Arkansas State Head Football Coach SteveRoberts announced on March 29 that Corey

Batoon, a veteran coach with 18 years of ex-perience at the collegiate level, was hired asan assistant football coach for the RedWolves. Batoon will coach safeties atArkansas State after spending the last 11 sea-sons as the assistant head coach, defensivecoordinator and secondary coach at Northern



Arizona University. He also spent time as thespecial teams coordinator during his time withthe Lumberjacks. Batoon joined the ASU teamat the start of the second week of its springcamp. Batoon replaced Jack Curtis, whostepped down from his position as the RedWolves co-defensive coordinator and safetiescoach to accept a position on the University ofMemphis football coaching staff.

ASU ADDS MEMPHIS AND AUBURN TO

FUTURE FOOTBALL SCHEDULES: TheArkansas State Athletic Department an-nounced on March 5 it has renewed its foot-ball series with long-time rival Memphis for the2012 and 2013 seasons, and has also se-cured an unprecedented $1-million dollar con-tract to play at Auburn in 2010. ArkansasState’s $1-million contract with Auburn is thelargest in school history, topping the previoushigh of $900,000 with Iowa for the 2009 sea-son. The Red Wolves and Tigers are slated tomeet Sept. 4, 2010. Arkansas State andAuburn have met just once before, a 27-0 vic-tory by the Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium in2006. While the crowd of 78,943 for the 2006game is currently the ninth largest to everwatch ASU play, it was the sixth largest at thetime of the game. While the Red Wolveshome game against Memphis on Sept. 10,2011 will conclude a four-year home-and-home series, the new two-year home-and-home series with the Tigers guarantees thatASU’s oldest rivalry game will continuethrough at least 2013. As the first part of thelongest series in ASU football history, Mem-phis will visit Jonesboro again on Sept. 8, 2012before the Red Wolves return the game onSept. 21, 2013. Arkansas State has playedMemphis 55 times since the teams first met in1914. The Tigers snapped a two-game skidagainst the Red Wolves last season in a se-ries that has featured some recent excitement.ASU won in 2006 at the Liberty Bowl on a

deep pass as time expired and again in 2007in Jonesboro when it overcame a 25-pointhalftime deficit. The Red Wolves also hostedMemphis in 2004 and set the ASU Stadiumrecord for attendance with 30,427 people onhand. In addition to the scheduled four homeconference games, ASU has now secured ahome game with Louisville in 2010 and ahome game with Memphis in both 2011 and2012. Arkansas State head coach SteveRoberts has led the Red Wolves to a 26-8record at ASU Stadium over the last sevenyears for a .765 winning percentage. Not onlythat, the Red Wolves are 17-3 at ASU Stadiumover the last four seasons.

THE 2009 SIGNING CLASS: Arkansas StateHead Football Coach Steve Roberts an-nounced the Red Wolves 2009 signing class

(on Feb. 4), which is made up of 19 highschool and two junior-college standouts fromeight different states, including five fromArkansas, that signed National Letters of In-tent to play for ASU next season. The RedWolves signed nine offensive players, includ-ing five linemen, three wide receivers and onequarterback. ASU also inked 10 defensiveplayers, expecting four to play in the second-ary, four on the line and two at the linebackerposition. The Red Wolves added two playersthat could play on either side of the ball, onelisted as a lineman and the other as an athlete.In addition to the five signees from the state ofArkansas, ASU also landed five players fromTennessee, four from Alabama, two from bothLouisiana and Texas and one from California,Florida and Illinois. ASU’s five signees fromits home state are from Lake Hamilton, DeWitt,Little Rock, Springdale and Bentonville.

SUPER BOWL XLIII FEATURES FOUR

COACHES WITH ASU TIES: Each yearunique storylines surrounding the NFL’sbiggest game make their way to the surface,but Super Bowl XLIII presented an especiallyintriguing match-up for Arkansas State fanswith four coaches, including Pittsburgh headcoach Mike Tomlin, participating in Sunday’sgame that have ties to ASU’s football history.The road to Super Bowl XLIII for Tomlin andtwo others on the Steelers’ coaching staff, line-backers coach Keith Butler and wide receiverscoach Randy Fichtner, went through Jones-boro in the mid-to-late 1990’s as assistantcoaches on the Arkansas State staff. WhileTomlin, Fichtner and Butler all spent varyingamounts of time at ASU, all three were on thesame coaching staff in 1998 under then-headcoach Joe Hollis. Working on the oppositesideline was be Arizona assistant coach Mau-rice Carthon, who played running back atArkansas State from 1979-82 before going onto play eight seasons in the NFL, includingseven years as a member of the New York Gi-ants. After Super Bowl XLIII, a total of six for-mer ASU players and six former coaches willhave experience in pro football’s biggestevent.

FORMER ASU ALL-AMERICAN FARELLA

GIVES BACK TO ASU ATHLETICS: TheArkansas State University Athletic Departmentannounced Jan. 24 it has received a $125,000donation, one of the larger gifts in its history,from long-time supporter and 1950’s ASU All-America football player Frank Farella.Farella’s donation becomes the second gift ofover $100,000 given to ASU over the last fivemonths and the fourth since 2004. A portion ofthe $125,000 donation from Farella will go tocomplete the Gene Harlow Endowment, whilethe remainder will be used to assist with facil-

ity projects and other enhancements to theASU Athletics program. ASU lost an importantpart of its football history with the passing offormer head coach Gene Harlow on NewYear’s Eve in 1998. To honor his memory, theRed Wolf Club established the Coach GeneHarlow Memorial Fund. Farella played allthree seasons during Harlow’s tenure as headfootball coach at ASU from 1955-57. Farellawas a four-year letterman with the ASU foot-ball team from 1954-57, earning All-Americarecognition at his guard position in both 1956and 1957. One of ASU’s co-captains on thefootball team in 1957, Farella was named anAssociated Press, Williamson and NCAA All-America selection as a senior. The Brooklyn,N.Y. native was also an Associated Press andNAIA All-America selection as a junior in 1956.

ASU’S JOHNSON COMPETES IN EAST-

WEST SHRINE GAME SATURDAY: Seniortight end on the 2008 ASU football team,David Johnson accepted an invitation tocompete in the 2009 East-West Shrine Gameon Jan. 17 at University of Houston’s Robert-son Stadium. The East-West Shrine Gamehas been played since 1925, making it one ofthe oldest and most respected of the post-sea-son collegiate bowl games. Johnson was thefourth Arkansas State player to compete in theEast-West Shrine Game, joining running backCorey Walker (1996), defensive tackle MichaelCline (1985) and offensive lineman Ken Jones(1976). The Red Wolves have now had aplayer named to one of the post-season all-star games six of the last eight years, includingthe last three in a row. Johnson, competing forthe East Team, was an All-Sun Belt Confer-ence selection in 2008 after catching 22passes for 356 yards and five touchdowns.

ARKANSAS STATE LETTERMEN’S WALK:

When the Red Wolves take the field for their2009 season opener against Mississippi Val-ley State on Sept. 5, ASU Stadium will featurea new historical landmark that has beentabbed the ”Arkansas State Lettermen’s Walk”and will feature an attractive arch and person-alized brick pavers honoring all ASU letter-men, past, present, future or deceased. Thearch will feature two brick columns serving asthe foundation and the words “ARKANSASSTATE UNIVERSITY LETTERMEN” will spanacross the bend in the arch, which will be lo-cated at the north entrance to the ASU Sta-dium home stands.

Spring 2009 Notebook

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALLFinal 2008 Notebook


HEAD COACH STEVE ROBERTS NOTES

ROBERTS CLIMBING VICTORIES LADDER:

In his first six-plus seasons as the Red Wolveshead coach, Steve Roberts already has thefifth most victories among ASU's 26 all-timehead coaches with 37 wins. Larry Lacewell(1979-89) holds the record for victories with 69and is followed by Bennie Ellender (1963-70)with 52 wins, Bill Davidson (1971-78) with 51and Forrest England (1946-53) with 49.

ROBERTS AND ASU STADIUM: ArkansasState head coach Steve Roberts has led theRed Wolves to a 26-8 record at ASU Stadiumover the last seven years for a .765 winningpercentage. Not only that, the Red Wolves are17-3 at ASU Stadium over the last four sea-sons.

ROBERTS IN CLOSE GAMES: Seventh-yearskipper Steve Roberts has seen numerousclose games during his tenure with the RedWolves, holding a 21-12 record in games de-cided by eight points or less (39 percent of allhis games). Roberts' teams have been espe-cially successful recently in games decided byjust one score, holding a 19-9 record in its last28 games that ended under those circum-stances. Following is his record in closegames:Margin Roberts record1 point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12 points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-03 points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-54 points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-15 points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-26 points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17 points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-18 points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1

17 AND UNDER: Arkansas State holds a 17-3 record under head coach Steve Roberts

when holding its opponents to 17 points orless. The Red Wolves have won 14 of their last15 games when holding their opponent to 17or fewer points and has won 26 straight gameswhen holding their opponents to 10 or fewerpoints.

DOUBLE-DIGIT COMEBACKS: ArkansasState has rallied for a victory in seven gameswhen trailing by double-digits under headcoach Steve Roberts. Following is a year-by-year list of ASU’s double-digit comeback victo-ries under Roberts: Year Opponent Trailed by Final2002 ULM 11 33-22003 ULM 14 44-412003 NMSU 10 28-242005 ULL 16 39-362005 UNT 10 31-242007 Memphis 25 31-242007 UNT 21 31-27

2008 TAMU 11 18-14

COMING OFF THE OPEN WEEK: With itsvictory over FAU, Arkansas State improved to2-1 after its three open dates, the most everunder a Steve Roberts coached team. TheRed Wolves are now 4-2 all-time underRoberts in games following an open week.Following is ASU’s scores after coming off anopen week under Roberts:11/22/08 vs. Florida Atlantic . . . . . . W, 28-1410/11/08 vs. UL Monroe . . . . . . . . . W, 37-2911/1/08 at No.2 Alabama . . . . . . . . . . L, 0-359/15/07 vs. SMU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W, 45-2810/13/05 vs. UL Lafayette . . . . . . . . W, 39-3611/5/05 at Middle Tennessee . . . . . . . L, 7-45

TEAM NOTES

BOWL ELIGIBLE: Arkansas State’s 6-6record last year made it bowl eligible for thethird time over the last four seasons. The RedWolves have made eight bowl appearances all-time, the last being the 2005 New OrleansBowl. The 2005 New Orleans Bowl is the RedWolves only appearance in a bowl game as anNCAA FBS member.

SBC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

CARRINGTON AMONG 11 ASU ALL-CON-

FERENCE SELECTIONS: Arkansas State jun-ior defensive end Alex Carrington was namedthe Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player ofthe Year and was among a school-record 11Red Wolves named to the league’s postseasonall-conference football team. . . . Carrington be-came the second straight ASU player to winthe SBC Defensive Player of the Year Awardand the seventh Red Wolves player to receivethe award all-time in any conference. SafetyTyrell Johnson, now playing with NFL’s Min-nesota Vikings, took the honor in 2007. Fivedifferent players under ASU Head Coach SteveRoberts have now been named the Sun Belt’sPlayer of the Year, Defensive Player of theYear, Freshman of the Year or Newcomer ofthe Year. . . . ASU’s 11 All-Sun Belt Conferencechoices were its most to any all-conferenceteam since 1986 when it was a member of theSouthland Conference. The Red Wolves havenow seen at least nine players tabbed All-SBCeach of the last four years and had the secondmost selections among the league’s eightteams this season. Troy had a league-high 15players named all-conference, while Florida At-lantic followed ASU with nine. . . . Junior run-ning back Reggie Arnold (Little Rock), senioroffensive lineman Matt Mandich (Hattiesburg,

Miss.) and junior kicker Josh Arauco (Grand

Prairie, Texas) joined Carrington as first-teamselections, while junior quarterback Corey

Leonard (Covington, La.), senior tight endDavid Johnson (Pine Bluff), senior offensivelineman Mark Clemons (Reno, Nev.), senior

linebacker Ben Owens (Bearden) and seniorwide receiver Kevin Jones (Shreveport, La.)

represented the Red Wolves on the secondteam. Jones was a second-team selection asa return specialist. . . . Junior tight end J.T. Jor-

dan (Monticello) and and senior defensiveback Dominique Williams (Bastrop, La.)

were both honorable-mention selections.

ASU TWICE SWEEPS WEEKLY SBC

AWARDS: Arkansas State swept the weeklySun Belt Conference Player of the Weekawards twice last season. ASU was awardedthe offensive, defensive and special teamsawards following their victories over TexasA&M and Middle Tennessee. Junior quarter-back Corey Leonard was named the league’soffensive player of the week twice last seasonand six times for his career. Daylan Walker

and Ben Owens were both named an SBCDefensive Player of the Week last season,while Josh Arauco and Kevin Jones wereboth been named the league’s special teamsplayer of the week. Arauco was named thespecial teams player of the week four times.

ASU swept all three awards for the first timein school history on Sept. 1, 2008.

A Sun Belt team swept the awards threetime last season, but just 12 times in Sun BeltConference history. ASU also became just thesecond school in league history to sweep theawards two different weeks during the sameseason.

MID-SEASON ALL-CONFERENCE RECOG-

NITION: Arkansas State had a league-high 13players, including six first-team selections,named to Phil Steele’s Mid-Season All-SunBelt Conference Team.

First Team: Corey Leonard (Jr., QB), Derek

Lawson (RS Fr., RB), Matt Mandich (Sr., OL),Bryan Hall (So., DL), Josh Arauco (Jr., K).

Second Team: Reggie Arnold (Jr., RB),David Johnson (Sr., TE), Kevin Jones (Sr.,PR).

Third Team: Dominic Padrta (Jr., OL), Ben

Owens (Sr., LB), Daylan Walker (Jr., CB), M.

D. Jennings (So., S).

TEAM CAPTAINS: ASU’s senior class will al-ternated throughout the year as team captains.The team voted on permanent captains at theend of the year: Brian Flagg (DE), David John-son (TE), Matt Mandich (OL), Ben Owens (LB).

TEXAS A&M GAME NOTABLES: ASU wonits first ever game over a BCS school since itjoined NCAA FBS. The Red Wolves alsobroke Texas A&M’s 20-game winning streak inhome openers, handing the Aggies just theirfourth loss over their last 50 non-conferencehome games. ASU picked up its first victory in15 games against current members of the Big12 Conference.



Final 2008 Notebook

AMONG THE NATION’S ELITE: ASU rankedamong the top 25 teams in the nation in threestatistical categories: turnover margin (18),rushing offense (18) and tackles for loss (T21).ASU inked among the top 50 teams in the na-tion in 11 statistical categories.

LEADING THE SUN BELT: Arkansas Stateled the Sun Belt Conference in six statisticalcategories. ASU ranked among the top twoteams in the league in 15 statistical categories.

NICE CROWDS: ASU’s first four homecrowds of the 2008 season all ranked amongthe top 10 in ASU Stadium history. Not onlythat, it was the first time in ASU history the foot-ball team played four home games each infront of 20,000 or more spectators during thesame season. The combined crowds forASU’s five games last season(105,525) wasthe largest for any five games played at ASUStadium in the same season. ASU’s averagehome attendance of 21,105 was over 3,000spectators higher than its previous schoolrecord for average home attendance during asingle season. Following is attendance foreach home game last season that rankedamong ASU’s all-time top-10 crowds at ASUStadium:Southern Miss. . . . . . . 25,938 . . . . . . . . . 4thMiddle Tennessee. . . . 24,256 . . . . . . . . . 6thULM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,745 . . . . . . . . . 8thTexas Southern. . . . . . 21,741 . . . . . . . . 10th

WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE: ASUranked first in the Sun Belt Conference and18th in the nation in turnover margin, forcing24 opponent turnovers while giving up just 15of its own. ASU recorded multiple turnovers ina game seven times last season. The RedWolves were also 6-0 last season when win-ning the turnover battle.

LONE STAR SUCCESS: Dating back to the2007 season, Arkansas State has won its lastfive consecutive games over teams from theLone Star state. The Red Wolves fell to Texasin their 2007 season opener, but came back tosweep their games over SMU and North Texasbefore knocking off Texas A&M, Texas South-ern and North Texas in 2008.

A LARGE CROWD: The crowd of 92,138 forRed Wolves game at Alabama was the secondlargest ever to watch an Arkansas State game,just ahead of the 91,611 for its 2004 game atLSU and behind only the 102,368 for its 2007game at Tennessee. The Red Wolves havenow played in front of three of the largest fivecrowds to ever watch an ASU game over thelast two seasons (Alabama in 2008, Tennesseeand Texas in 2007).

THE TOP 25: Alabama was the eighth ASU

opponent ranked among the nation’s top 25teams at the time of a game with the RedWolves under head coach Steve Roberts. Notonly that, Alabama’s No. 2 ranking stands asthe highest for an ASU opponent at the time ofa game with a Roberts’ coached team. Fol-lowing is a list of ranked opponents that ASUhas played under Roberts:No. 2 at Alabama 2008 L, 0-35No. 4 at Texas 2007 L, 13-21No. 4 at LSU 2004 L, 3-53No. 6 Auburn 2006 L, 0-27No. 16 Virginia Tech 2002 L, 7-63No. 17 Missouri 2004 L, 20-52No. 25 Memphis 2004 L, 35-47No. 25 Mississippi 2002 L, 17-52

94th SEASON IN THE BOOKS: ArkansasState kicked off its 94th season of football withits game against Texas A&M. ASU holds a408-435-37 record since the inaugural 1911season and have played in seven bowl games.

OUT OF THE GATES: Arkansas State’s 3-1start through its four games last season wasnot only its best ever as an NCAA FBS mem-ber, but also its best at any level since it was 3-0-1 in 1986.

HOMECOMING HISTORY: Arkansas Statedefeated Middle Tennessee in its 81st Home-coming game last season. ASU, which hasnow won its last six consecutive Homecominggames, is 54-26-1 all-time in Homecoming con-tests.

UNBUCKLE THE BELT: ASU improved to 7-1 all-time in Sun Belt Conference openers afterdefeating Middle Tennessee in its first leaguegame of the season. ASU caught Middle Ten-nessee in its SBC opener for the first time ever.

PRESEASON ALL-SBC ACCOLADES: FiveArkansas State football players were tabbedPreseason All-Sun Belt Conference. Juniorrunning back Reggie Arnold (Little Rock,

Ark.), senior tight end David Johnson (Pine

Bluff, Ark.) and senior offensive lineman Matt

Mandich (Hattiesburg, Miss.) all representedASU on the offensive team, while junior defen-sive end Alex Carrington (Tupelo, Miss.) andsenior linebacker Ben Owens (Bearden, Ark.)

were named to the defensive squad . . . ASU’sfive players on the 28-man squad tied Troy forthe second most among all the schools.Florida Atlantic had a league-high eight play-ers named to the team. Louisiana-Lafayetteand Louisiana-Monroe each had three playerson the team, while North Texas and MiddleTennessee both had two players.

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS: The RedWolves were predicted to finish fourth in theconference according to the league’s 2008 pre-

season coaches poll, announced Monday, July21 at the Sun Belt’s annual Football MediaDays in New Orleans . . . ASU received 39points, just seven fewer than third-place Mon-roe, in the poll. Florida Atlantic received six ofthe eight first-place votes and a league-high 62points, while Troy was picked to finish secondwith 51 points and one first-place vote.Louisiana-Monroe picked up the final first-place vote and finished with 46 points in thevoting. Middle Tennessee was picked fifth with32 points, Louisiana-Lafayette sixth with 26points, North Texas seventh with 19 points andFlorida International eighth with 13 points.

TELEVISION TIME: Three Arkansas Stategames were televised by ESPN Plus and an-other game televised by CSS in 2008. TheRed Wolves’ home games against Louisiana-Monroe on Oct. 11 (6:00 p.m.) and Florida At-lantic on Nov. 22 (2:00 p.m.) and road game atTroy on Dec. 6 (6:00 p.m.) will all be televisedby ESPN Plus, while their game at Alabama onNov. 1 will be carried by CSS . . . ASU’s fourregular-season televised games for 2008 tiedthe second most in school history, matching the2005 season. The Red Wolves’ had a school-record six televised games during the 2007campaign.

NEW FLAGSHIP RADIO STATION AN-

NOUNCED: The Arkansas State UniversityAthletic Department, along with East ArkansasBroadcasters, announced July 16 that KFIN107.9 FM, a 100,000-watt radio station locatedin Jonesboro, would become the new flagshipstation and home of Red Wolves’ footballbroadcasts for the 2008 season. KFIN’s100,000-watt signal reaches parts of Ten-nessee, Missouri and a large portion ofArkansas, giving more ASU football fans theopportunity to follow the Red Wolves.

TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD: The ArkansasState football team has won the Sun Belt Con-ference Team Academic Award four of the pastsix years.

A VISIT FROM THE GOVERNOR: ArkansasGovernor Mike Beebe looked on as theArkansas State Red Wolves went through atwo-hour practice at the ASU practice fieldsduring 2008 fall camp. Beebe, who was theguest speaker at the ASU Touchdown Clubbanquet Tuesday that night, addressed theteam following practice, then took time to posefor pictures with ASU players and fans. “Obvi-ously, it was a privilege for us to have the gov-ernor of the state of Arkansas here at ourpractice and to speak to our team,” said ASUHead Coach Steve Roberts. “We are veryproud of what he has accomplished and con-tinues to accomplish as the governor and asan ASU Alumnus.”

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALLFinal 2008 Notebook


A TIME TO BOND: When Head Coach SteveRoberts came to ASU, he brought a traditionwith him which caught on in a hurry with theplayers. The night before each game, teammembers and coaches get together for milkand cookies. During this time, each player sitsby and visits with at least three other playershe has not visited with throughout the week inorder to learn more about his teammates.

OFFENSIVE TEAM NOTES

57-YEAR RECORD BROKEN: The ArkansasState offense piled up 4,786 yards last seasonto break the 57-year old school record for totaloffense. ASU posted 4,722 yards of total of-fense in 1951 for the previous record.

OFFENSIVE UPRISING: ASU averaged398.8 yards of offense this season, just 8.6yards less than its school record of 407.4 setduring the 1970 season. Arkansas State sur-passed 400 yards of total offense in five of its12 games. ASU reached the 400-yard mark inthree games during the 2007 season. ASUranked third in the Sun Belt Conference and38th in the nation in total offense.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: Junior quarter-back Corey Leonard completed at least onepass to 13 different players last season. Sevenof those 13 players posted double figure re-ceptions and no more than 20 percent ofLeonard’s completions went to any one player.

REACHING THE END ZONE: Arkansas Statehad 17 players that scored a touchdown lastseason, which ranked among the top five teamin the nation. Junior running back Reggie

Arnold led ASU with eight touchdowns.

USING THE CLOCK: Arkansas State rankedfourth in the nation in time of possession andused more clock than 10 of its 12 opponentslast season. The Red Wolves were 6-4 inthose games and averaged 32:50 in time ofpossession. While ASU finished 63rd in thenation in time of possession during the 2007season, it was ranked fourth in 2006 with anaverage 33:03.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: ArkansasState has took care of business in the red zonelast season, raking second in the Sun BeltConference and tied for tied for 35th in the na-tion. The Red Wolves have scored 85.1 per-cent of the time they entered the red zone lastseason, which includes 26 touchdowns and 14field goals in 46 trips.

PUTTING POINTS ON THE BOARD: ASU,ranked third in the Sun Belt Conference and52nd in the nation in scoring offense, scored atleast 30 points in a game four times last sea-

son, including a season-high 37 points againstULM. ASU has scored 30 or more points in atleast three games during four of seven sea-sons under head coach Steve Roberts. UnderRoberts, ASU is 17-3 when scoring at least 30points in a game.

LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD:

Arkansas State broke the Sun Belt Conferenceand ASU Stadium record for points in a gamewith 83 against Texas Southern. The 83 pointsare also the second most in school history, be-hind only the 101 scored against ArkansasTeacher’s College in 1917. Additionally, ASUis the first NCAA FBS team to score 80 or morepoints in a game since Texas Tech scored 80against Sam Houston State on Sept. 17, 2005.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURST: ASU piled up 670yards of total offense against Texas Southern,which ranked as the second highest total inschool history and the fourth highest in SunBelt history. ASU has now posted its top twooffensive games in school history under headcoach Steve Roberts, also recording a school-record 681 yards of total offense last seasonagainst Louisiana-Lafayette.

DEFENSIVE TEAM NOTES

PICK IT OFF: ASU had 15 interceptions onthe season to rank tied for 39th in the nation inthe stat. The Red Wolves posted at least oneinterception in nine of their 12 games last sea-son and 15 of their last 18 dating back to 2007.

GETTING TO THE QUARTERBACK: ASUrecorded 26 sacks last season, including aseason-high five against Louisiana-Lafayette.While ASU posted a season-high three sacksin 2007, it had four or more sacks in threegames last season. ASU finished with 13sacks for all of the 2007 season. ASU rankedNo. 2 in the Sun Belt and tied for 37th in thenation in sacks in 2008.

BUCKLE DOWN: The ASU defense did notgive up more than 14 points in four games lastseason, while the lowest score by an ASU op-ponent in 2007 was 16 points. The last timeASU held more opponents to 14 or fewerpoints was 2006 when it did so five times. ASUranked second in the Sun Belt Conference inscoring defense, giving up 23.8 points pergame.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER NOTES

ABOVE AVERAGE: Running back Derek

Lawson impressed his freshman season,rushing for 695 yards with a 7.2 average percarry. Lawson’s 7.4 yards per rush was the fifthhighest in the nation among all running backsranked in the top-100 for rushing yards. He

ranked No. 9 in the Sun Belt Conference inrushing yards, led all SBC freshmen in rushingand ranked No. 10 in the nation in rushingamong all freshmen.

CBSSports.com Ranks ASU’s Lawson

Among Nation’s Top Freshmen: ArkansasState redshirt freshman running back DerekLawson was one of 10 players recognized byCBSSports.com on its Sept. 24 “FreshmanWatch” list, which featured the best freshmenin college football throughout the the season.

LAWSON BUSTS OUT: Derek Lawson be-came just the 11th player in school history torush for over 200 yards in a game with his 209-yard performance against Texas Southern. His209 yards ranks as the eighth most in schoolhistory.

TWICE AS NICE: Running backs Derek Law-

son rushed for 209 yards and Reggie Arnold

123 yards against Texas Southern to becomethe first ASU duo to rush for over 100 yards inthe same game since 2005 when ShermarBracey and Antonio Warren did it against NorthTexas.

BREAKING 1,000: Junior wide receiver Bran-

don Thompkins recorded 511 receiving yardslast season to give him 1,103 career yards andmake him just the 12th player in school historyto record over 1,000 career receiving yards.With 81 career receptions, Thompkins is tiedfor the 10th most receptions in ASU history aswell.

TOUCHDOWN GRAB: Senior tight end David

Johnson had five touchdown catches last sea-son. Those five touchdown grabs not onlytopped Johnson’s total touchdown receptionsfor the previous three years combined (4), theyare enough to rank tied for the fifth most inschool history for a single season. Just fourASU players have ever caught more touch-down passes in a single-season than Johnsonalready had last year.

LEONARD MILESTONES: Corey Leonard

has hit several milestones last season. Thejunior quarterback became just the third playerin school history to pass for over 5,000 careeryards (5,903), the second player to throw atleast 30 touchdowns (40) and the secondplayer to record over 7,000 yards of total of-fense (7,297). Leonard is already ranked sec-ond all-time at ASU for passing touchdowns,completions (457), passing yards and total of-fense.

GAINING GROUND: With 3,206 career rush-ing yards, junior running back Reggie Arnold

is ranked second among the career rushingleaders in ASU history. Arnold has rushed for



Final 2008 Notebook

at least 100 yards in a game 14 times for hiscareer for the fourth most in school history.

ARNOLD ON DOAK WALKER WATCH LIST:

Junior running back Reggie Arnold was namedto the list of candidates for the 2008 DoakWalker Award, announced by the GuarantyBank SMU Athletic Forum. Arnold was a can-didate for the award, presented annually to thenation’s top running back, for the secondstraight year and joined former ASU runningback Jonathan Adams as the only two playersin school history to make the watch list duringtwo different seasons. Adams was a candidatefor the award in 2000 and 2001.

MANDICH WATCH LIST: Senior offensivelineman Matt Mandich was not only a presea-son First Team All-Sun Belt Conference by anumber of college football publications, he wasalso on a couple of prestigious watch lists.Mandich is on both the Outland Trophy WatchList and Rotary Lombardi Watch List. Not onlythat, he was named preseason HonorableMention All-America by Sporting News.

FAST TRACK TO DEGREE: Corey Leonard,just a junior on the football field, went throughASU’s Summer Commencement ceremonythis year after earning his bachelor’s degree injust three years in Business. Leonard is nowenrolled graduate school and will begin work-ing toward his master’s degree this fall.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER NOTES

FLAGG NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA:

Senior defensive end Brian Flagg (Ripley,Tenn.) was named a First Team ESPN TheMagazine Academic All-America selection.Flagg, a three-time Academic All-District VIchoice, is the first Red Wolves football playerto be named Academic All-America sinceJason Wood in 2004 and also the first ASUfootball player to be tabbed a first-team selec-tion since T.J. Humphreys in 1976. Flagg hasstarted every game this season for the RedWolves, posting 28 tackles and two sacks whileholding down a 3.78 GPA in Electrical Engi-neering.

INTERIOR TERROR: Sophomore defensivelineman Bryan Hall not only ranked fifth in theSun Belt Conference in sacks and 115h in tack-les for loss among all players, his 8.5 tacklesfor loss were the second most in the leagueamong interior defensive linemen and his sixsacks tied the most in the league among inte-rior defensive linemen.

DISRUPTING THE BACKFIELD: Alex Car-

rington had a Sun Belt Conference-high 19.0tackles for loss, which more than tripled hisprevious career best for a single season (5 in

2007). Carrington had 10.5 sacks that rankedsecond in the Sun Belt Conference as well,which easily topped his total of two for hisfreshman and sophomore seasons combined.The junior defensive end ranked seventh in thenation in tackles for loss and tied for 14th insacks.

CARRINGTON NAMED LITTLE ROCK

TOUCHDOWN CLUB’S ASU PLAYER OF

THE YEAR: The Little Rock Touchdown Clubannounced that junior defensive end Alex Car-

rington, the 2008 Sun Belt Conference De-fensive Player of the Year, was selected as itsArkansas State MVP. Carrington joined formerASU stars Antonio Warren (2004), Eric Nei-house (2005), Reggie Arnold (2006) and TyrellJohnson (2007) as Little Rock TouchdownClub’s ASU Player of the Year award winners.

GLOVER POSTS TOP TACKLE NUMBERS:

Sophomore linebacker Darius Glover’s 14tackles against Louisiana-Lafayette were notonly a personal career high, they were themost by an ASU player since the Red Wolves’2007 season opener (a span of 19 games).Glover was fifth on the team and tied for 38thin the Sun Belt Conference in tackles with 54.

TAKING ADVANTAGE: ASU took advantageof a big fumble in its game against ULM asMarcus Brown picked up the loose ball andrumbled 71 yards for a touchdown. Brown’s 71yard return was the second longest in schoolhistory behind only a 76-yard return by ClarkWatkins vs. Northern Illinois in 1995.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION: Senior line-backer Ben Owens (Bearden, Ark.) wasnamed the FWAA/Bronko Nagurski NationalDefensive Player of the Week for games of theweekend of Aug. 30 after helping lead the RedWolves to a season-opening victory over TexasA&M. Owens, became the first player in ASUhistory to be named a national defensive playerof the week and the first Sun Belt Conferenceplayer to receive the recognition since FAU cor-nerback Tavious Polo last season after theOwls defeated Minnesota on Sept. 20. Owenswas added to the 2008 Bronko Nagurski Tro-phy Watch List.

OWENS ON BUTKUS WATCH LIST: Seniorlinebacker Ben Owens was named to thewatch list for the 2008 Butkus Award, given an-nually to the top linebacker in college football.Owens was one of 66 players named to thewatch list after posting a career-high 96 tacklesas a junior that ranked fifth in the Sun Belt.

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER NOTES

ARAUCO NAMED LOU GROZA FINALIST:

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission

announced Nov. 24 that Arkansas State juniorkicker Josh Arauco was named one of threefinalists for the prestigious Lou Groza Award,presented annually to the nation’s top placekicker by the Fed-Ex Orange Bowl. The GrandPrairie, Texas, native was a four-time Sun BeltConference Special Teams Player of the Weekwinner last season and ranked among the na-tion’s top 12 kickers in field goals made (1.55per game), top 14 in field goal percentage(.895) and top scoring by kick (8.0 ppg).

ARAUCO BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD:

Junior kicker Josh Arauco made 17 field goalslast season to push his career total to a school-record 44. Arauco passed Jeff Caldwell for therecord. Caldwell hit 40 field goals from 1993-96. Arauco’s 44 field goals were also the sec-ond most in Sun Belt Conference history andleave him six shy of tying the league record of50 that is held by Troy’s Greg Whibbs.

RECORD BREAKER: Kicker Josh Arauco

broke the Sun Belt Conference record forpoints by kicking (17) and extra points made(11) in the Red Wolves 83-10 victory overTexas Southern.

THOMPKINS BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD:

Brandon Thompkins broke the school recordfor career kickoff return yards last season, andnow has 1,906 for his career. Thompkins isalso ranked second for career kickoff returnyards in the Sun Belt Conference behind onlyTroy’s Leodis McKelvin (2,346 yards from2004-07).

SHRABLE NAMED TO RAY GUY WATCH

LIST: Senior punter Brett Shrable was namedto the watch list for the 2008 Ray Guy Award,given annually to the nation’s top collegiatepunter. Shrable, one of 46 players on thewatch list, was the second player in ASU his-tory to be named to the Ray Guy Award WatchList. Andy Shatley is the only other ASU playerto receive the recognition, making the list in2000.

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL2009 Top Returners Bios


JOSH ARAUCO 89K, 5-9, 218, Sr.-R, 3L

Grand Prairie, Texas (South Grand Prairie)

2009: NationalChamps.net Second TeamPreseason All-America selection . . . Nation-alChamps.net Underdog Award Watch List(only kicker to make the list).

2008: A 2008 Lou Groza Award Finalist,Arauco was a four-time Sun Belt ConferenceSpecial Teams Player of the Week . . . 2008First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection. . . He made 17-of-20 field goals, which in-cluded a school-record 15 in a row . . . Heranked No. 1 in the Sun Belt Conference andNo. 12 in the nation in field goals made (1.55pg), ranked No. 4 in the SBC and tied for No.35 in nation in scoring . . . Additionally,Arauco ranked No. 2 in the SBC and No. 14in the nation in scoring by kick . . . He tied hiscareer high with four field goals made inASU’s victory over Texas A&M and mademultiple field goals in five games . . . Araucowas 4-of-5 on FG attempts of 40 yards ormore . . . He broke the Sun Belt Conferencerecord for points by kicking (17) and extra-points made (11) in ASU’s victory over TexasSouthern . . . During the season he becameASU’s all-time leader and the SBC’s second

all-time leader in field goals made (44).

ARAUCO’S CAREER STATISTICSYr. FGM-A Pct. 1-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-99 Lg Blk

2006 12-16 .750 2-2 5-6 5-7 0-1 0-0 38 32007 15-23 .652 1-1 7-9 4-7 3-6 0-0 45 22008 17-20 .850 0-0 6-7 7-8 4-5 0-0 44 0Totals 44-59 .746 3-3 18-22 16-22 7-12 0-0 45 5

REGGIE ARNOLD 2RB, 5-9, 219, Sr.-R, 3L

Little Rock, Ark. (McClellan)

2009: NationalChamps.net Honorable Men-tion Preseason All-America selection . . . Na-tionalChamps.net Underdog Award WatchList.

2008: Arnold finished the 2008 seasonranked No. 2 in the Sun Belt Conference inrushing yards among running backs (89.5yards per game) and No. 39 in the nation inrushing among all players . . . He ranked No.6 in the Sun Belt Conference and No. 93 inthe nation in all-purpose yards, averaging100.8 yards per game . . . His career-higheight touchdowns led ASU and were theninth most in the Sun Belt . . . Arnold wentover 1,000 yards rushing for the third con-secutive season, finishing the year 1,074yards on the ground . . . The three-time All-Sun Belt Conference selection can becomethe eighth player in NCAA history to rush forover 1,000 yards in four consecutive sea-sons . . . During the season he became thethird player in ASU history to rush for over3,000 career yards (3,210) and became theSun Belt Conference’s fifth all-time leadingrusher . . . He recorded five 100-yard rushinggames, including a season-high 150 yards ina victory over FAU and 145 yards in a victoryover Texas A&M . . . He was on the DoakWalker Award Watch List and now standssecond all-time at ASU in career rushingyards.

ARNOLD’S CAREER RUSHING STATISTICS

Yr. No. Yds. Avg. TD LG

2006 209 1076 5.1 4 312007 163 1060 6.5 9 442008 197 1074 5.5 8 56Totals 569 3210 5.6 21 56

JEFF BLAKE 42FB, 5-10, 239, Jr., 2L

Paragould, Ark. (Greene County Tech)

2008: Blake was ASU’s starting fullback andplayed in all 12 games . . . Posted his first ca-reer rushing and receiving statistics, finish-ing the season with five rushing attempts for40 yards and one touchdown and five recep-tions for 40 yards and two touchdowns . . .Played an important role in pass protectionand rush blocking for ASU’s offense that fin-ished with a school-record 4,786 yards . . .ASU’s rushing offense ranked No. 3 in theSun Belt Conference and No. 38 in the na-tion . . . Helped pave the way for ASU’s rush-ing attack that was No. 2 in the Sun BeltConference and No. 18 in the nation.

BLAKE’S CAREER RUSHING STATISTICS


2007 0 0 0.0 0 02008 5 40 8.0 1 15Totals 5 40 8.0 1 15

BLAKE’S CAREER RECEIVING STATISTICS


2007 0 0 0.0 0 02008 5 25 5.0 2 8Totals 5 40 8.0 1 15



2009 Top Returners Bios

ALEX CARRINGTON 98DE, 6-5, 284, Sr.-R, 3L

Tupelo, Miss. (Tupelo)

2009: Rotary Lombardi Award PreliminaryWatch List . . . Lott Trophy Watch List . . . Na-tionalChamps.net Honorable Mention Pre-season All-America selection . . .NationalChamps.net Underdog Award WatchList.

2008: Sun Belt Conference DefensivePlayer of the Year . . . First Team All-Sun BeltConference . . . Little Rock TouchdownClub's ASU Player of the Year . . . College-FootballNews.com Midseason Second TeamAll-America . . . Had one of the most domi-nating seasons ever by a Sun Belt Confer-ence defensive player, finishing just one sackshy of the Sun Belt Conference record 11.5 .. . Carrington ranked tied for 14th in the na-tion in sacks and seventh in the nation intackles for loss (1.58 per game) . . . His 10.5sacks last season rank as the fourth most inASU history and he posted at least one sackin seven games . . . Had multiple sacks inthree games, including a career-high 2.5sacks against Louisiana-Monroe . . . Talliedat least one tackle for loss in 10 of 12 games,registering a season-high three tackles forloss in three different games . . . His 53 tack-les were the sixth most on the team and mostamong defensive linemen . . . He alsorecorded his first career interception last sea-son . . . He had a season-high eight tackles,but finished with a least five tackles in sixgames . . . He is the first defensive linemanto win the Sun Belt Conference’s DefensivePlayer of the Year Award since 2005 (MiddleTennessee’s Jeff Jeff Littlejohn) and thefourth defensive lineman to ever receive the

honor.

CARRINGTON’S CAREER STATISTICS

Yr. UT AT TOT TFL SACK

2006 11 3 14 2-12 1-92007 20 18 38 5-25 1-82008 36 17 53 19-76 10.5-59Totals 67 38 105 26-113 12.5-76

TREVOR GILLOTT 80TE, 6-2, 218, Sr.-R, 3L

Little Rock, Ark. (Pulaski Academy)

2008: Played in all 12 games, recording 15receptions for career-high 228 yards and firsttwo career touchdowns . . . He ranked fourthon the team in yards and fifth in receptions .. . His 15.2 average per reception was thefourth best on the team among players withat least 10 catches . . . Posted a season-highfive receptions, which also tied his careerhigh, against Southern Miss. He also posteda career-high 79 yards against SouthernMiss . . . Recorded his first career touchdownin ASU’s second game against Texas South-ern, a 39-yard reception that is the longest ofhis career . . . Also had a touchdown recep-tion in the Florida Atlantic game that saw himpile up 52 receiving yards, the second mostof his career . . . Posted multiple receptionsin four games.

GILLOTT’S CAREER RECEIVING STATISTICS


2006 0 0 0.0 0 02007 20 183 9.1 0 262008 15 228 15.2 2 39Totals 35 411 11.7 2 39

DARIUS GLOVER 46LB, 6-1, 220, Jr.-R, 2L

Bossier City, La. (Airline)

2008: Started all 12 games at outside line-backer, recording career-high numbers of 56tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss of seven yardsand one interception for 29 yards . . . Posteda career-high 14 tackles against Louisiana-Lafayette that were the most by an ASUplayer since the Red Wolves’ 2007 seasonopener (a span of 19 games). He alsoposted his first career interception againstthe Ragin’ Cajuns and returned it 29 yardsfor a touchdown . . . Finished fifth on theteam and tied for 38th in the Sun Belt con-ference in tackles with 54 . . . Had at leastfive tackles in four games and multiple stopsin all 12 . . . Only career sack came againstSouthern Miss . . . Career-high one tackle forloss came in three different games and all3.5 tackles for loss came in first five outings.

GLOVER’S CAREER STATISTICS

Yr. UT AT TOT TFL SACK INT

2007 0 2 2 0 0 02008 39 15 54 3.5-7 1-4 1-29Totals 39 17 56 3.5-7 1-4 1-29

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL2009 Top Returner Bios


BRYAN HALL 90DL, 6-1, 284, Jr.-R, 2L

Paducah, Ky. (Tilghman)

2008: Hall started every game from his de-fensive tackle position and posted 39 tack-les, 8.5 tackles for loss of 59 yards, six sacksfor loss of 52 yards, his first career intercep-tion and a fumble recovery . . . Ranked tiedfor third in SBC in sacks and tied for ninth intackles for loss . . . His 8.5 tackles for losswere the second most in the SBC among in-terior defensive linemen and his six sackstied the most in the league among interior de-fensive linemen . . . Tallied a career-high fivetackles in three different games . . . Eightgames registered a tackle for loss . . . 39tackles led all ASU interior defensive linemenand were second most among all defensivelinemen . . . Part of ASU defense ranked No.2 in SBC in total defense and No. 1 in rush-ing defense.

HALL’S CAREER STATISTICS


2007 5 5 10 0 02008 21 18 39 8.5-59 6-52Totals 26 23 49 8.5-59 6-52

GREG HARDY 7LB, 6-0, 246, Sr., 3L

Memphis, Tenn. (Melrose)

2008: Played in 10 games in a reserve role,missing the other two due to injury . . . Fin-ished the season with 17 tackles, includingone tackle for loss, and a forced fumble . . .Enters 2009 campaign with the second mosttackles among ASU’s linebacking corp with56 . . . Posted a season-high four tackles inASU’s season-opening victory over TexasA&M . . . Finished with multiple tackles in fiveoutings.

HARDY’S CAREER STATISTICS


2006 3 0 3 0 0 02007 23 15 38 2.5-5 0 02008 7 10 17 1-1 0 0Totals 39 17 56 3.5-7 1-4 1-29

DREW HILTON 61OL, 6-3, 302, Jr.-R, 2L

Batesville, Ark. (Batesville)

2008: Played in 11 games, including sevenas a starter at his guard position . . . Helpedpave the way for ASU’s offense that piled up4,786 yards to break the 57-year old schoolrecord for total offense . . . Part of offensiveline that led ASU offense to SBC rankings ofNo. 3 in scoring offense, No. 2 rushing of-fense and No. 3 total offense . . . ASU’s of-fense ranked No. 18 in the nation in rushingoffense, No. 38 in total offense and No. 52 inscoring offense . . . ASU’s offense averaged398.8 yards per game, the best by an ASUoffense since 1970 . . . The offensive line did-n’t allow a single sack in three games lastseason.




J.T. JORDAN 87TE, 6-1, 274, Sr.-R, 3L

Monticello, Ark. (Monticello)

2008: Honorable Mention All-Sun Belt Con-ference selection . . . Jordan played in all 12games at the tight end position and while hehad just three receptions for 29 yards and atouchdown, he was a big part of ASU’s block-ing efforts up front . . . Caught two passes for17 yards and a touchdown, all season highs,in ASU’s victory over Florida Atlantic . . . Longreception was 15 yards against the Owls . . .All three receptions came over last threegames . . . Jordan has helped the ASU of-fense to a No. 2 ranking in the Sun Belt Con-ference in rushing offense and No. 18ranking nationally . . . He helped lead theASU offense to its most yards in school his-tory, breaking a 57-year old record . . . Hehelped lead the ASU offense to SBC rank-ings of No. 3 in scoring offense, No. 2 rush-ing offense and No. 3 total offense. The ASUoffense is averaged 398.8 yards per game,the best by an ASU offense since 1970.

JORDAN’S CAREER RECEIVING STATISTICS


2006 3 26 8.7 0 132007 3 27 9.0 1 212008 3 29 9.7 1 15Totals 9 82 9.1 2 21

M.D. JENNINGS 26S, 6-0, 172, Jr.-R, 2L

Calhoun City, Miss. (Calhoun City)

2008: Jennings started every game at hissafety position, recording a team-high threeinterceptions, team-high five pass break-ups(Daylan Walker also had five), a forced fum-ble, 67 tackles and three tackles for loss . . .67 tackles were the second most on an ASUdefense ranked No. 1 in SBC in rush defenseand No. 2 in total defense . . . Ranked tiedfor fifth in SBC in passes defended, tied forNo. 6 in interceptions and No. 25 in tackles .. . Tallied a career-high 13 tackles againstSouthern Miss and had two games this sea-son with double-figure stops . . . Six gameswith at least five tackles.

JENNING’S CAREER STATISTICS

Yr. UT AT TOT TFL SACK INT PBU

2007 12 14 26 1-14 1-14 1-3 02008 42 25 67 3-5 0 3-13 5Totals 54 39 93 4-19 1-14 4-16 5

DEREK LAWSON 22RB, 5-11, 216, So.-R, 1L

Jonesboro, Ark. (Nettleton)

2008: Lawson impressed his freshman sea-son, rushing for 695 yards with a 7.2 averageper carry . . . His 7.4 yards per rush was thefifth highest in the nation among all runningbacks ranked in the top-100 for rushing yards. . . Ranked No. 9 in the Sun Belt Conferencein rushing yards (57.9 ypg), led all SBC fresh-men in rushing and ranked No. 10 in the nationin rushing among all freshmen . . . One of 10players recognized by CBSSports.com on itsSept. 24 “Freshman Watch” list, which featuredthe best freshmen in college football through-out the the season . . .Became just the 11thplayer in school history to rush for over 200yards in a game with his 209-yard performanceagainst Texas Southern . . . His 209 yardsranks as the eighth most in school history . . .Posted two 100-yard rushing games and hadover 50 yards in five outings . . . Had long rushof 80 yards against Texas Southern that rankstied for the fourth longest in school history . . .His 80-yard run was the longest by an ASUplayer since 2005.

LAWSON’S CAREER RUSHING STATISTICS


2008 97 695 7.2 4 80Totals 97 695 7.2 4 80



KHARI MAYS 99DL, 6-2, 288, Sr.-R, 3L

Memphis, Tenn. (Germantown)

2008: Started all 12 games at defensivetackle . . . Finished with 15 tackles (6 solo, 9assisted) that included a career-high threetackles for loss of eight yards . . . Posted thefirst two sacks of his career, one pass break-up and one forced fumble . . . Tallied a sea-son-high four tackles that also tied his careerhigh . . . Posted multiple stops in threegames . . . 10 of his 15 total tackles cameover ASU’s first three games . . . Recorded asack against Texas A&M and Southern Miss.

MAYS’ CAREER STATISTICS


2006 0 0 0 0 02007 8 9 17 1-1 0-02008 6 9 15 3-8 2-6Totals 14 18 32 4-9 2-6

COREY LEONARD 1QB, 6-1, 207, Sr.-R, 3L

Covington, La. (Covington)

2008: 2008 Second Team All-Sun Belt Con-ference selection . . . Leonard was a two-timeSun Belt Conference Player of the Week andnamed Phil Steele’s First Team Mid-SeasonAll-Sun Belt Conference . . . He broke hisown school-record for total offense with2,863 yards and ranked fourth in the SunBelt Conference and 38th in the nation intotal offense . . . He also tied his own schoolrecord with 16 touchdown passes and fin-ished with a career-best 2,347 passing yardsthat stands as the second most in school his-tory . . . He now has 40 career touchdownpasses that rank as the second most in ASUhistory and the fifth most in SBC history . . .He posted a career-high 366 yards of totaloffense (4th most in ASU history) in a a vic-tory over Middle Tennessee . . . He finishedthe season No. 4 all-time in SBC history intotal offense (7,297 yards) and No. 6 in pass-ing yards (5,903) . . . Threw for over 200yards in six games, including a season-high292 yards in a victory over Middle Tennessee. . . Rushed for 516 yards and four touch-downs . . . Posted a season-high 86 rushingyards in ASU’s victory over Texas A&M . . .Longest rush of 32 yards also came againstTexas A&M.

LEONARD’S CAREER PASSING STATISTICS

Yr. COMP ATT YDS TD INT LG

2006 109 222 1321 8 8 692007 182 349 2235 16 15 842008 166 306 2347 16 8 63Totals 457 877 5903 40 31 84

JAVON McKINNON 5LB, 6-0, 236, Jr.-R, 2L

Memphis, Tenn. (Melrose)

2008: Started all 12 games at outside line-backer . . . Finished the season with 24 tack-les (9 solo, 15 assisted) . . . Posted his firstcareer tackle for loss against Louisiana-Lafayette . . . Recorded a season-high sixtackles against Southern Miss and tallied fiveor more tackles in three games . . .. Postedmultiple stops in five games . . . Had onefumble recovery he returned 25 yards for atouchdown against Texas Southern . . . Thefumble recovery was the second of his ca-reer.

McKINNON’S CAREER STATISTICS


2007 25 16 41 0 0 02008 9 15 24 1-2 0 0Totals 34 31 65 1-2 0 0




CORDARIOUS MINGO 1CB, 5-11, 182, Sr., 1L

Terrell, Texas (Trinity Valley CC)

2008: Mingo completed his first season in aRed Wolves uniform with 21 tackles (15 solo,6 assisted), one tackle for loss of sevenyards, one interception returned for 20 yardsand two pass break-ups . . . Posted a sea-son-high six tackles against Louisiana-Mon-roe, also posting his interception against theWarhawks . . . Recorded multiple tackles infour games and had four or more stops inthree contests . . . 21 total tackles ranked12th on the team and third among corner-backs.

MINGO’S CAREER STATISTICS


2008 15 6 21 1-7 0 1-20 2Totals 15 6 21 1-7 0 1-20 2

JAHBARI McLENNAN 9WR, 5-11, 188, Sr., 1L

Austin, Texas (Trinity Valley CC)

2008: McLennan made an immediate im-pact his first season with the Red Wolves,tying for the team’s most receptions (32) andfinishing second on the squad with 451 re-ceiving yards . . . Posted a season-highseven receptions against Troy in ASU’s sea-son finale that were the most single-game re-ceptions by an ASU player . . . Also finishedthe Texas A&M game with six catches for 73yards and had multiple receptions in sixgames . . . Caught at least one pass in 10games . . . Finished the North Texas gamewith four receptions for a season-best 79yards and his only receiving touchdown . . .63-yard reception against Texas Southerntied fellow receiver Brandon Thompkins forthe longest reception by an ASU player dur-ing the season . . . Averaged 14.1 yards percatch . . . Rushed four times for 78 yards, in-cluding 63-yard touchdown run (his only onlyrushing TD of the season) against Louisiana-Monroe.

McLENNAN’S CAREER RECEIVING STATISTICS


2008 32 451 14.1 1 63Totals 32 451 14.1 1 63

DOMINIC PADRTA 60OL, 6-4, 312, Sr.-R, 2L

Sandy, Ore. (Sandy)

2008: Played in all 12 games, including 10as a starter at his guard position . . . Helpedpave the way for ASU’s offense that piled up4,786 yards to break the 57-year old schoolrecord for total offense . . . Part of offensiveline that led ASU offense to SBC rankings ofNo. 3 in scoring offense, No. 2 rushing of-fense and No. 3 total offense . . . ASU’s of-fense ranked No. 18 in the nation in rushingoffense, No. 38 in total offense and No. 52 inscoring offense . . . ASU’s offense averaged398.8 yards per game, the best by an ASUoffense since 1970 . . . The offensive line did-n’t allow a single sack in three games lastseason.



BRANDON THOMPKINS 14WR/KR, 5-9, 180, Sr., 3L

West Palm Beach, Fla. (Palm Beach Lake)

2008: Thompkins led ASU in both recep-tions (32 tied Jahbari McLennan for teamhigh) and receiving yards (511) . . . His 16.0average yards per reception was the thirdhighest average among all SBC receiversranked among the top-10 SBC leaders re-ceiving yards . . . He recorded multiple re-ceptions in nine games, including aseason-high six receptions for 98 yards anda touchdown against FAU . . . Became the12th player in school history to record 1,000career receiving yards and is tied for the 10thmost receptions in school history for a career. . . The Sun Belt Conference’s second all-time leader in career kickoff return yardsposted 296 kick return yards for a 19.7 aver-age . . . He tallied a season-high 147 kick re-turn yards against FIU and was second onthe team in all-purpose yards with 823 (74.8ypg).

THOMPKINS’ CAREER RECEIVING STATISTICS


2006 8 89 11.1 0 332007 41 503 12.3 1 442008 32 511 16.0 2 63Totals 81 1103 13.3 3 63

THOMPKINS’ CAREER KICKOFF RETURN STATS


2006 25 548 21.9 0 422007 49 1062 21.7 0 432008 15 296 19.7 0 30Totals 89 1906 21.4 0 43

PAUL STEPHENS 28CB, 5-9, 166, Sr., 1L

Missouri City, Texas (Blinn JC)

2008: While Stephens recorded just 10 tack-les last season, he is expected to figureheavily into ASU’s 2009 defensive plans andalso be a factor in the return game . . .Recorded eight unassisted tackles and twoassisted, while also intercepting a passagainst Texas Southern . . . Posted a sea-son-high three tackles against Louisiana-Monroe . . . Returned 10 kickoffs for 266yards, including a long of 57 yards againstNorth Texas that was the longest return onthe team . . . Returned a season-high fourkicks at Alabama for 74 yards and posted aseason-high 77 kickoff return yards in ASU’sseason finale at Troy.

STEPHENS’ CAREER STATISTICS


2008 8 2 10 0 0 1-0 0Totals 8 2 10 0 0 1-0 0

EVAN VAN DOLAH 39S, 6-2, 213, Sr.-R, 3L

Mountain Home, Ark. (Mountain Home)

2008: Started every game and posted thebest numbers of his career, finishing with 52tackles (32 solo, 20 assisted), one intercep-tion and four pass break-ups . . . 52 totaltackles were the seventh most on the teamand fourth most among defensive backs . . .Recorded multiple tackles in all but onegame and had five or more tackles in fivegames . . . Posted a career-high eight tack-les against Memphis . . . Ranked 42nd in theSun Belt Conference in tackles . . . Recordedhis first career interception at North Texas . .. Four pass break-ups were the fourth moston the team.

VAN DOLAH’S CAREER STATISTICS


2006 1 0 1 0 0 0 02007 17 14 31 2-21 0 0 02008 32 20 52 1-1 0 1-8 4Totals 50 34 84 3-22 0 1-8 4




DAYLAN WALKER 13CB, 5-9, 177, Sr.-R, 3L

Milan, Tenn. (Milan)

2008: Walker posted the best numbers ofhis career last season, posting 65 tackles (47solo, 18 unassisted), one tackle for loss, oneinterception and five pass break-ups . . .Named the Sun Belt Conference DefensivePlayer of the Week after posting a season-high nine tackles and one interception for 33yards in a victory over Middle Tennessee . . .His nine stops were just one shy of his ca-reer high set as a sophomore . . . Rankedthird on the team in tackles and secondamong defensive back . . . Five pass break-ups tied the team high . . . Posted multipletackles in all 12 games and finished with atleast five stops in seven games . . . Ranked29th in the Sun Belt Conference in tackles.

WALKER’S CAREER STATISTICS


2006 6 0 6 0 0 1-0 12007 24 6 30 1-5 0 0 32008 47 18 65 1-1 0 1-33 5Totals 77 24 101 2-6 0 2-33 9

COMPLETIONS

1. Cleo Lemon 551 1997-20002. Corey Leonard 457 2006-Cur.

3. Johnny Covington 409 1992-95PASS ATTEMPTS

1. Cleo Lemon 1,128 1997-20002. Corey Leonard 877 2006-Cur.

3. Johnny Covington 824 1992-95PASSING YARDS

1. Cleo Lemon 7,706 1997-002. Corey Leonard 5,903 2006-Cur.

3. James Hamilton 5,383 1968-71PASSING TOUCHDOWNS

1. Cleo Lemon 48 1997-20002. Corey Leonard 40 2006-Cur.

3. Nick Noce 25 2003-05TOTAL OFFENSE - PLAYS


3. Roy Johnson 1,238 1988-91TOTAL OFFENSE - NET YARDS


3. Roy Johnson 6,779 1988-91RUSHING YARDS

1. Richie Woit 3,947 1950-532. Reggie Arnold 3,210 2006-Cur.

3. Jonathan Adams 3,005 1998-01100-YD RUSHING GAMES

1. Calvin Harrell 18 1969-712. Antonio Warren 15 2002-053. Reggie Arnold 14 2006-Cur.

POINTS BY KICKING

1. Eric Neihouse 234 2002-052. Josh Arauco 215 2006-Cur.

3. Jeff Caldwell 195 1993-96

POINTS SCORED

1. Richie Woit 342 1950-532. Eric Neihouse 234 2006-Cur.3. Josh Arauco 215 2006-Cur.

FIELD GOALS MADE

1. Josh Arauco 44 2006-Cur.

2. Jeff Caldwell 40 1993-963. Eric Neihouse 37 2002-05

EXTRA POINTS MADE

1. Eric Neihouse 123 2002-052. Don LaPlante 96 1950-523. Josh Arauco 87 2006-Cur.

KICKOFF RETURNS

1. B. Thompkins 89 2006-Cur.

2. James Hickenbotham73 1999-023. Darren Toney 72 2004-07

KICKOFF RETURN YARDS

1. B. Thompkins 1,906 2006-Cur.

2. James Hickenbotham1,746 1999-023. Darren Toney 1,513 2004-07

RECEPTIONS

1. Robert Kilow 158 1998-005. Fred Barnett 95 1986-8910. Jerome Stegall 81 2001-04

Brandon Thompkins 81 2006-Cur.

RECEIVING YARDS

1. Lennie Johnson 2,730 1995-985. Gerald Jumper 1,396 1964-6710. Chet Douthit 1,106 1969-70

B. Thompkins 1,103 2006-Cur.

QUARTERBACK SACKS

1. Marvin Neloms 28 1983-86T5. Lynn Rowland 16 1989-90

Michael Cline 16 1983-85NR Alex Carrington 12.5 2006-Cur.

INDIVIDUAL ASU CAREER RECORDS WATCH LIST

TOTAL OFFENSE - PLAYS

1. Steven Jyles, ULM (2002-05). . . . . . 1,9092. Jerry Babb, ULL (2003-06). . . . . . . . 1,3633. Corey Leonard (2006-Cur.) . . . . . . 1,321

TOTAL OFFENSE - YARDS

1. Steven Jyles, ULM (2002-05). . . . . 10,2342. Jerry Babb, ULL (2003-06). . . . . . . . 7,7303. Corey Leonard (2006-cur.). . . . . . . 7,297

RUSHING YARDS

1. Tyrell Fenroy, ULL (2005-08) . . . . . . 4,6462. Patrick Cobbs, NT (2001-05) . . . . . . 4,0503. Jamario Thomas, NT (2004-07) . . . . 3,4964. Calvin Dawson, ULM (2004-07) . . . . 3,3785. Reggie Arnold (2006-cur.) . . . . . . . 3,210

PASSING YARDS

1. Steven Jyles, ULM (2002-05). . . . . . 8,9872. Rusty Smith, FAU (2006-cur.) . . . . . 8,1973. Clint Marks, MT (2003-06) . . . . . . . . 7,3424. Brian Lindgren, Idaho (2001-03) . . . 6,5415. Jerry Babb, ULL (2003-06). . . . . . . . 6,2416. Corey Leonard (2006-cur.). . . . . . . 5,903

PASSING TOUCHDOWNS

1. Rusty Smith, FAU (2006-cur.) . . . . . . . . 622. Steven Jyles, ULM (2002-05) . . . . . . . . 55T3. Scott Hall, NT (2001-04) . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Brian Lindgren, Idaho (2001-03) . . . . . . 445. Corey Leonard (2006-cur.) . . . . . . . . . 40

FIELD GOALS MADE

1. Greg Whibbs, Troy (2004-07) . . . . . . . . 502. Josh Arauco (2006-cur.) . . . . . . . . . . . 44

T3. Nick Bazaldua, NT (2002-05) . . . . . . . . 42Sean Comiskey, ULL (2002-05) . . . . . . 42

POINTS BY KICKING

1. Greg Whibbs, Troy (2004-07) . . . . . . . 2842. Nick Bazaldua, NT (2002-05) . . . . . . . 2473. Eric Neihouse, ASU (2002-05) . . . . . . 2344. Sean Comiskey, ULL (2002-05) . . . . . 2295. Josh Arauco (2006-cur.) . . . . . . . . . . 214

KICK RETURNS

1. Leodis McKelvin, Troy (2004-07) . . . . . 992. Brandon Thompkins (2006-cur.) . . . . 89

3. DiIvory Edgecomb (2005-cur.) . . . . . . . 77KICK RETURN YARDS

1. Leodis McKelvin, Troy (2004-07) . . . 2,3462. DiIvory Edgecomb (2005-08) . . . . . . 1,9163. B. Thompkins (2006-cur.) . . . . . . . 1,906

INDIVIDUAL SBC CAREER RECORDS WATCH LIST

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL2009 Signing Class Bios


Arkansas State’s 2009 signing class is made up of 19 high school and two junior-college standouts from eight different states, includ-ing five from Arkansas.

“I am thrilled about today’s events, the culmination of a year’s worth of work in signing this class,” said Roberts at Feb. 4 press con-ference announcing the signing class. “I am very appreciative to our staff for the hard work and long hours they put in to signing this class.I am excited about the young men that will continue both their academic and football careers here at Arkansas State.

“We had 13 scholarship seniors that departed from our football program and have replaced them with 21 young men that will be join-ing our football program, three that have already enrolled at Arkansas State and 18 more that will enroll in the fall of 2009. I am excitedabout that exchange.”

The Red Wolves signed nine offensive players, including five linemen, three wide receivers and one quarterback. ASU also inked 10defensive players, expecting four to play in the secondary, four on the line and two at the linebacker position. The Red Wolves added twoplayers that could play on either side of the ball, one listed as a lineman and the other as an athlete.

“We had an emphasis on a couple of positions, one of which was the offensive line where we lost four scholarship players to gradua-tion,” said Roberts. “We replaced those young men with six signees on the line. Another area of concern was the wide receiver position,where we didn’t have a lot of losses this year but have four upcoming seniors in 2009. So it was critical for us to get some players at thatposition and we signed three wide receivers. We are very balanced at the other positions with this class.”

In addition to the five signees from the state of Arkansas, ASU also landed five players from Tennessee, four from Alabama, two fromboth Louisiana and Texas and one from California, Florida and Illinois. ASU’s five signees from its home state are from Lake Hamilton,DeWitt, Little Rock, Springdale and Bentonville.

“I’m excited about where these young men come from,” said Roberts. “The majority of our class comes from the state of Arkansas orjust a few miles down the road in western Tennessee. I’m pleased with the proximity to ASU we were able to recruit. We always start athome and then move as far as we have to outside this region to fulfill the needs of our program.”

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL SIGNING CLASS

1. LaAngelo Albright: 5-11, 195, LB, Prattville, Ala. (Prattville High School)2. Byron Blake: 6-2, 205, DB, Belle Glade, Fla. (Glades Central High School)3. Phillip Butterfield: 6-2, 205, QB, Lake Hamilton, Ark. (Lake Hamilton High School)4. Jake Campbell: 6-6, 310, OL, Belleville, Ill. (Belleville East High School)5. Justin Carney: 6-6, 290, OL, DeWitt, Ark. (DeWitt High School)6. Ryan Carrethers: 6-0, 300, DL, Nashville, Tenn. (Brentwood Academy)7. Darius Dunaway: 6-5, 220, DE, Monroe, La. (Carroll High School)8. Sifa Etu: 6-1, 305, Jr., OL, Hayward, Calif. (Chabot (CA) Junior College)**9. Demetrius Harris: 6-5, 210, ATH, Little Rock, Ark. (Jacksonville High School)10. Lucious Henderson: 5-11, 185, Jr., WR, Austin, Texas (Navarro (TX) Junior College)**11. Tausean Holmes: 5-9, 175, DB, Millington, Tenn. (Millington High School)12. Julian Jones: 5-11, 175, DB, Germantown, Tenn. (Germantown High School)13. Carlos McCants: 5-11, 175, WR, Mobile, Ala. (LeFlore High School)14. Cliff Mitchell: 6-4, 270, OL, Jasper, Texas (Jasper High School)15. Allen Muse: 6-4, 205, WR, Leesville, La. (Leesville High School)*16. Nick Nelms: 5-11, 215, LB, Germantown, Tenn. (Houston High School)17. Nick O’Quinn: 6-2, 265, OL/DL, Springdale, Ark. (Shiloh Christian High School)18. Tim Pruitt: 6-2, 228, DE, Huntsville, Ala. (Madison High School)19. Chaz Scales: 5-8, 160, DB, Franklin, Tenn. (Centennial High School)20. Austin Taylor: 6-3, 270, DL, Bentonville, Ark. (Bentonville High School)21. Chris Tolbert: 6-5, 280, OL, Birmingham, Ala. (Erwin High School)

* Player originally signed with ASU in 2008, but didn’t enroll at ASU for medical reasons. Available for spring practice.**Junior College Midterm Signee and is available for spring practice.

BY STATEArkansas (5): Phillip Butterfield (QB), Justin Carney (OL), Demetrius Har-ris (ATH), Nick O’Quinn (OL/DL), Austin Taylor (DL)Alabama (4): LaAngelo Albright (LB), Carlos McCants (WR), Tim Pruitt (DE),Chris Tolbert (OL)California (1): Sifa Etu (OL)Florida (1): Byron Blake (DB)Illinois (1): Jake Campbell (OL)Louisiana (2): Darius Dunaway (DE), Allen Muse (WR)Tennessee (5): Ryan Carrethers (DL), Tausean Holmes (DB), Julian Jones(DB), Nick Nelms (LB), Chaz Scales (DB)Texas (2): Lucious Henderson (WR), Cliff Mitchell (OL)

BY POSITIONAthlete (1): Demetrius HarrisOffensive Line (6): Jake Campbell, Justin Carney, Sifa Etu, Cliff Mitchell,Nick O’Quinn (OL/DL) Chris TolbertQuarterback (1): Phillip ButterfieldWide Receiver (3): Lucious Henderson, Carlos McCants, Allen MuseDefensive Back (4): Byron Blake, Tausean Holmes, Julian Jones, ChazScalesDefensive End (2): Darius Dunaway, Tim PruittDefensive Line (3): Ryan Carrethers, Nick O’Quinn (OL/DL), Austin TaylorLinebacker (2): LaAngelo Albright, Nick Nelms



2009 Signing Class Bios

LaAngelo Albright5-11, 195, LB, Prattville, Ala. (Prattville)

Started for three Class 6A state championship Prattville HighSchool teams . . . Named First Team All-State as a juniorand senior by the Alabama Sports Writers Association . . .Recorded 277 tackles from his middle linebacker positionover his last two seasons with the Lions, posting 124 stops(83 solo), including 11.5 tackles for loss, five sacks and afumble recovery as a senior . . . Tallied 153 tackles (89 solo)and three sacks as a junior in 2007 . . . Also recruited byAuburn . . . Posted 109 tackles as a sophomore in 2006, andalso finished with 4.5 sacks and three fumble recoveries . .. Also played varsity basketball at Prattville High School . . .Current ASU defensive tackle Greg McCall, who signed withASU in 2008, also played at Prattville High School.

Byron Blake6-2, 205, DB, Belle Glade, Fla. (Glades Central)

Three-year varsity football letterman . . . posted 76 tackles,three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown,and three forced fumbles as a senior . . . Also competed intrack and field . . . Also recruited by LSU, Georgia, ULLafayette and Marshall.

Phillip Butterfield6-2, 205, Lake Hamilton, Ark. (Lake Hamilton)

Arkansas Associated Press Super Team selection . . . Three-year starter for Lake Hamilton . . . Two-time all-state selec-tion . . . Three-time all-conference selection . . . Two-timeGarland County Offensive Player of the Year . . . Named theArkansas Class 6A Offensive Player of the Year by theArkansas Democrat-Gazette . . . Little Rock TouchdownClub 2008 Class 6A Player of the Year . . . 2008 State Farm7A/6A Offensive Player of the Year in the state of Arkansas. . . Two-time All-Tri-County Team in 2008 . . . . 2008 Tri-Lakes Player of the Year . . . 2009 Arkansas All-Star Gameselection . . . 2009 U.S. Army All-American Game nominee. . . 2007 Fox 16 Player of the Year . . . Two-time LandersAward nominee . . . Recorded 6,930 career passing yardsand threw 63 touchdown passes . . . Threw for 2,761 yardsand 23 touchdowns to lead Lake Hamilton to the Class 6Astate championship and a final record of 10-3 . . . Ran for147 yards and two touchdowns, while also throwing for 140yards and two more touchdowns in the Wolves 42-28 vic-tory over El Dorado in the state championship game. But-terfield also posted an interception in the game, helping himgarner the game’s MVP award . . . Lake Hamilton finished asthe state runner-up his junior season . . . Lake Hamiltonrecord holder for career passing touchdowns, season pass-ing touchdowns and passing yards and single-game pass-ing yards and touchdowns . . . 3-star recruit byCollegeFootballNews.com and Rivals.com . . . 36th rankedquarterback in the nation according to ESPN.com . . .Ranked as the No. 62 quarterback in the nation by

Scout.com . . . Also recruited by Tulsa, Oklahoma State,Vanderbilt, Kansas, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Nebraska,Duke, Virginia and Princeton.

Jake Campbell6-6, 310, OL, Belleville, Ill. (Belleville East)

Three-year starter for Belleville East, helping lead the schoolto the state playoffs each season, and four-year varsity let-terman . . . Helped lead Belleville East to a 7-3 record as ajunior in 2007 and a 7-4 mark last season . . . Team Captain. . . 2008 Honorable Mention All-State, Academic All-State,All-Conference, All-Area and All Metro-East team . . . No. 17of 30 of the "Super 30" as a junior according to the St. LouisPost Dispatch . . . Named one of the top-10 linemen by theSt. Louis Post Dispatch . . . Also competed in track and field. . . Academic Honor Roll student . . . Also recruited by Iowa,Illinois, Wisconsin, Murray State, Harvard and Yale.

Justin Carney6-6, 290, OL, DeWitt, Ark. (DeWitt)

Three-year varsity football letterman . . . Two-time all-con-ference selection at DeWitt High School . . . All-State selec-tion . . . Also competed in track and field . . . Ranked No.139 best offensive tackle in the nation by Scout.com . . . Big,athletic player that moved from tight end as a junior to the of-fensive line for senior season . . . Named to the 2008 StateFarm Award Watch List for Player of the Year in the state ofArkansas . . . Honor Roll student and member of NationalHonor Society.

Ryan Carrethers6-0, 300, DL, Nashville, Tenn. (Brentwood Academy)

Four-year varsity letterman . . . Posted 70 tackles and 10sacks his senior season . . . Helped lead Brentwood Acad-emy to three championship games . . . Named all-state andAll-Williamson County in 2008 . . . Rivals.com TennesseePostseasonTop 35 (No.33) 2009 among all players in thestate . . . Also competed in wrestling at Brentwood.

Darius Dunaway6-5, 220, DE, Monroe, La. (Carroll)

Academic All-State and All-District selection as a senior . . .Honor student . . . Also competed in basketball and trackand field at Carroll High School . . . Sat out his junior seasonwith an injury before coming back for his senior seasonwhen he earned all-district honors . . . Also recruited by ULLafayette and Southern Miss.

Sifa Etu6-1, 305, OL, Jr., Hayward, Calif. (Chabot (CA) JC)

Will have two years of eligibility remaining at Arkansas Stateand is available for spring practice . . . Named All-GoldenGate Conference and All-Region II last season as an offen-

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL2009 Signing Class Bios


sive tackle for the Gladiators . . . Named the top performerat the 2008 JCFootball.com NorCal Combine . . . Footballand track and field letterman at Hayward High School . . .Competed in the shot put in high school . . . Also recruitedby Marshall and Miami . . . ASU offensive line coach DarrenHiller also played Chabot Junior College in 1990 and 1991.

Demetrius Harris6-5, 210, ATH, Little Rock, Ark. (Jacksonville)

Two-year letterman at Jacksonville High School . . .Recorded 47 receptions for 738 yards his senior seasonalong with nine touchdowns as wide receiver . . . Recorded110 solo tackles, 36 assisted tackles, four interceptions, 12pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, one of which was re-turned for a touchdown, as a defensive back . . . He had sixreceptions for 180 yards and four touchdowns againstMountain Home in one of his top performances in 2008 . . .Named to the 2008 State Farm Awards watch list for Offen-sive Player of the Year . . . Class 6A All-state and all-Con-ference selection as a senior . . . Also a starter on theJacksonville High School varsity basketball team . . . NamedThe Arkansas Leader Defensive Player of the Year.

Lucious Henderson5-11, 185, Jr., WR, Austin, Texas (Navarro JC)

Junior College Midterm Signee and is available for springpractice . . . Played wide receiver for Navarro College in2007, posting 22 receptions for 360 yards and three touch-downs in eight games . . . Timed in the 4.4 second-range inthe 40-yard dash . . . Three-year football and track lettermanat McCallum High School in Austin, Texas . . . Track regionalqualifier in the 200 and 400 meters and 4x200 relay . . . Firstteam all-district quarterback and district offensive MVP sen-ior season, passing for 1,203 yards and rushing for 1,222yards to lead McCallum to the playoffs . . . Versatile playerwho also saw time at cornerback, free safety, wide receiver,punt and kickoff returner . . . Recognized as top wide re-ceiver at LaDainian Tomlinson Football Camp in the sum-mer of 2005 . . . Also recruited by Hawaii and Houston.

Tausean Holmes5-9, 175, DB, Millington, Tenn. (Millington Central)

Played running back at Millington Central High School . . .Named Tennessee’s Class 5A Mr. Football as a senior afterrecording 1,815 all-purpose yards (1,308 rushing) and 29touchdowns (22 rushing) . . . Helped Millington Central com-pile a 31-6 record during his three seasons as a varsity let-terman . . . Millington Central posted a record of 11-1 hissenior season, 13-1 junior season and 7-4 his sophomoreseason . . . Named 2008 Tennessee Mr. Football 5A Back ofthe Year . . . All-state selection and Region 7-5A MVP sen-ior campaign . . . Liberty Bowl Player of the Week selection. . . Named to the Tennessee Dream Team . . . Also com-peted in basketball.

Julian Jones5-11, 175, DB, Memphis, Tenn. (Germantown)

Played both wide receiver and defensive back for the RedDevils . . . Named Class 5A All-State defensive back his sen-ior season . . . 2007 and 2008 First Team All-Region selec-tion . . . 2008 Shelby Metro All-Star . . . Posted 23 receptionsfor 272 yards and five touchdowns in a triple option offenseas a senior . . . Defensively, he tallied 24 tackles from hiscornerback position . . . Also returned kicks on specialteams, taking one return 85 yards for a touchdown . . . Fin-ished with two kickoff returns and one punt return for atouchdown and also posted one defensive touchdown . . .Also competed in track at Germantown High School . . .Honor Roll student . . . Timed at 4.52 seconds in the 40-yarddash . . . Also recruited by Tennessee-Martin and DeltaState.

Carlos McCants5-11, 175, WR, Mobile, Ala. (LeFlore)

Four-year varsity football letterman, including three years asa starter . . . Played both wide receiver and cornerback,while also returning punts and kickoffs for LeFlore HighSchool . . . During his four years at LeFlore, McCantsrecorded 3,148 all-purpose yards, 22 touchdowns and 81receptions . . . Caught 56 passes for 878 yards and ninetouchdowns in 2008 . . . Returned 33 punts for 426 yards, 16kickoffs for 276 yards . . . Posted 23 tackles on defense . . .Team MVP as a senior . . . 2008 Honorable Mention All-Stateand First Team All-Region . . . Honorable Mention All-Regionas a junior . . . Ranked No. 206 best wide receiver in the na-tion by Scout.com . . . Alabama and No. 2064.4-secondrange 40-yard dash time . . . Also competed in basketballand track and field . . . Honor Roll student . . . NamedLeFlore’s Outstanding student-athlete . . . Also recruited bySouthern Mississippi, UAB, Auburn, Memphis, Marshall, OleMiss.

Cliff Mitchell6-4, 270, OL, Jasper, Texas (Jasper)

Named first team 18-3A All-district as a senior, second teamall-district as a sophomore and Junior . . . Second Team All-Southeast Texas selection . . . Also lettered in golf and powerlifting while at Jasper (TX) High School . . . Ranked No. 68Offensive Guard in the nation according to ESPN.com . . .Academic All-District selection . . . Also recruited by Van-derbilt, Baylor, Iowa State.

Allen Muse6-4, 205, WR, Leesville, La. (Leesville)

Four-year starter on the varsity football team . . . During hisfour-year high school career, Muse was named all-state, All-Vernon Parish and all-district . . . Caught 53 passes for 720yards and four touchdowns as a senior in 2007 . . . Track



2009 Signing Class Bios

and field letterman . . . Who’s Who Among American HighSchool Students . . . National Honor Roll . . . Received theHugey O’Brian Leadership Award . . . Also recruited bySouthern Miss, LSU, Louisiana Tech and Ole Miss . . . Orig-inally signed with ASU in 2008, but was unable to competedue to medical issues.

Nick Nelms5-11, 215, LB, Memphis, Tenn. (Houston)

Four-year varsity letterman . . . Played both offense and de-fense at Class 5A Houston High School . . . Helped leadHouston to a 7-3 record as a senior . . . Senior seasonposted 768 rushing yards, 152 receiving yards, one inter-ception, 66 tackles and two sacks . . . Rushed for 152 yardsand three touchdowns on 31 carries, while also returning aninterception 55 yards for a touchdown in one of his bestgames in 2008 . . . Named All-Metro and All-Region as asenior . . . Played in the Liberty Bowl All-Star Game . . .Timed at 4.65 seconds in the 40-yard dash . . . Averagedmore than seven yards per rush last season.

Nick O’Quinn6-2, 265, OL/DL, Springdale, Ark. (Shiloh Christian)

Four-year varsity letterman . . . Associated Press ArkansasSuper Team selection . . .Named all-state as a junior andsenior . . . All-conference selection sophomore season . . .Rivals.com Arkansas Postseason Top 20 (No. 20) 2009among all players . . . Ranked No. 55 in the nation byESPN.com among defensive tackles . . . Helped lead ShilohChristian to the Class 4A state championship and a 13-1record in 2008 . . . Shiloh Christian was ranked 87th by Ri-valsHigh 100 national rankings during the 2008 season . . .Played both offense and defense, posting 24 tackles andthree sacks in addition to his play on the offensive line . . .Also recruited by Army.

Tim Pruitt6-2, 228, DE, Huntsville, Ala. (Madison County)

Four-year varsity football letterman, including three years asa starter . . . Honorable Mention Class 5A All-State selectionas a senior . . . Named region’s defensive MVP in 2008 . . .Recorded a combined 156 tackles his final two seasons atClass 5A Madison County High School . . . Recorded 80tackles and 10 sacks as a senior . . . Posted 76 tackles, 12sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, in-cluding one returned for a touchdown, as a junior in 2007 .. . Tallied 72 tackles senior campaign . . . Team Captain . . .4.8-second time in the 40-yard dash, 360-pound benchpress and 500-pound squat . . . Competed in track and fieldin addition to football.

Chaz Scales5-8, 160, DB, Franklin, Tenn. (Centennial)

Four-year varsity football letterman . . . Tennessee SportsWriters Association Class 5A All-State selection as an ath-lete in 2008, passing for near 1,200 yards, rushing for 1,200and accounting for 29 touchdowns . . . As quarterback forCentennial, Scales was responsible for approximately 2,400total yards as a senior . . . Led the Cougars to an 8-4 recordand the second round of the Class 5A state playoffs in 2008. . . Named All-County and region’s MVP as a senior . . .Centennial set school records for consecutive victories,points scored and points allowed . . . Recorded five inter-ceptions from his cornerback position . . . Honor Roll stu-dent . . . Also competed in track and basketball at Centennial. . . Has posted a time of 10.79 seconds in the 100 meters .. . Also recruited by Air Force, Navy.

Austin Taylor6-3, 270, DL, Bentonville, Ark. (Bentonville)

Recorded over 185 tackles and 15 sacks as a four-year var-sity letterman with the Tigers . . . Helped lead Bentonville tothe Class 7A state championship as a senior, recording 76tackles and six sacks at his tackle position . . . Named all-conference and won the Brandon Burlsworth Award as thebest lineman in the state championship game, which Ben-tonville won 32-20 over Fort Smith Southside . . . Two-timeall-conference selection . . . Hootens Arkansas Football Top-40 recruits in the state of Arkansas and All-Star selection . .. In addition to all-conference recognition, was also namedall-area in 2008 . . . Named to KURM FM’s Dream Team . .. Also recruited by Army, Tulsa.

Chris Tolbert6-5, 280, OL, Birmingham, Ala. (Erwin)

Three-year varsity letterman that played on both the offen-sive and defensive line at Erwin High School . . . Recorded150 tackles, 35 tackles for loss, 30 sacks, 20 blockedpasses, one interception, eight fumble recoveries and fourtouchdowns at the defensive line position . . . All-Area, All-County, All-Region and ABC 34/40 Sideline Nominee . . .Member of the National Honor Society . . . Also lettered inbasketball and track . . . Also recruited by Troy, Middle Ten-nessee, Southern Miss.

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL2008 Game Recaps (Game 1)


AUGUST 30, COLLEGE STATION, TX (KYLE FIELD - 78,691) - ARKANSAS STATE 18, TEXAS A&M 14

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score

Arkansas State 3 0 6 9 18Texas A&M 7 7 0 0 14

Team Qtr Time Scoring play Plays-Yards TOP

ASU 1 8:45 Arauco 37 yd FG 13-60 6:15TAMU 1 6:20 Goodson 9 yd run 7-69 2:25TAMU 2 4:23 Goodson 7 yd run 12-77 5:14ASU 3 5:28 Arauco 28 yd FG 9-47 3:39ASU 3 0:14 Arauco 25 yd FG 5-39 1:48ASU 4 4:39 Jones 15 yd rec. 10-80 4:51ASU 4 1:12 Arauco 37 yd FG 6-21 1:35

Team Statistics

ASU TAMUFirst Downs 23 18Net yards rushing 255 133Net yards passing 160 170

Passes Att-Comp.-Int 15-28-0 19-27-2Total Net Yards 415 303Fumbles: Number-Lost 2-1 3-2Penalties: Number-Yards 6-70 1-15Possession Time 33:21 26:39Third Down Conversions 2 of 12 5 of 13Sacks By: Number-Yards 4-28 2-13

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Arkansas State-Arnold, Reggie 21-145; Leonard, Corey 17-86;Lawson, Derek 6-29; TEAM 1-minus 5. Texas A&M-Goodson, Mike 24-124;Gray, Cyrus 3-24; Stephens, Brad. 2-14; McGee, Stephen 7-minus 29.PASSING: Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 15-28-0-160. Texas A&M-McGee, Stephen 19-27-2-170. RECEIVING: Arkansas State-McLennan, J.6-73; Jones, Kevin 3-39; Arnold, Reggie 2-18; Johnson, David 2-13; Robin-son, A. 1-13; Thompkins, B. 1-4. Texas A&M-Goodson, Mike 6-30; Tannehill,Ryan 5-59; Fuller, Jeff 3-22; Stephens, Brad. 2-6; Johnson, Jerrod 1-36;McCoy, Jamie 1-12; Morrow, Howard 1-5. INTERCEPTIONS: ArkansasState-Owens, Ben 1-15; Jennings, M.D. 1-0. Texas A&M-None. FUMBLES:

Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 2-1. Texas A&M-Goodson, Mike 1-1; Mor-row, Howard 1-1; Pugh, Jordan 1-0.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (8/30/08) – The first game of a newera provided what was arguably the biggest victory in the longhistory of Arkansas State University football.

Playing its first football game as the Red Wolves, ArkansasState left 78,691 Texas A&M fans at Kyle Field stunned, defeat-ing the Aggies 18-14 in the season opener for both teams.Texas A&M had won its last 20 home openers, and the loss wasjust the fourth defeat for the Aggies in their last 50 non-confer-ence games at home.

Arkansas State got its only touchdown of the night when itneeded it the most.

After penetrating the Texas A&M 30-yard line five times andcoming away with three field goals and two turnovers, ArkansasState went on top to stay when junior quarterback CoreyLeonard connected with senior wide receiver Kevin Jones from15 yards out, giving the Red Wolves a 15-14 lead with 4:39 toplay.

A missed two-point conversion attempt proved inconsequen-tial when a Texas A&M turnover on its next possession led tojunior Josh Arauco’s fourth field goal of the night. Arauco’s kickboosted the ASU lead to 18-14, and Arkansas State forced an-other turnover on the Aggies’ final drive to seal the win.

Junior tailback Reggie Arnold rushed 21 times for 145 yards

on the night, Leonard added 86 yards on the ground to go alongwith 160 passing yards, and Arauco was a perfect 4-for-4 in thegame. His four field goals were a career high.

Arkansas State scored on the game’s first possession whenthe Red Wolves drove 60 yards to set up Arauco’s first fieldgoal. Arkansas State used a 19-yard completion from juniorquarterback Corey Leonard to junior wideout Jahbari McLen-nan on third-and-six from the ASU 35 to keep the drive alive.

A two-yard keeper by Leonard on fourth-and-one at the Aggie37 again kept the possession alive, and Leonard passed com-plete for 15 yards to Jones on the next play to set up Arauco’sfield goal. Arauco’s kick wrapped up the 13-play drive and putthe Red Wolves on top 3-0 with 8:45 remaining in the openingquarter.

Texas A&M answered with an 8-play drive that ended whenjunior tailback Mike Goodson scored from nine yards out to putthe Aggies on the board. Senior Richie Bean added the extrapoint for the 7-3 A&M lead with 6:20 to play in the first period.

The Aggies made it 14-3 with 4:23 remaining in the half whenGoodson scored again, this time from seven yards out to wrapup a 12-play, 77-yard drive.

Arkansas State took advantage of an interception by juniordefensive back M.D. Jennings midway through the third quar-ter to cut the Texas A&M advantage to 14-6.

Jennings picked off a pass from A&M quarterback StephenMcGee at the ASU 41 to give the Red Wolves possession ofthe ball and ASU marched 47 yards on nine plays to set upArauco’s second field goal of the night. Arauco connected from28 yards out on the kick to cut the deficit to 14-8 with 5:28 re-maining in the third.

Junior safety Marcus Brown forced a fumble by Texas A&Mwide receiver Howard Morrow on the Aggies’ next drive, andthe ball was recovered by ASU defensive end Jeremy Gibsonto set up the Red Wolf offense at the Aggie 47.

Arkansas State moved 39 yards on the possession, with 32of those yards coming on a run from Leonard to the Texas A&M15, and Arauco completed the possession with his third fieldgoal of the night. Arauco’s kick was good from 29 yards out,trimming the Texas A&M lead to 14-9 with 14 seconds to go inthe third quarter.

Texas A&M went three-and-out on its next possession andBean missed wide on a 27-yard field goal attempt the next timethe Aggies had the ball, setting the stage for ASU’s game-win-ning drive.

Taking over at the ASU 20 with 9:30 remaining, Leonard di-rected the Red Wolves 80 yards in 10 plays on a drive that con-sumed 4:51 seconds on the clock. Arnold rushed for 44 yardson the drive and Leonard hooked up with McLennan for 15yards and a first down at the A&M 21 on fourth-and-13 from theAggie 36 to keep the possession going.

Senior defensive back Dominique Williams led ArkansasState with nine tackles on the night, junior defensive back Day-lan Walker added seven, senior linebacker Ben Owens also hadseven to go along with a fumble recovery and the game-clinch-ing interception, and junior defensive back Evan Van Dolah hadsix stops.



2008 Game Recaps (Game 2)

SEPTEMBER 6, JONESBORO, AR (ASU STADIUM - 21,741) - ARKANSAS STATE 83, TEXAS SOUTHERN 10


Arkansas State 31 21 17 14 83Texas Southern 0 3 7 0 10


ASU 1 13:41 Johnson 53 yd rec. 2-49 1:19ASU 1 11:40 Gillott 39 yd rec. 2-35 0:53ASU 1 10:43 McKinnon 25 yd FR NA NAASU 1 07:14 Arauco 33 yd FG 6-38 2:36ASU 1 05:36 Blake 2 yd rec. 3-10 1:05ASU 2 14:31 Johnson 25 yd rec. 1-25 0:10ASU 2 10:28 Arnold 2 yd run 5-78 0:38TSU 2 03:21 Hersh 34 yd FG 11-45 4:58ASU 3 09:19 Lawson 5 yd run 8-86 4:07ASU 3 04:58 Arauco 30 yd FG 4-4 2:36ASU 3 02:02 Hewitt 8 yd run 3-82 1:17TSU 3 00:04 Osbourne 32 yd rec. 7-75 1:53ASU 4 12:22 Blake 15 yd run 6-51 2:38ASu 4 04:30 Davis 53 yd fum. ret. NA NA

Team Statistics

ASU TSUFirst Downs 22 13Net yards rushing 441 95Net yards passing 229 128

Passes Att-Comp.-Int 10-9-0 31-10-2Total Net Yards 670 223Fumbles: Number-Lost 2-1 3-3Penalties: Number-Yards 9-83 8-60Possession Time 30:14 29:46Third Down Conversions 1-of-4 6-of-18Sacks By: Number-Yards 2-21 0-0


RUSHING: Texas Southern-CAPARELLI,L 10-41; REID,B 5-27; WOODS,W11-27; MABRY,J 3-2; WRIGHT,M 2-0; HARMON,C 8-minus 2. ArkansasState-Lawson, Derek 18-209; Arnold, Reggie 8-123; Blake, Jeff 5-40;Robertson, J. 5-32; Hewitt, Travis 3-22; Leonard, Corey 1-21; Beck, Brice 1-5; Mclennan, J. 1-minus 4; Team 2-minus 7. PASSING: Texas Southern-HARMON,C 7-19-0-75; REID,B 3-12-2-53. Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey9-10-0-229. RECEIVING: Texas Southern-OSBOURNE,W 5-68; HAITH,B2-12; ROBINS,R 1-39; THOMAS,A 1-6; WRIGHT,M 1-3. Arkansas State-Johnson, David 3-87; Mclennan, J. 1-74; Gillott, Trevor 1-39; Norman, Jar-riel 1-14; Arnold, Reggie 1-7; Robinson,A. 1-6; Blake, Jeff 1-2. INTERCEPTIONS: Texas Southern-None. ArkansasState-Owens, Ben 1-31; Stephens, Paul 1-0. FUMBLES: Texas Southern-HARMON,C 1-1; WOODS,W 1-1; WRIGHT,M 1-1. Arkansas State-Beck,Brice 1-0; Mclennan, J. 1-1.

JONESBORO (9/6/08) – Arkansas Statescored early and often in its home debut,pounding Texas Southern 83-10 in front of acrowd of 21,741 at ASU Stadium.

Freshman tailback Derek Lawson rushed for209 yards and a touchdown in the game, the8th most rushing yards in ASU history. Juniortailback Reggie Arnold added 123 yards andtwo touchdowns and junior quarterback CoreyLeonard accounted for 229 yards of total of-fense and threw for four touchdowns as

Arkansas State finished with 670 yards oftotal offense in the game, the second most inschool history.

ASU got on the board with less than twominutes gone in the game with a 53-yardpass from Leonard to Johnson. Two minuteslater, Leonard connected with junior tight endTrevor Gillott from 39 yards out for the 14-0ASU lead.

A 25-yard fumble recovery for a touchdownfrom sophomore linebacker Javon McKinnon,a 33-yard field goal from junior Josh Arauco,and a two-yard pass from Leonard to fresh-man fullback Jeff Blake wrapped up a 31-0first quarter for ASU.

Leonard and Johnson hooked up for theirsecond touchdown pass of the night just 29seconds into the second quarter, and Arnoldscored on touchdown runs of two yards and56 yards before Texas Southern got on theboard with a 34-yard field goal from RobertHersh to make it 52-3 at the half.

A five-yard touchdown run from Lawson, a30-yard field goal from Arauco and an eight-yard touchdown run from senior quarterbackTravis Hewitt made it 69-3 before the Tigersscored their only touchdown of the night on a32-yard pass from quarterback Bobby Reidto wide receiver William Osbourne.

Blake added a 15-yard touchdown run earlyin the fourth quarter, and freshman linebackerDemario Davis returned a fumble 53-yardsfor a touchdown to set the final at 83-10 afterArauco’s 11th extra point. Arauco was 11-for-11 on extra points to tie the ASU record, and2-for-2 on field goal tries on the night.

The Red Wolves’ 83 points were the secondmost in school history and the most in the his-tory of ASU Stadium. The 73-point margin ofvictory was the most under head coach SteveRoberts.



SEPTEMBER 13, JONESBORO, AR (ASU STADIUM - 25,938) - SOUTHERN MISS 27, ARKANSAS STATE 24


Arkansas State 3 0 14 7 24Southern Miss 3 14 0 10 27


USM 1 10:17 Estes 23 yd FG 19-68 10:17ASU 1 1:58 Arauco 41 yd FG 8-55 2:39USM 2 12:09 Harrison 1 yd run 11-71 4:41USM 2 8:48 Massey 1 yd reception 6-39 2:17ASU 3 8:32 Johnson 16 yd rec. 8-66 3:13ASU 3 3:00 Arnold 8 yd run 10-94 4:00USM 4 10:47 Estes 28 yd FG 4-30 1:27USM 4 5:30 Fletcher 24 yd rec. 8-93 3:13ASU 4 2:14 Blake 5 yd reception 8-83 3:06

Team Statistics

ASU USMFirst Downs 26 21Net yards rushing 191 129Net yards passing 256 219



RUSHING: Southern Miss-FLETCHER, D. 23-87; MORGAN, Ed 1-21;DAVIS, Austin 10-20; HARRISON, Tory 4-7; TEAM 3-minus 6. ArkansasState-Arnold, Reggie 15-84; Lawson, Derek 7-73; Leonard, Corey 12-69;Team 1-minus 30; Shrable, Brett 0-minus 5. PASSING: Southern Miss-DAVIS, Austin 18-31-0-219. Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 17-34-1-256;Hewitt, Travis 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING: Southern Miss-NELSON, Shawn 7-110; FLETCHER, D. 6-61; BAPTISTE, G. 3-31; HARRISON, Tory 1-16;MASSEY, J. 1-1. Arkansas State-Gillott, Trevor 5-79; Thompkins, B. 3-59;Norman, Jarriel 3-41; Robinson, A. 2-45; Johnson, David 1-16; Mclennan, J.1-8; Blake, Jeff 1-5; Jones, Kevin 1-3. INTERCEPTIONS: Southern Miss-WILLINGHAM, E. 1-0. Arkansas State-None. FUMBLES: Southern Miss-FLETCHER, D. 1-1. Arkansas State-Team 1-0; Shrable, Brett 1-1.

JONESBORO (9/13/08) – The Southern MissGolden Eagles (2-1) held off a furious second-half rallyby Arkansas State and came away with a 27-24 vic-tory over the Red Wolves (2-1) at ASU Stadium.

Down 17-3 at the half, ASU came roaring back in thethird quarter with 14 straight points to tie the score at17, only to see Southern Miss answer with 10 straightto open the fourth quarter.

Southern Miss benefitted from an ASU miscue on afield goal attempt early in the fourth quarter to beginbuilding its 10-point cushion. With the Red Wolveslined up for a 31-yard field goal attempt with just over12 minutes to play that would have given ASU a 20-17lead, Southern Miss turned the tables when corner-back C.J. Bailey scooped up an ASU fumble on theplay and returned it to the Arkansas State 11. Bailey’sreturn set up a 28-yard field goal from Golden Eagle

placekicker Justin Estes that gave USM a 20-17 leadwith 10:47 remaining.

Southern Miss then put together a 93-yard drive thatended in a 24-yard touchdown pass from quarterbackAustin Davis to tailback Damion Fletcher with 5:30 toplay that padded the Golden Eagle lead at 27-17.

Refusing to go quietly, Arkansas State moved 83yards in just over three minutes to pull within 27-24.Junior quarterback Corey Leonard completed threepasses for 52 yards on the drive, including a 5-yardtouchdown pass to freshman fullback Jeff Blake tocomplete the drive with 2:14 to play.

Arkansas State’s defense held Southern Miss tothree-and-out on the Eagles’ ensuing possession togive the Red Wolves one final opportunity with 1:44remaining.

Starting at the ASU 20, Leonard connected withwideout Anthony Robertson for 26 yards on third-and-five to give the Red Wolves a first down at the USM46 with just over a minute to play, but an interceptionby Southern Miss cornerback Eddie Willingham with59 seconds remaining sealed the victory for USM.

Southern Miss converted 9-of-10 third down oppor-tunities in the first half to build its 17-3 lead at thebreak. The Eagles opened the game with a 19-play,68 yard drive that chewed up 10:17 on the game clockand ended with a 23-yard field goal from kicker JustinEstes.

Arkansas State answered with a 55-yard drive thatended in a 41-yard field goal from Josh Arauco thattied the score at 3-3 less than two minutes later, butSouthern Miss tacked on a pair of touchdowns tobuild the 14-point halftime lead.

Tailback Tory Harrison scored on a 1-yard run with12:09 remaining in the half and tight end JonathanMassey hauled in a 1-yard pass from Davis to put theEagles on top 17-3 at the break.

Leonard finished the game with 325 yards of totaloffense, including 256 yards and a pair of touchdownsthrough the air. Junior tailback Reggie Arnold added84 yards on 15 carries and freshman tailback DerekLawson had 73 yards on seven rushing attempts.Tight end Trevor Gillott had a career-high 79 yards onfive receptions.

Sophomore safety M.D. Jennings had 13 tackles tolead the ASU defense.




SEPT. 20, JONESBORO, AR (ASU STADIUM - 24,256) - ARKANSAS STATE 31, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 14


Arkansas State 7 10 7 7 31Middle Tennessee 0 0 7 7 14


ASU 1 3:26 Arnold 17 yd rec. 7-57 2:40ASU 2 8:30 Arauco 35 yd FG 13-81 5:44ASU 2 0:36 Johnson 14 yd rec. 2-67 0:14ASU 3 8:35 Johnson 2 yd rec. 11-74 6:20MT 3 2:19 Tanner 2 yd run 9-76 3:04ASU 4 12:34 Lawson 14 yd run 9-88 4:37MT 4 9:17 Honeycutt 3 yd rec. 7-80 3:12

Team Statistics

ASU MTFirst Downs 22 15Net yards rushing 148 44Net yards passing 292 271



RUSHING: Middle Tennessee-Dasher, Dwight 5-15; Gee, Desmond 4-13;Craddock, Joe 7-11; Tanner, Phillip 9-5. Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 10-74; Lawson, Derek 10-57; Arnold, Reggie 12-21; Team 2-minus 4. PASS-

ING: Middle Tennessee-Craddock, Joe 25-35-1-268; Dasher, Dwight1-2-1-3. Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 17-31-0-292. RECEIVING: MiddleTennessee-Honeycutt, P. 11-94; McClover, Chris 4-20; Caldwell, Wes 3-43;King, Eldred 3-37; Gee, Desmond 3-9; Beyah, Malcolm 2-68. ArkansasState-Norman, Jarriel 4-107; Jones, Kevin 4-90; Johnson, David 4-49;Thompkins, B. 4-29; Arnold, Reggie 1-17. INTERCEPTIONS: Middle Ten-nessee-None. Arkansas State-Walker, Daylan 1-33; Williams, D. 1-0. FUM-

BLES: Middle Tennessee-None. Arkansas State-None.

JONESBORO (9/20/08) – Arkansas State junior quar-terback Corey Leonard rolled up a career-high 366 yardsof total offense, leading the Red Wolves to a 31-14 victoryover Middle Tennessee State in ASU’s Sun Belt Confer-ence opener before a crowd of 24,256 at ASU Stadium.

The Arkansas State defense did its part as well, keepingthe Blue Raiders off the scoreboard for the better part ofthree quarters, intercepting two passes and recording sixtackles behind the line of scrimmage for 30 yards of loss.

Arkansas State led 17-0 at the half, extended its lead to24-0 on the first possession of the second half, and snuffedout any Middle Tennessee momentum gained when theBlue Raiders scored by answering MTSU’s first touchdownwith the Red Wolves fourth trip to the end zone.

Arkansas State used a 7-play, 57-yard drive to go up 7-0 late in the first quarter, capitalizing on two big comple-tions from Leonard to Norman to set up the score. Leonardand Norman hooked up for 26 yards and a first down atthe MTSU 27, then connected for 11 more and another setof downs at the Blue Raider 17. Two plays later, Leonardfound Reggie Arnold alone on the right sideline and thejunior tailback went 17 yards untouched for the score.

Placekicker Josh Arauco added the extra point to giveASU a 7-0 lead with 3:26 remaining in the opening quar-ter.

Arauco added three points more with 8:30 remaining inthe second quarter when he booted through a 35-yardfield goal to cap an 81-yard ASU drive, and the RedWolves still weren’t finished for the half.

Taking possession at their own 33 with 50 seconds re-maining in second quarter, Arkansas State found the endzone again just 14 seconds later when Leonard hit seniortight end David Johnson with a 14-yard touchdown striketo stretch the ASU lead to 17-0 with 36 seconds remain-ing in the half. The play was set up by a 53-yard comple-tion from Leonard to Norman on the first play of the drive.

The Red Wolves carried their momentum over past thebreak, scoring on the first possession of the second halfto stretch the Arkansas State lead to 24-0. ASU moved 74yards on 11 plays to open the third quarter, completing thedrive when Leonard connected with Johnson for their sec-ond touchdown of the night, this time from two yards outat the 8:35 mark.

Middle Tennessee got on the board late in the third quar-ter when Blue Raider tailback Phillip Tanner scored fromtwo yards out to end a nine-play 76-yard drive. KickerAlan Gendreau added the extra point to cut the ArkansasState lead to 24-7 with 2:19 remaining in the quarter, butASU answered the score with an 88-yard drive to extendthe Red Wolves lead to 31-7.

Starting at the ASU 12, Leonard completed threepasses on the drive, added 37 yards on the ground, andfreshman tailback Derek Lawson ended the drive with a14-yard touchdown run. Arauco put through his fourthextra point of the night to make it 31-7 with 12:34 to play.

The Blue Raiders scored again on their next posses-sion, driving 80 yards in seven plays to cut the RedWolves advantage to 31-14 with just over nine minutes toplay, but the Arkansas State defense stopped Middle Ten-nessee on downs at the ASU 42 on the Blue Raiders nextpossession, and Arkansas State ran out the clock to sealthe win.

In addition to the career night from Leonard and Nor-man, ASU got 90 yards from senior wide receiver KevinJones and 49 yards and a pair of touchdowns from John-son. Lawson added 57 yards and a touchdown on 10 car-ries.

Junior cornerback Daylan Walker led the ASU defensewith nine tackles and an interception, junior defensive endAlex Carrington added a pair of quarterback sacks and sixtackles, and senior cornerback Dominique Williams hadfour tackles and an interceptions.



SEPTEMBER 27, MEMPHIS, TN (LIBERTY BOWL - 26,376) - MEMPHIS 29, ARKANSAS STATE 17


Arkansas State 0 17 0 0 17Memphis 13 3 3 10 29


Memphis 1 12:04 Jones 3 yd run 9-69 2:56Memphis 1 6:04 Jones 7 yd run 8-69 3:51ASU 2 14:01 Leonard 23 yd run 5-56 2:30ASU 2 7:53 Arnold 9 yd run 8-94 3:42Memphis 2 3:54 Zaccario 20 yd FG 10-67 3:54ASU 2 0:18 Arauco 33 yd FG 11-51 3:28Memphis 3 6:02 Zaccario 37 yd FG 5-64 1:49Memphis 4 7:58 Zaccario 40 yd FG 5-39 2:02Memphis 4 2:12 Steele 2 yd run 9-70 3:29

Team Statistics

ASU UMFirst Downs 16 24Net yards rushing 179 243Net yards passing 173 210



RUSHING: Arkansas State-Lawson, Derek 11-79; Leonard, Corey 15-51;Arnold, Reggie 13-46; Norman, Jarriel 1-3. Memphis-STEELE, Curtis 22-203; JONES, Charlie 8-43; HALL, Arkelon 5-6; Team 1-minus 2; WASH-INGTON, B. 5-minus 7. PASSING: Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey11-23-1-173. Memphis-HALL, Arkelon 10-25-1-178; HUDGENS, Will 1-3-0-17; BLACK, Steven 1-1-0-15. RECEIVING: Arkansas State-Thompkins, B.2-36; Mclennan, J. 2-21; Robinson, A. 2-20; Gillott, Trevor 2-12; Arnold, Reg-gie 1-51; Johnson, David 1-23; Clements, T. 1-10. Memphis-SINGLETON,C. 3-68; JONES, Maurice 3-47; CALHOUN, Duke 2-47; RUSSELL, Brett 2-14; WILLIAMS, E. 1-19; HALL, Arkelon 1-15. INTERCEPTIONS: ArkansasState-Jennings, M.D. 1-0. Memphis-STARR, Alton 1-0. FUMBLES:

Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 2-1. Memphis-WASHINGTON, B. 1-0;WILLIAMS, E. 1-0.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (9/27/08) – Memphis tailback CurtisSteele rushed for 203 yards and a touchdown to leadthe Tigers (2-4) to a 29-17 victory over the ArkansasState Red Wolves (3-2) Saturday afternoon at LibertyBowl Memorial Stadium.

Arkansas State overcame a 13-0 deficit in the firstquarter to take a 17-16 lead at the half, but the Tigersused two big runs from Steele in the second half to setup a pair of field goals from Vinny Zaccario, giving Mem-phis a 22-17 lead. Steele added a two-yard touchdownrun late in the game to set the final score.

After chalking up 228 yards in the first 30 minutes, theASU offense never got going in the final two quarters.The Red Wolves gained just 124 yards in the secondhalf and suffered a pair of turnovers.

Memphis scored on its first two possessions in build-

ing the 13-0 lead. The Tigers went 69 yards in nineplays on the game’s opening possession to put the firsttouchdown on the board. Tailback Charlie Jones com-pleted the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run and Za-ccario added the extra point for the 7-0 Tigeradvantage.

Jones added a 7-yard touchdown run on the Tigerssecond possession, capping an 8-play, 69-yard driveby the Tigers. Zaccario’s extra point was blocked byASU, leaving the Tigers with a 13-0 advantage.

Arkansas State got on the board early in the secondquarter when the Red Wolves put together a 5-play,56-yard drive that ended when junior quarterbackCorey Leonard scrambled in from 23 yards out for thetouchdown. Kicker Josh Arauco’s extra point cut theMemphis lead to 13-7.

A 94-yard drive later in the half gave Arkansas Stateits first lead. After rushing twice for no gain to open thepossession, junior tailback Reggie Arnold took ascreen pass from Leonard down the left sideline 51yards to the Memphis 43. Freshman tailback DerekLawson rushed three times for 35 yards for a first downat the Memphis nine and one play later, Arnold was inthe end zone. Arauco’s extra point put Arkansas Stateon top 14-13 with 7:53 remaining in the half.

Memphis countered with a 20-yard field goal fromZaccario with just under four minutes remaining beforethe break, but ASU went into the locker room with a17-16 lead after the Red Wolves marched 51 yards toset up a 33-yard Arauco field goal with 18 seconds re-maining in the half.

A 46-yard run from Steele helped the Tigers regainthe lead in the third. Zaccario followed the run with a35-yard field goal, and Steele added a 37-yard run inthe fourth to set up a 40-yarder from Zaccario that gaveMemphis a 22-17 lead with 7:58 to play.

Arkansas State went three-and-out on its next pos-session, and Memphis responded with a nine-play, 70-yard drive that ended in Steele’s two-yard touchdownrun with 2:12 to play.

Leonard was 11-of-23 on the day with an intercep-tion and Lawson led the ASU rushing attack with 79yards on 11 carries. Sophomore safety M.D. Jenningshad 11 tackles and an interception to lead the ASU de-fense.





Arkansas State 7 20 7 3 37ULM 7 7 0 15 29


ASU 1 3:45 McLennan 63 yd run 2-69 0:56ULM 1 1:48 McNeal 29 yd rec. 5-68 1:50ASU 2 14:56 Arauco 27 yd FG 5-63 1:43ASU 2 10:34 Lawson 2 yd run 6-53 2:49ULM 2 10:21 Ambrose 91 yd KR - -ASU 2 6:40 Leonard 3 yd run 7-65 3:32ASU 2 4:42 Arauco 26 yd FG 4-21 1:38ASU 3 5:13 Brown 71 yd FR - -ASU 4 14:54 Arauco 44 yd FG 6-32 3:10ULM 4 12:30 Goodin 25 yd rec. 7-72 2:18ULM 4 7:31 Zacharie 1 yd rec. 10-78 2:04

Team Statistics

ASU ULMFirst Downs 17 19Net yards rushing 262 87Net yards passing 129 309



RUSHING: ULM-Lancaster, K 14-33; Goodin, Frank 10-33; Lovett, Rodney1-17; Ambrose, Luther 1-4. Arkansas State-Lawson, Derek 15-104; Arnold,Reggie 15-71; Mclennan, J. 1-63; Leonard, Corey 11-15; Thompkins, B. 1-11; Team 1-minus 2. PASSING: ULM-Lancaster, K 22-41-1-303; Revell,Trey 1-1-0-6. Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 7-16-0-129. RECEIVING:

ULM-McNeal, Darrell 8-149; Zacharie, Zeek 5-54; Goodin, Frank 3-33; Mc-Call, Anthony 3-23; McCoy, J.J. 2-29; Humphrey, Marty 2-21. ArkansasState-Thompkins, B. 3-88; Jones, Kevin 1-28; Johnson, David 1-16; Nor-man, Jarriel 1-0; Arnold, Reggie 1-minus 3. INTERCEPTIONS: ULM-None.Arkansas State-Mingo, C. 1-20. FUMBLES: ULM-Lancaster, K 2-2.Arkansas State-Mingo, C. 1-0; Leonard, Corey 1-0.

OCTOBER 11, JONESBORO, AR (ASU STADIUM - 22,745) - ARKANSAS STATE 37, ULM 29

JONESBORO (10/11/08) – The Arkansas StateRed Wolves built a 23-point second-half cushion,then held off a late Louisiana-Monroe rally to post a37-29 Sun Belt Conference victory over theWarhawks at ASU Stadium.

Arkansas State freshman tailback Derek Lawsonrushed for 104 yards and a touchdown, junior de-fensive back Marcus Brown returned a fumble 71yards for a score and junior placekicker Josh Araucoset the Arkansas State mark for consecutive fieldgoals, helping ASU remain undefeated in Sun BeltConference play at 2-0 and 4-2 overall. Junior de-fensive end Alex Carrington, the Sun Belt sackleader coming into the game, led the ASU defensewith eight tackles, including 2.5 sacks. Carrington

also broke up a pass and forced a fumble in thegame.

The Red Wolves got on the board with 3:45 re-maining in the first quarter quarter when junior wide-out Jahbari McLennan scored from 63 yards out ona reverse. The Warhawks answered less than twominutes later when senior quarterback KinsmonLancaster completed the first of three touchdownpasses on the night.

Lancaster connected with junior wideout DarrellMcNeal from 29 yards out for the score, butArkansas State answered with 10 straight to take a17-7 advantage. Arauco was good on a 27-yardfield goal with four seconds gone in the quarter, andthe Red Wolves built the 10-point cushion whenLawson capped a 53-yard drive with a 2-yard touch-down run with 10:34 remaining in the half.

Louisiana-Monroe freshman Luther Ambrose an-swered Lawson’s score with a 91-yard kickoff returnfor a touchdown to cut the ASU lead to 17-14, butthe Red Wolves added 10 more before the half totake a 27-14 lead at the break.

Arkansas State junior quarterback Corey Leonardcompleted a 65-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdownrun with 6:40 remaining in the second, and Araucoset a new ASU record for consecutive field goalswhen he kicked his 11th straight, hitting from 26yards out with 4:42 to play in the half.

The Red Wolves stretched their lead to 37-14when Brown scooped up a Lancaster fumble withjust over five minutes remaining in the third and re-turned it 71 yards for a touchdown, and Arauco ex-tended his streak to 12 when he booted a 44-yardersix seconds into the fourth quarter.

Lancaster hooked up with tailback Frank Goodinfor a 25-yard score with 12:30 remaining, then hittight end Zeek Zacharie on a one-yard touchdownpass with 7:31 to play to cut the Arkansas State leadto eight at 37-29.

Arkansas State picked up a first down on its nextdrive to drain the clock down to the 3:48 mark, andthe Warhawks did not cross midfield on their finaldrive before turning the ball over on downs.




Arkansas State 3 7 3 10 23UL Lafayette 0 7 7 14 28


ASU 1 6:24 Arauco 20 yd FG 6-15 2:53ASU 2 6:57 Thompkins 11 yd rec. 11-55 6:02ULL 2 5:43 Aubrey 18 yd rec. 3-70 1:14ULL 3 6:05 McGuire 1 yd run 10-44 4:15ASU 3 3:03 Arauco 42 yd FG 7-46 3:02ASU 4 7:55 Arauco 41 yd FG 6-9 2:55ASU 4 7:39 Glover 29 yd int. return - -ULL 4 4:16 McGuire 4 yd run 9-57 3:23ULL 4 0:42 Fenroy 9 yd run 8-51 2:52

Team Statistics

ASU ULLFirst Downs 17 15Net yards rushing 100 189Net yards passing 235 124



RUSHING: Arkansas State-Arnold, Reggie 15-65; Leonard, Corey 12-33;Lawson, Derek 1-2. Louisiana-Lafayette-Fenroy, Tyrell 22-128; McGuire,Brad 27-54; Chery, Jason 1-7; TEAM 1-0. PASSING: Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 21-40-1-235. Louisiana-Lafayette-McGuire, Brad 9-16-2-106; Falgout, Richie 1-1-0-18. RECEIVING: Arkansas State-Thompkins, B.5-58; Johnson, David 4-56; Mclennan, J. 4-47; Arnold, Reggie 3-32; Nor-man, Jarriel 1-14; Robinson, A. 1-12; Clements, T. 1-9; Blake, Jeff 1-4; Gillott,Trevor 1-3. Louisiana-Lafayette-Smith, Derrick 2-44; Lee, Louis 2-20; Fen-roy, Tyrell 2-7; Aubrey, Luke 1-18; Falgout, Richie 1-14; Sails, Undrea 1-12;Green, Ladarius 1-9. INTERCEPTIONS: Arkansas State-Glover, Darius 1-29; Carrington, A. 1-18. Louisiana-Lafayette-Accime, Frantz 1-3. FUM-

BLES: Arkansas State-Clements, T. 1-1. Louisiana-Lafayette-Chery, Jason1-0.

OCTOBER 18, LAFAYETTE, LA (CAJUN FIELD - 23,684) - UL LAFAYETTE 28, ARKANSAS STATE 23

LAFAYETTE, La. (10/18/08) – After scoring 10points in a 16-second span to take a 23-14 lead with7:39 to play in the fourth quarter, the Arkansas StateRed Wolves saw their lead disappear whenLouisiana-Lafayette answered with a pair of latetouchdowns to defeat ASU 28-23 in a Sun Belt Con-ference matchup at Cajun Field.

Arkansas State junior kicker Josh Arauco connectedon a 41-yard field goal with 7:55 to play to give ASUa 16-14 lead, and sophomore linebacker DariusGlover picked off a pass from ULL quarterback BradMcGuire and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown toextend the Red Wolves’ lead to 23-14 with 7:39 to goin the game, but ULL followed up with the pair oftouchdowns to grab the win. McGuire scored on a 4-yard run with 4:16 remaining and tailback Tyrell Fen-

roy put the Cajuns back on top with a 9-yard run with42 seconds to play.

Arkansas State’s final possession reached the 50-yard line, but quarterback Corey Leonard’s pass intothe end zone was batted down as time expired to sealthe win for ULL.

The Red Wolves defense set up the game’s firstscore when junior defensive end Alex Carringtontipped a pass from McGuire at the line of scrimmage,then picked off the pass and returned it 18 yards toset up Arkansas State at the ULL 18. The RedWolves advanced to the Louisiana-Lafayette threeyard line before settling for a 20 yard field goal fromjunior kicker Josh Arauco with 6:24 remaining in theopening quarter.

Arkansas State extended its lead to 10-0 whenLeonard capped 55-yard drive with an 11-yard touch-down pass to junior wide receiver Brandon Thomp-kins with 6:57 remaining in the half. Leonardcompleted six of seven passes to cover 53 of the 55yards on the drive.

Louisiana-Lafayette answered the score on its nextpossession when wide receiver Richie Falgout threwan 18-yard touchdown pass off of a reverse to tightend Luke Aubrey. Placekicker Drew Edmiston addedthe extra point to cut the ASU lead to 10-7 with 5:43to play before halftime.

Louisiana-Lafayette went on top with 6:05 remain-ing in the third quarter when McGuire scored on aone-yard sneak, wrapping up a 10-play drive thatstarted at the ASU 44.

Arkansas State answered with a 42-yard field goalfrom Arauco on its next possession to pull within apoint. The drive covered 46 yards in seven plays,cutting the Ragin’ Cajun lead to 14-13 with 3:02 toplay in the third.

Arauco’s third field goal put ASU on top 16-13 andextended his school-record streak to 15. The kickalso set a new ASU record, giving Arauco 42 careerfield goals.

Leonard completed 21-of-40 passes in the gamefor 235 yards to lead the ASU offense. The ASU de-fense, which registered a season-high five sacks,was led by Glover’s 14 tackles and an interception.





Arkansas State 0 0 0 0 0No. 2 Alabama 7 7 14 7 35


UA 1 4:23 Coffee 9 yd run 16-89 7:02UA 2 8:54 Johnson 32 yd int. ret. - -UA 3 13:37 Upchurch 22 yd run 4-70 1:23UA 3 2:20 Ingram 5 yd run 7-48 3:38UA 4 4:37 Ingram 17 yd run 7-45 3:03

Team Statistics

ASU UAFirst Downs 11 21Net yards rushing 91 205Net yards passing 67 152



RUSHING: Arkansas State-Arnold, Reggie 15-72; Lawson, Derek 6-24;Robertson, J. 3-14; Leonard, Corey 13-minus 19. Alabama-Mark Ingram 12-113; Glen Coffee 9-56; Roy Upchurch 5-31; J. Wilson 8-7; Terry Grant 2-minus 2. PASSING: Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 8-17-1-67. Alabama-J.Wilson 15-28-1-152. RECEIVING: Arkansas State-Jones, Kevin 3-16;Mclennan, J. 1-26; Clements, T. 1-9; Blake, Jeff 1-6; Robinson, A. 1-6; Gillott,Trevor 1-4. Alabama-Julio Jones 5-62; Mike McCoy 3-26; Marquis Maze 1-24; Brad Smelley 1-11; Darius Hanks 1-10; Glen Coffee 1-9; Travis McCall1-6; Earl Alexander 1-2; Mark Ingram 1-2. INTERCEPTIONS: ArkansasState-Williams, D. 1-23. Alabama-Rashad Johnson 1-32. FUMBLES:

Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 1-0. Alabama-Javier Arenas 1-0.

NOV. 1, TUSCALOOSA, AL (BRYANT-DENNY STADIUM - 92,138) - NO. 2 ALABAMA 35, ARKANSAS STATE 0

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (11/01/08) – Alabama’sMark Ingram rushed 12 times for 113 yards withtwo touchdowns to lead the Crimson Tide in a 35-0 win over Arkansas State at Bryant-Denny Sta-dium.

Glen Coffee rushed for nine yards capping offan 89-yard scoring drive, Alabama’s first of thegame, to give the Crimson Tide their first touch-down at the 4:23 mark of the first quarter. With aLeigh Tiffin point after try, the score was 7-0 infavor of Alabama.

ASU senior defensive back Dominique Williamsstopped the Crimson Tide’s second scoring driveat 38 yards when he intercepted a John ParkerWilson pass in the ASU end zone, returning thepick 23 yards at the end of the first quarter. It wasthe second interception for Williams on the sea-son.

Rashad Johnson intercepted ASU junior quar-terback Corey Leonard at the Red Wolves 32yard line returning the pick for Alabama’s sec-ond touchdown of the game at the 8:54 mark ofthe second quarter. Tiffin’s kick made the score14-0 for Alabama.

The Crimson Tide threatened with a Tiffin 37-yard field goal attempt, but the kick sailed wide-left at the 00:27 mark of the second half, settingthe halftime score, ASU down 14-0.

On their first drive of the second half, like thefirst, Alabama took advantage of its first oppor-tunity to get on the scoreboard. Roy Upchurchrushed over the left end for a 22 yard touchdownat the 13:37 mark of the third quarter. The Tiffinkick attempt was good giving the Crimson Tidea 21-0 lead.

Mark Ingram gave Alabama a 28-0 advantagewhen he had a five-yard touchdown rush overthe left guard with 2:20 left in the third quarter.

Ingram added the final score for the CrimsonTide when he picked up a 17-yard touchdownrun at the 4:37 mark of the fourth quarter.

Arkansas State put together its best drive ofthe game driving seven plays for 46 yards at thebeginning of the fourth quarter. The Red Wolveswere unable to convert a fourth and five situa-tion and turned the ball over on downs with13:17 left in the game.

Leonard was 8-17 with one interception for 67yards. Leonard connected with junior wide re-ceiver Jabbari McLennan for a 26-yard pass latein the third quarter which was the longest of thegame for the Red Wolves. McLennan’s 26 yardsled all ASU receivers.

Junior running back Reggie Arnold led the RedWolves with 15 rushes for 72 yards, with a longrush of 11 yards.

On the defensive side of the ball, ASU sopho-more safety M.D. Jennings led the Red Wolveswith nine tackles, including seven solo hits.




Arkansas State 0 7 7 7 21Florida International 0 6 6 10 22


FIU 2 12:22 Rivest 43 yd FG 6-36 3:06FIU 2 4:33 Rivest 32 yd FG 6-25 1:59ASU 2 0:59 Leonard 1 yd run 10-65 3:34FIU 3 12:51 Rivest 43 yd FG 7-45 2:09ASU 3 8:50 Catlin 18 yd reception 8-85 4:01FIU 3 6:22 Rivest 35 yd FG 8-57 2:28ASU 4 13:31 Lawson 12 yd run 9-75 4:41FIU 4 11:28 Rivest 37 yd FG 8-39 2:03FIU 4 2:04 Mertile 38 yd reception 1-38 0:10

Team Statistics

ASU FIUFirst Downs 22 16Net yards rushing 222 48Net yards passing 149 359



RUSHING: Arkansas State-Arnold, Reggie 22-113; Leonard, Corey 18-55;Lawson, Derek 6-30; Mclennan, J. 1-20; Thompkins, B. 1-5; Team 1-minus1. FIU-Reams, Julian 13-25; McCall, Paul 4-17; Ned, A'mod 1-15; Owens,Daunte 1-8; TEAM 3-minus 17. PASSING: Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey13-26-1-149. FIU-McCall, Paul 15-33-0-321; Hilton, T.Y. 1-1-0-38. RE-

CEIVING: Arkansas State-Johnson, David 3-45; Thompkins, B. 2-35;Clements, T. 2-18; Gillott, Trevor 2-13; Catlin, Vernon 1-18; Norman, Jarriel1-9; Mclennan, J. 1-7; Lawson, Derek 1-4. FIU-Hilton, T.Y. 6-199; Ellingson,Greg 2-57; Kirchenberg, E 2-37; Ned, A'mod 2-15; Mertile, Junior 1-38; Frier-son, Jason 1-12; Phillips,Alonzo 1-3; Reams, Julian 1-minus 2. INTER-

CEPTIONS: Arkansas State-None. FIU-Brown, Franklin 1-0. FUMBLES:

Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 1-0. FIU-None.

NOVEMBER 8, MIAMI, FL (FIU STADIUM - 15,106) - FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL 22, ARKANSAS STATE 21

MIAMI, Fla. (11/8/08) – Florida International’slone touchdown of the game proved to be the dif-ference as the Arkansas State football team fell tothe Golden Panthers, 22-21, at FIU Stadium.

FIU took the lead with 2:04 left in the game, whenT.Y. Hilton took a handoff, fumbled the ball, recov-ered his own fumble, then reversed his field andfired off a 38-yard pass hitting a wide open JuniorMertile in the end zone, taking its final lead 22-21.

ASU drove on the following possession but fellshort when junior quarterback Corey Leonardthrew an interception to FIU’s Franklin Brown withless than two minutes remaining in the game.

ASU held FIU to only 20 yards total offense in thefirst quarter. It was the lowest yard total that theRed Wolves have allowed in the first quarter all

season and the second-lowest of any quarter thisyear.

ASU’s Reggie Arnold broke for a 27-yard run inthe first quarter, which marked the longest run forthe junior running back since the Red Wolvesmatchup against Texas-Southern on Sept. 6.Arnold also broke the 100-yard barrier for the firsttime since the Texas-Southern game. Arnoldrolled up 113 yards, averaging 5.1 yards per carry.

Leonard scored ASU’s first touchdown with 59seconds remaining in the second quarter, takingthe Red Wolves first lead of the contest, 7-6.

ASU’s 7-6 lead at the half marked the sixth timethis season that the Red Wolves have been incontrol at the halfway mark.

ASU gained a 14-9 lead when Red Wolves sen-ior tight end Vernon Caitlin reeled in an 18-yardtouchdown pass from Leonard. It was the firstcatch of the season for Caitlin and it was the firstappearance he has made for the Red Wolves in2008.

Leonard was 13-26 with one touchdown and aninterception for 149 passing yards. Leonard wasalso sacked five times during the contest.

Senior tight end David Johnson led the RedWolves with 45 receiving yards on three catches.

Senior linebacker Ben Owens led ASU witheight tackles, including three solo hits. Alex Car-rington recorded one sack in the game. Carringtonnow has 10.5 sacks on the season and has regis-tered at least one sack in seven of ASU’s ninegames this season.

ASU’s freshman running back Derek Lawsonscored on a 12 yard scamper at the 13:31 mark inthe fourth quarter. Following a Josh Arauco PATthe Red Wolves had a 21-12 lead.

FIU drove on the following possession but set-tled for their fifth field goal of the game coming upshort on a third and 10 attempt. The five fieldgoals set a school record for the Golden Panthersfor most field goals in a single game.





Arkansas State 7 7 7 7 28Florida Atlantic 7 7 0 0 14


FAU 1 10:57 Pierre 2-yd run 10-80 4:03ASU 1 2:17 Thompkins 34-yd rec. 5-43 2:01ASU 2 14:55 Gillott 28-yd rec. 3-51 1:01FAU 2 0:10 Housler 3-yd rec. 7-73 1:25ASU 3 6:32 Arnold 5-yd run 6-41 3:03ASU 4 14:54 Jordan 2-yd rec. 7-80 3:23

Team Statistics

ASU FAUFirst Downs 22 15Net yards rushing 203 63Net yards passing 279 196



RUSHING: Florida Atlantic-Pierre, Charles 12-31; Edgecomb, D. 7-26;Smith, Rusty 2-5; Rose, Willie 1-4; Jean, Lester 1-minus 3. Arkansas State-Arnold, Reggie 22-150; Leonard, Corey 14-33; Lawson, Derek 5-22; Team1-minus 2. PASSING: Florida Atlantic-Smith, Rusty 16-38-1-196. ArkansasState-Leonard, Corey 19-27-1-280; Shrable, Brett 1-1-0-minus 1. RECEIV-

ING: Florida Atlantic-Gent, Cortez 4-38; Jean, Lester 2-15; Edgecomb, D. 2-12; Housler, Rob 2-11; Pecorella, Alex 1-35; Bonner, Chris 1-26; Wilkes,Chad 1-19; Grant, Jamari 1-17; Rose, Willie 1-12; Holley, Avery 1-11.Arkansas State-Thompkins, B. 6-98; Mclennan, J. 5-64; Jones, Kevin 3-25;Gillott, Trevor 2-52; Jordan, J.T. 2-17; Johnson, David 1-24; Owens, Ben 1-minus 1. INTERCEPTIONS: Florida Atlantic-Brantley, C. 1-0. ArkansasState-Jennings, M.D. 1-13. FUMBLES: Florida Atlantic-Grant, Jamari 1-1.Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 1-0.

November 22, Jonesboro, AR (ASU Stadium - 10,845) - Arkansas State 28, Florida Atlantic 14

JONESBORO, Ark. (11/22/08) — Junior quar-terback Corey Leonard passed for 280 yardsand three touchdowns and junior tailback Reg-gie Arnold added 150 yards and a score on theground to lead the Arkansas State Red Wolvesto a 28-14 Sun Belt Conference victory overFlorida Atlantic at ASU Stadium.

Leonard completed 19-of-27 passes on theday, including six for a game-high 98 yards anda touchdown to wide receiver Brandon Thomp-kins, helping ASU outgain Florida Atlantic 482to 259 yards on the afternoon. Arnold’s 150yards on the ground gave the junior from LittleRock 3,022 yards for his career and moved himfrom sixth to third place on the ASU career rush-ing charts.

The ASU defense was led by junior defensivelineman Alex Carrington’s six tackles, whilesophomore safety M.D. Jennings added fourtackles, an interception and three passbreakups.

After going into the locker room with a 14-14halftime deadlock, Arkansas State used a five-yard touchdown run from Arnold to go on top21-14 with 6:32 remaining in the third quarter,then got a two-yard touchdown pass fromLeonard to junior tight end J.T. Jordan on thefirst play of the fourth quarter to make it 28-14,ASU. The Red Wolves defense held Florida At-lantic to just 52 yards in the final two quarters toget the second-half shutout.

Florida Atlantic took a 7-0 lead on its first pos-session when the Owls drove 80 yards in 10plays, capping the drive with a 2-yard plungefrom senior tailback Charles Pierre. Seniorkicker Leroy Warley added the first of two extrapoints on the day to complete the possessionwith 10:57 remaining in the first quarter.

Arkansas State answered with a 5-play 43-yard drive that ended with Leonard’s first touch-down pass of the afternoon. Facing 4-and-10 atthe Owl 34, Leonard found a wide-open Thomp-kins in the left corner of the end zone for thetouchdown strike. Placekicker Josh Araucotacked on the first of his four extra points to tiethe game at 7-7 with 2:17 to play in the openingquarter.

The Red Wolves went on top 14-7 less thanthree minutes later when Leonard connectedwith junior tight end Trevor Gillott for a 28-yardtouchdown on the first play of the second quar-ter, but Florida Atlantic tied the game just 10seconds before halftime when junior quarter-back Rusty Smith hit junior tight end RobHousler with a 3-yard touchdown pass.




Arkansas State 7 10 13 3 33North Texas 0 14 14 0 28


ASU 1 7:35 Arnold 5 yd run 4-26 1:44NT 2 6:29 Stickler 12 yd rec. 15-82 6:46ASU 2 3:24 McLennan 37 yd rec. 1-37 0:07NT 2 0:48 Vizza 7 yd run 8-54 2:36ASU 2 0:15 Arauco 36 yd FG 4-6 0:33ASU 3 12:17 Leonard 3 yd run 9-80 2:43NT 3 10:18 Montgomery 26 yd run 6-52 1:59NT 3 6:54 Montgomery 29 yd run 4-58 1:19ASU 3 5:07 Arnold 1 yd run 5-80 1:47ASU 4 9:05 Aracuo 24 yd FG 16-85 8:36

Team Statistics

ASU UNTFirst Downs 21 20Net yards rushing 188 110Net yards passing 205 217



RUSHING: Arkansas State-Arnold, Reggie 21-101; Leonard, Corey 16-49;Lawson, Derek 6-41; Mclennan, J. 1-minus 1; Team 1-minus 2. North Texas-Montgomery,C. 20-121; Spencer,Truman 1-13; Phillips,Matt 1-2; Hamilton,J.1-1; Vizza,Giovanni 6-minus 3; Meager,Daniel 1-minus 4; TEAM 1-minus20. PASSING: Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 12-22-0-205. North Texas-Vizza,Giovanni 25-37-3-202; Phillips,Matt 2-3-0-6; Meager,Daniel 1-2-0-9.RECEIVING: Arkansas State-Mclennan, J. 4-79; Thompkins, B. 4-76; John-son, David 2-27; Jones, Kevin 1-12; Arnold, Reggie 1-11. North Texas-Fitzgerald,C. 11-90; Dickerson,K. 6-32; Stickler,B. 4-42; Johnson,Breece3-32; Johnson,R. 3-19; Montgomery,C. 1-2. INTERCEPTIONS: ArkansasState-Van Dolah, Evan 1-8; Brown, Marcus 1-3; Hall, Bryan 1-0. NorthTexas-None. FUMBLES: Arkansas State-Arnold, Reggie 1-1. North Texas-Vizza,Giovanni 1-0.

NOVEMBER 29, DENTON, TX (FOUTS FIELD - 9,761) - ARKANSAS STATE 33, NORTH TEXAS 28

DENTON, Texas (11/29/08) – Arkansas State juniorrunning back Reggie Arnold and junior quarterback CoreyLeonard accounted for a combined four touchdowns tolead the Red Wolves (6-5, 4-2) to a 33-28 Sun Belt Con-ference victory over North Texas (1-11, 0-7) Saturday af-ternoon at Fouts Field, giving ASU six wins on the seasonto make it bowl eligible for the third time in the last fouryears.

Junior safety Marcus Brown secured the victory whenhe intercepted Giovanni Vizza with 23 seconds left in thegame, stopping a North Texas drive that reached the ASU41-yard line. The interception completed an ASU rallyafter the Mean Green had grabbed a 28-24 lead, its onlyadvantage of the game, on a 29-yard touchdown run byCam Montgomery with 6:54 left in the third quarter.

ASU responded with an 80-yard touchdown drive on its

next possession to regain the lead at 30-28 after JoshArauco’s extra-point was blocked. Leonard found juniorwide receiver Brandon Thompkins for a 63-yard recep-tion, the longest of Thompkins career, that set upArnold’s second touchdown run from the one-yard lineat the 5:07 mark of the third quarter.

Arauco kicked a 24-yard field goal with 9:05 left in thefourth quarter to set the final score at 33-28. The de-fense, led by three players with an interception and a ca-reer-high 13 tackles from senior linebacker Ben Owens,then stopped the Mean Green on its final two posses-sions to clinch the win.

The Red Wolves finished with 393 yards of total of-fense, narrowly missing its sixth 400-yard performanceof the season. Arnold recorded his third straight 100-yard rushing game, finishing the day with 101 yards topace ASU’s rushing attack that piled up 188 yards.Leonard completed 12-of-22 passes for 205 yards andtied his own school record with his 16th passing touch-down of the season.

Along with Brown, sophomore defensive tackle BryanHall and junior safety Evan Van Dolah both tallied theirfirst career interceptions. ASU, which lost one fumble,improved to 6-0 this year when winning the turnover bat-tle.

North Texas finished the game with 327 yards of totaloffense, marking the seventh game the Red Wolveshave outgained their opponent. ASU had six players fin-ish with five or more tackles and also had six players fin-ish with at least one tackle for loss. Junior corner DaylanWalker followed Owens with eight tackles, while Brownand junior defensive end Alex Carrington posted seven.

ASU led 7-0 and 14-7 in the first half, but North Texascame back to tie it up both times. After North Texas tiedthe score 14-14 with 48 seconds left in the first half, PaulStephens returned the Mean Green’s kick a career-best57 yards to set up Arauco’s first field goal from 36 yards.Stephens’ return was the longest by an ASU player sinceDarren Toney had a 60-yard return against Florida Inter-national last season.

Leonard ended ASU’s first possession of the secondhalf with a three-yard touchdown run that gave ASU a24-14 lead, its largest of the game, early in the thirdquarter. The Mean Green came back to score 14 unan-swered points before ASU went back on top for goodwith 5:07 left in the third.





Arkansas State 0 0 0 9 9Troy 7 14 0 14 28


Troy 1 2:03 Williams 19 yd rec. 8-80 3:16Troy 2 8:28 Moreland 6 yd rec. 5-52 2:47Troy 2 13:55 Harris 6 yd run 9-66 3:34Troy 4 8:50 Silvoy 24 yd rec. 6-55 2:36ASU 4 13:55 Williams safety - -Troy 4 6:29 Harris 12 yd run 4-21 1:09ASU 4 3:20 Hewitt 1 yd run 9-72 3:29

Team Statistics

ASU TroyFirst Downs 19 17Net yards rushing 160 156Net yards passing 172 181



RUSHING: Arkansas State-Arnold, Reggie 18-83; Leonard, Corey 18-49;Lawson, Derek 6-25; Hewitt, Travis 3-3. Troy-Harris, D. 18-72; Moreland, X.2-49; Jernigan, J. 5-42; Burton, K. 2-3; Brown, L. 1-minus 1; Parker, D. 2-minus 9. PASSING: Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 17-32-2-172. Troy-Brown, L. 15-23-0-181; Parker, D. 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING: ArkansasState-Mclennan, J. 7-52; Thompkins, B. 2-28; Clements, T. 2-28; Gillott,Trevor 1-26; Norman, Jarriel 1-12; Jordan, J.T. 1-12; Blake, Jeff 1-8; Jones,Kevin 1-4; Arnold, Reggie 1-2. Troy-Jernigan, J. 3-69; Marcum, Z. 3-45; Har-ris, D. 3-4; Silvoy, A. 1-24; Williams, C. 1-19; Bray, J. 1-8; Moreland, X. 1-6;Tate, G. 1-3; Burton, K. 1-3. INTERCEPTIONS: Arkansas State-None. Troy-Moore, T. 1-24; Williams, T. 1-0; Calvin, J. 0-13. FUMBLES: Arkansas State-Leonard, Corey 1-1. Troy-Parker, D. 1-0.

DECEMBER 6, TROY, AL (MOVIE GALLERY STADIUM - 16,227) - TROY 35, ARKANSAS STATE 9

TROY, Ala. (12/06/08) — Arkansas State sawits bid for a Sun Belt Conference championshipfall short in Troy, Ala. with a 35-9 loss to the TroyTrojans at Movie Gallery Stadium.

With the victory, Troy (8-4, 6-1) clinched theconference title and a berth in the Dec. 21 NewOrleans Bowl while Arkansas State finished theregular season at 6-6 overall and 4-3 in leagueplay.

Troy jumped out to a 21-0 in the first half, get-ting on the scoreboard with a 19-yard touchdownpass from junior quarterback Levi Brown to juniorwideout Cornelius Williams with 2:03 remainingin the first quarter.

Brown added a 6-yard scoring pass to runningback Xavier Moreland midway through the sec-

ond quarter, and 6-yard touchdown run from full-back DuJuan Harris put the Trojans in the endzone again with one minute to play in the firsthalf. Placekicker Sam Glusman added his thirdextra point of the half for the 21-0 Troy advan-tage.

The Red Wolves drove deep into Troy territorytwice in the third quarter, but came away emptyboth times. A turnover at the Troy 1 killed the firstdrive, and the Red Wolves gave the ball up ondowns at the Trojan 1 on their second posses-sion of the second half.

Arkansas State got on the scoreboard with13:55 remaining in the game when senior cor-nerback Dominique Williams sacked Brown inthe end zone for a safety, but Troy answered witha 24-yard touchdown pass from Brown to widereceiver Austin Silvoy to make it 28-2 with 8:50 toplay.

A 12-yard touchdown run from Harris with 6:29remaining bumped the Troy lead to 35-2 beforeArkansas State got in the end zone with a one-yard touchdown run from senior quarterbackTravis Hewitt with three minutes to play. Juniorkicker Josh Arauco added the extra point to setthe final score at 35-9.

Junior tailback Reggie Arnold rushed for 83yards on 18 carries and junior quarterback CoreyLeonard completed 17-of-32 passes for 172yards, including seven completions for 52 yardsto junior wideout Jahbari McLennan to lead theASU offense on the night. Senior linebacker BenOwens, sophomore linebacker Darius Gloverand junior defensive back Marcus Brown led theRed Wolves on defense with six tackles each.

For Troy, Brown completed 15-of-23 passes for181 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Tro-jan offense, while defensive end CameronSheffield, and linebacker Boris Lee led the Troydefense with eight stops each.

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL2008 Statistics


PassingName GP Effic. Att-Comp-Int Pct Yds TD Long Avg./G

Corey Leonard 12 130.70 306-166-8 54.2 2347 16 63 195.6Brett Shrable 12 91.60 1-1-0 100.0 -1 0 0 -0.1Travis Hewitt 3 0.00 1-0-0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0ASU 12 130.15 308-167-8 54.2 2346 16 63 195.5

Opponents 12 115.06 380-208-15 54.7 2536 14 84 211.3

12 GAMES - RECORD: 6-6 SBC: 4-3 HOME: 4-1 AWAY: 2-5 NEUTRAL: 0-0Date Opponent W/L Score Attendance

Aug. 30, 2008 at Texas A&M W 18-14 78,691Sep. 6, 2008 TEXAS SOUTHERN W 83-10 21,741Sep. 13, 2008 SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI L 24-27 25,938Sep. 20, 2008 MIDDLE TENNESSEE* W 31-14 24,256Sep. 27, 2008 at Memphis L 17-29 26,376Oct. 11, 2008 LOUISIANA-MONROE* W 37-29 22,745Oct. 18, 2008 at Louisiana-Lafayette* L 23-28 23,684Nov. 1, 2008 at No. 2 Alabama L 0-35 92,138Nov. 8, 2008 at Florida International* L 21-22 15,106Nov. 22, 2008 FLORIDA ATLANTIC* W 28-14 10,845Nov. 29, 2008 at North Texas* W 33-28 9,761Dec. 6, 2008 at Troy* L 9-35 16,227

*denotes Sun Belt Conference Game

RushingName GP Att. Gain Loss Net Avg. TD Long Avg./G

Reggie Arnold 12 197 1117 43 1074 5.5 7 56 89.5Derek Lawson 12 97 710 15 695 7.2 4 80 57.9Corey Leonard 12 157 792 276 516 3.3 4 32 43.0Jahbari McLennan 12 4 83 5 78 19.5 1 63 6.5Jermaine Robertson 9 8 48 2 46 5.8 0 12 5.1Jeff Blake 12 5 40 0 40 8.0 1 15 3.3Travis Hewitt 3 6 25 0 25 4.2 2 10 8.3Brandon Thompkins 11 2 16 0 16 8.0 0 11 1.5Brice Beck 1 1 5 0 5 5.0 0 0 5.0Jarriel Norman 11 1 3 0 3 3.0 0 3 0.3Brett Shrable 12 0 -5 0 -5 0.0 0 0 -0.4TEAM 9 10 0 53 -53 -5.3 0 0 -5.9ASU 12 488 2834 394 2440 5.0 19 80 203.3

Opponents 12 401 1835 333 1502 3.7 20 52 125.2

ReceivingName GP No. Yds. Avg. TD Long Avg./G

Brandon Thompkins 11 32 511 16.0 2 63 46.5Jahbari McLennan 12 32 451 14.1 1 63 37.6David Johnson 12 22 356 16.2 5 53 29.7Kevin Jones 12 17 217 12.8 1 54 18.1Trevor Gillott 12 15 228 15.2 2 39 19.0Jarriel Norman 11 12 197 16.4 0 53 17.9Reggie Arnold 12 11 135 12.3 1 51 11.2Anthony Robinson 11 8 102 12.8 0 29 9.3Taylor Clements 10 7 74 10.6 0 21 7.4Jeff Blake 12 5 25 5.0 2 8 2.1J.T. Jordan 12 3 29 9.7 1 15 2.4Vernon Catlin 3 1 18 18.0 1 18 6.0Derek Lawson 12 1 4 4.0 0 4 0.3Ben Owens 12 1 -1 -1.0 0 0 -0.1ASU 12 167 2346 14.0 16 63 195.5

Opponents 12 208 2536 12.2 14 84 211.3

Total OffenseName G Plays Rush Pass Total Avg./G

Corey Leonard 12 463 516 2347 2863 238.6Reggie Arnold 12 197 1074 0 1074 89.5Derek Lawson 12 97 695 0 695 57.9Jahbari McLennan 12 4 78 0 78 6.5Jermaine Robertson 9 8 46 0 46 5.1Jeff Blake 12 5 40 0 40 3.3Travis Hewitt 3 7 25 0 25 8.3Brandon Thompkins 11 2 16 0 16 1.5Brice Beck 1 1 5 0 5 5.0Jarriel Norman 11 1 3 0 3 0.3Brett Shrable 12 1 -5 -1 -6 -0.5TEAM 9 10 -53 0 -53 -5.9ASU 12 796 2440 2346 4786 398.8

Opponents 12 781 1502 2536 4038 336.5

2008 SCHEDULE & RESULTS

All-PurposeName G Rush Rec PR KOR IR Tot. Avg./G

Reggie Arnold 12 1074 135 0 0 0 1209 100.8Brandon Thompkins 11 16 511 0 296 0 823 74.8Kevin Jones 12 0 217 213 311 0 741 61.8Derek Lawson 12 695 4 0 0 0 699 58.2Jahbari McLennan 12 78 451 0 76 0 605 50.4Corey Leonard 12 516 0 0 0 0 516 43.0David Johnson 12 0 356 0 0 0 356 29.7Paul Stephens 9 0 0 0 266 0 266 29.6Trevor Gillott 12 0 228 0 0 0 228 19.0Jarriel Norman 11 3 197 0 0 0 200 18.2Anthony Robinson 11 0 102 0 0 0 102 9.3Taylor Clements 10 0 74 0 26 0 100 10.0Jeff Blake 12 40 25 0 0 0 65 5.4Jermaine Robertson 9 46 0 0 16 0 62 6.9Daylan Walker 12 0 0 27 0 33 60 5.0Ben Owens 12 0 -1 0 0 46 45 3.8Darius Glover 12 0 0 0 0 29 29 2.4J.T. Jordan 12 0 29 0 0 0 29 2.4Greg Hardy 10 0 0 0 29 0 29 2.9Travis Hewitt 3 25 0 0 0 0 25 8.3Dominique Williams 12 0 0 0 0 23 23 1.9Cordarious Mingo 9 0 0 0 0 20 20 2.2Alex Carrington 12 0 0 0 0 18 18 1.5Vernon Catlin 3 0 18 0 0 0 18 6.0M.D. Jennings 12 0 0 0 0 13 13 1.1Evan Van Dolah 12 0 0 0 0 8 8 0.7Brice Beck 1 5 0 0 0 0 5 5.0Marcus Brown 12 0 0 0 0 3 3 0.2Brett Shrable 12 -5 0 0 0 0 -5 -0.4TEAM 9 -53 0 0 0 0 -53 -5.9ASU 12 2440 2346 240 1020 193 6239 519.9

Opponents 12 1502 2536 184 1201 72 5495 457.9

KickoffsName No. Yds. Avg. TB OB Retn Net YdLn

Ryan Wilbourn 67 3769 56.3 1 1ASU 67 3769 56.3 1 1 1201 38.0 31

Opponents 59 3640 61.7 8 2 1020 41.7 28



2008 Statistics

ScoringPATs

Name TD FG Kick Rush Rcv. Pass DXP Saf Points

Josh Arauco 0 17-20 37-38 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 88Reggie Arnold 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 48David Johnson 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 30Corey Leonard 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 24Derek Lawson 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 24Jeff Blake 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 18Travis Hewitt 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 12Trevor Gillott 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 12Brandon Thompkins 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 12Jahbari McLennan 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 12Vernon Catlin 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 6J.T. Jordan 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 6Darius Glover 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 6Kevin Jones 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 6Javon McKinnon 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 6Demario Davis 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 6Marcus Brown 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 6Dominque Williams 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 2Ryan Wilbourn 0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0ASU 39 17-21 37-38 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 324

Opponents 36 11-19 34-35 0-0 1 1-1 0 0 285

InterceptionsName No. Yds. Avg. TD Long

M.D. Jennings 3 13 4.3 0 13Dominique Williams 2 23 11.5 0 23Ben Owens 2 46 23.0 0 31Alex Carrington 1 18 18.0 0 18Darius Glover 1 29 29.0 1 29Bryan Hall 1 0 0.0 0 0Cordarious Mingo 1 20 20.0 0 13Marcus Brown 1 3 3.0 0 3Evan Van Dolah 1 8 8.0 0 8Paul Stephens 1 0 0.0 0 0Daylan Walker 1 33 33.0 0 33ASU 15 193 12.9 1 33

Opponents 8 72 9.0 1 32

Kickoff ReturnsName No. Yds. Avg. TD Long

Brandon Thompkins 15 296 19.7 0 30Kevin Jones 14 311 22.2 0 39Paul Stephens 10 266 26.6 0 57Jahbari McLennan 4 76 19.0 0 25Greg Hardy 4 29 7.2 0 12Taylor Clements 1 26 26.0 0 26Jermaine Robertson 1 16 16.0 0 16ASU 49 1020 20.8 0 57

Opponents 63 1201 19.1 1 91

Fumble ReturnsName No. Yds. Avg. TD Long

Marcus Brown 1 71 71.0 1 71Demario Davis 1 53 53.0 1 53Javon McKinnon 1 25 25.0 1 25Brett Shrable 0 -10 0.0 0 0ASU 3 139 46.3 3 71

Opponents 1 30 30.0 0 30

Punt ReturnsName No. Yds. Avg. TD Long

Kevin Jones 25 213 85 0 50Daylan Walker 3 27 9.0 0 23ASU 28 240 8.6 0 50

Opponents 27 184 6.8 0 27

PuntingName No. Yds. Avg. Long TB FC I20 Blkd.

Brett Shrable 55 2102 38.2 52 6 6 10 0ASU 55 2102 38.2 52 6 6 10 0

Opponents 52 2159 41.5 57 5 3 13 0

Field Goal SequenceGame Arkansas State Opponents

Texas A&M (37), (28), (25), (37) 32, 25Texas Southern (33), (30) 38, (34)Southern Miss (41) (23), (28)Middle Tennessee (35) 44Memphis (33) (20), (37), (40)Louisiana-Monroe (27), (26), (44) -Louisiana-Lafayette (20), (42), (41) -Alabama - 37Florida International - (43), (32), 33, (43), (35), (37), 27Florida Atlantic 33, 40 -North Texas (36), (24) -Troy 29, 51 30

Numbers in parentheses indicate field goal was made.

Field GoalsName FGM-FGA Pct. 01-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-99 Long Blk.

Josh Arauco 17-20 85.0 0-0 6-7 7-8 4-5 0-0 44 0Ryan Wilbourn 0-1 0.0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0

2008 Season StatisticsTeam Statistics ASU OPP

Scoring 324 285Points Per Game 27.0 23.8

First Downs 238 214Rushing 125 82Passing 95 115Penalty 18 17

Rushing Yardage 2440 1502Yards Gained Rushing 2834 1835Yards Lost Rushing 394 333Rushing Attempts 488 401Average Per Rush 5.0 3.7Average Per Game 203.3 125.2Touchdowns Rushing 19 20

Passing Yardage 2346 2536Att-Comp-Int 308-167-8 380-208-15Average Per Pass 7.6 6.7Average Per Catch 14.0 12.2Average Per Game 195.5 211.3Touchdowns Passing 16 14

Total Offense 4786 4038Total Plays 796 781Average Per Play 6.0 5.2Average Per Game 398.8 336.5

Kick Returns: #-Yards 49-1020 63-1201Punt Returns: #-Yards 28-240 27-184Interception Returns: #-Yards 15-193 8-72Kick Return Average 20.8 19.1Punt Return Average 8.6 6.8Interception Return Average 12.9 9.0Fumbles-Lost 16-7 16-9Penalties-Yards 84-780 63-525

Average Per Game 65.0 43.8Punts-Yards 55-2102 52-2159

Average Per Punt 38.2 41.5Net Punt Average 32.7 35.0

Time of Possession/Game 32:50 27:08Third Down Conversions 59/158 71/170

Third Down Percentage 37% 42%Fourth Down Conversions 8/18 7/18

Fourth Down Percentage 44% 39%Sacks By-Yards 26-163 29-217Miscellaneous Yards 8 0Touchdowns Scored 39 36Field Goals-Attempts 17-21 11-19On-Side Kicks 0-1 0-1Red-Zone Scores 40-47 (85%) 34-46 (74%)Red-Zone Touchdowns 26-47 (55%) 26-46 (57%)PAT-Attempts 37-38 (97%) 34-35 (97%)Attendance 105525 261983

Games/Average Per Game 5/21105 7/37426Neutral Site Games 0/0 0/0

Score By Quarters 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total

Arkansas State 68 99 81 76 324Opponents 51 89 58 87 285

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL2008 Statistics


Defensive Statistics(---------------------Tackles---------------------) (-Sacks-) (----------Pass Defense----------) (-----Fumbles-----) Blocked

Name GP Solo Ast. Total TFL/Yds. No-Yds. Int.-Yds. BrUp QBH Rcv-Yds FF Kick Saf

Ben Owens 12 41 46 87 5.0-16 2.0-14 2-46 3 1 1-0 1 . .

M.D. Jennings 12 42 25 67 3.0-5 . 3-13 5 . . 1 . .

Daylan Walker 12 47 18 65 1.0-1 . 1-33 5 . 1-0 . . .

Marcus Brown 12 40 17 57 5.0-15 . 1-3 4 . 1-71 2 . .

Darius Glover 12 39 15 54 3.5-7 1.0-4 1-29 1 . 1-0 . . .

Alex Carrington 12 36 17 53 19.0-76 10.5-59 1-18 2 1 . 1 1 .

Evan Van Dolah 12 32 20 52 1.0-1 . 1-8 4 1 . . . .

Dominique Williams 12 35 14 49 5.06-6 1.0-1 2-23 5 . . . . 1

Bryan Hall 12 21 18 39 8.5-59 6.0-52 1-0 . . 1-0 . . .

Brian Flagg 12 8 20 28 5.5-25 2.0-3 . . . . . . .

Javon McKinnon 12 9 15 24 1.0-2 . . . . 1-25 . . .

Cordarious Mingo 9 15 6 21 1.0-7 . 1-20 2 . . . . .

Demario Davis 11 10 7 17 1.0-4 . . 1 . 1-53 . . .

Greg Hardy 10 7 10 17 1.0-1 . . . . . . . .

Khari Mays 12 6 9 15 3.0-8 2.0-6 . 1 . . 1 . .

Stanley Wakwe 12 6 8 14 4.0-19 1.5-13 . 2 1 . . . .

Dorvus Woods 12 11 3 14 5.0-15 1.0-7 . 1 . . . . .

Jeremy Gibson 10 8 5 13 3.0-15 1.0-11 . . . 2-0 1 . .

Kelcie McCray 12 9 4 13 . . . 2 . . 1 . .

Paul Stephens 9 8 2 10 . . 1-0 . . . . . .

Elroy Brown 11 2 6 8 0.5-1 . . . . . . . .

Greg McCall 10 4 3 7 2.0-9 1.0-8 . . 1 . . . .

Matt Taylor 11 4 3 7 . . . . . . . . .

Michael Adams 9 4 3 7 1.0-3 . . . . . . . .

Levi Thompson 6 3 4 7 1.0-6 . . . . . . . .

Stanley Porter 8 2 4 6 0.5-1 . . . . . . . .

Graham Bates 8 2 3 5 . . . . . . . . .

Jaquan Kilcrease 11 2 1 3 . . . . . . 1 . .

Isaiah Shepard 1 1 2 3 . . . . . . . . .

Ryan Wilbourn 12 3 . 3 . . . . . . . . .

Reggie Arnold 12 3 . 3 . . . . . . . . .

Anthony Harris 6 1 1 2 . . . . . . . . .

Walter Moody 10 . 2 2 0.5-1 . . . . . . . .

Leroy Trahan 10 2 . 2 . . . . . . . . .

Najel Byrd 1 . 1 1 . . . . . . . . .

Jonathan Looney 2 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . .

Jarvis Halford 1 . 1 1 . . . . . . . . .

Jahbari McLennan 12 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . .

Corey Leonard 12 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . .

David Johnson 12 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . .

Andre Smith 1 . 1 1 . . . . . . . . .

Don Jones 1 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . .

Jemale Garrett 6 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . .

Brett Shrable 12 1 . 1 . . . . . 0--10 . . .

Jarriel Norman 11 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . .

Team 9 . . . . . . . . . . 1 .

ASU 12 471 314 785 81-303 27-163 15-193 39 5 9-139 9 2 1

Opponents 12 468 430 898 73-311 29-217 8-72 32 7 7-30 8 1 .

Documents

2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL2009 ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL 2009 ASU FOOTBALL SPRING PROSPECTUS 3 astateredwolves.com OFFENSE LT 67 Kiano Prater, 6-3, 292, Sr., 1L, San Bernardino, CA