GAME 2
Arkansas State (0-1) hosts SMU (1-1)
September 15, 2007 - Indian Stadium (30,406)
Jonesboro, Arkansas - 6:00 p.m. (CT)
Radio: Arkansas State Radio Network (KWHF 95.9 FM, flagship)
Television: XOS Webcasting (ASUIndians.com), KTXA-TV (Dallas, TX)
-Click here to view PDF version of ASU game notes vs. SMU-
ON TAP: What was supposed to be Arkansas State's home opener against Memphis last Saturday was postponed due to continuous lightning around Indian Stadium, so the Indians will now face another Conference USA opponent, SMU, this Saturday at 6:00 p.m. in what has become their new home opener. Every Arkansas State game can be heard live on 95.9 FM in the Jonesboro area and the live radio broadcast can be accessed through the Arkansas State athletic web site (ASUIndians.com).
THE PRINCIPALS: With the postponement of ASU's game against Memphis Sept. 8, last week basically became the Indians' open week as the game was moved to Sept. 27, which was originally scheduled to be an open week for ASU. The Indians enter this Saturday with one game under their belt, a narrow 21-13 setback to then-ranked No. 4 Texas. SMU will enter the game with a 1-1 record, falling 49-9 against Texas Tech in its season opener before coming back to defeat North Texas 45-31 last week.
HEAD COACH STEVE ROBERTS: Arkansas State head coach Steve Roberts is in his sixth year at Arkansas State after leading the Indians to the 2005 Sun Belt Conference Championship and its most single-season wins over Division I-A opponents in 2006. He has guided ASU to 26 wins since his arrival, the most over a five-year span at the school since winning 33 from 1986-1990. Roberts was named the 2005 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year. Under Roberts, the Indians have had 44 All-Sun Belt Conference selections, a Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and a SBC Offensive Player of the Year.
MEMPHIS GAME RESCHEDULED FOR SEPT. 27: ASU's game against Memphis, originally scheduled for Sept. 8, was postponed due to continuos lightning around Indian Stadium. The game will now be played on Thursday, Sept. 27, at 6:00 p.m. at Indian Stadium. The week of Sept. 27 was originally an open week for ASU, which will be coming off a game against Tennessee five days earlier.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS: SMU enters Saturday's game with a 1-1 record, falling to Texas Tech 49-9 in its season opener before coming back to knock off North Texas 45-31 last Saturday. The Mustangs will play their first road game of the season after finishing last season with a 1-5 road record. Sophomore quarterback Justin Willis threw for a career-high 353 yards in the Mustangs victory over North Texas, which was decided in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. Willis has also been the team's biggest running threat through the first two games, recording a team-high 122 rushing yards. While the Mustangs are averaging 402.8 yards per game, they gave up an average of 583 yards over their first two contests. The Mustangs finished last year with a 6-6 record.
THE ARKANSAS STATE - SMU SERIES: The Indians and Mustangs met for the first time ever last season in Dallas as SMU picked up a 55-9 victory.
THE LAST TIME vs. SMU: DALLAS, Texas (9/23/06) - Arkansas State trailed SMU just 14-6 at the end of the first quarter, but the Mustangs outscored the Indians 24-0 to take a 38-6 halftime advantage. SMU went on to the 55-9 victory, posting 457 yards of offense to the Indians 262. ASU was hurt by four lost fumbles and an interception. For more information on the game, refer to pg. 96 of the ASU media guide.
ASU vs. CONFERENCE USA: Arkansas State holds a 25-42-5 record all-time against current members of Conference USA. In addition to SMU, the Indians will also take on Conference USA members Memphis and Southern Mississippi during the 2007 season. Against current members of the C-USA, the Indians are 21-27-5 against Memphis, 0-1 against SMU, and 2-7 against Southern Miss. The other C-USA teams the Tribe has faced are Central Florida (0-1), East Carolina (0-2), Alabama-Birmingham (0-2), and Tulsa (2-2).
LAST TIME OUT: Despite an advantage in total yards, first downs, rushing yards and passing yards, Arkansas State could not grab a victory over then No. 4 Texas, falling 21-13 in the Indians' season opener. Arkansas State outdistanced Texas 397-340 in total offense, 26-23 in first downs, 125-117 in rushing yardage, and 272-223 in passing yardage. Indian quarterback Corey Leonard completed 23 of 36 passes in the game for 259 yards. Leonard's 23 completions and passing yardage against the Longhorns were both career highs for the sophomore from Covington, La. On the defensive side of the ball, the Tribe was led by senior safety Tyrell Johnson with 14 tackles, and senior linebacker Koby McKinnon with 11 stops. Johnson, the preseason Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year, also intercepted one pass and posted one tackle-for-loss against the ?Horns. The game was played before a crowd of 84,440, the third-largest crowd to ever watch an ASU football game.
HOME OPENERS: ASU is 4-1 in home openers played at Indian Stadium under sixth-year head coach Steve Roberts and is 22-11 all-time in home openers at Indian Stadium, which opened in 1974.
ROBERTS AND INDIAN STADIUM: Arkansas State head coach Steve Roberts has led the Indians to a 17-6 record at Indian Stadium over the last five years for a .739 winning percentage. Not only that, the Indians are 8-1 at Indian Stadium over the last two seasons. Heading into its home finale last season ASU held and eight-game winning streak at Indian Stadium, which was their longest home winning streak since capturing 17 in a row from 1984-86.
LEONARD, JOHNSON NAMED SBC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Arkansas State quarterback Corey Leonard and safety Tyrell Johnson were named Sun Belt Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week on Sept. 3 for their performances in the Indians' season opener against the University of Texas.
Leonard, (Soph., Covington, La.) passed for a career-high 259 yards in the 21-13 loss to the fourth-ranked Longhorns, completing 23 of 36 passes on the night with one interception. His 23 completions in the game were also a career high.
Johnson (Sr., Rison, Ark.), the preseason Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year, logged a game-high 14 tackles against the Longhorns, including 10 solo stops. He also had one interception in the game, and one 6-yard tackle-for-loss.
ROBERTS CLIMBING VICTORIES LADDER: In his first five seasons as the Indians head coach, Steve Roberts already has the fifth most victories among ASU's 26 all-time head coaches with 26 wins. Larry Lacewell (1979-89) holds the record for victories with 69 and is followed by Bennie Ellender (1963-70) with 52 wins, Bill Davidson (1971-78) with 51 and Forrest England (1946-53) with 49.
closing in: Preseason Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year Tyrell Johnson continued his assault on the Sun Belt Conference career tackles record against Texas, notching 14 stops against the Longhorns. Johnson now has 283 career tackles to move into a tie for second place all-time in the Sun Belt Conference. He is just 17 short of the all-time Sun Belt record held by ASU's Steven Tookes, who played for the Indians from 2001-04.
NEW CAREER LONG FOR ARAUCO: Sophomore placekicker Josh Arauco hit a career-long 45-yard field goal to end ASU's first possession Sept. 1 at Texas. Arauco's previous best was 38 yards against Louisiana-Lafayette in ASU's last game of the 2006 season. Arauco hit two field goals in the Texas game, marking the fourth time in his career he made multiple field goals in a game.
TONEY CONTINUES CLIMB: With three kickoff returns for 61 yards against Texas, senior Darren Toney moved into sole possession of second place at ASU for the most kickoff returns in a career (66). He needs eight more returns for first place. Toney now has 1,321 career kickoff return yards as well, leaving him 183 shy of the second most return yards in ASU history.
flagg flying high again: Junior defensive end Brian Flagg not only made his first appearance in a game since the last regular season game of 2005, he got the start at right defensive end. Flagg missed the entire 2006 season with an injury, but has now started 22 of his 23 career games at ASU.
Dejohnette moving up: Levi Dejohnette caught six passes Sept. 1 against Texas, giving him 97 for his career and moving him into fourth place at ASU in career receptions. Dejohnette's 50-yard reception was the longest he has had since his career-best 55 yard reception in 2005.
hot start for brown: Redshirt freshman running back Preston Brown started Sept. 1 at Texas - his first career game at ASU, and caught a six-yard pass on the first play of the Indians' first possession. He finished the game with 21 rushing yards and 5 receptions for 48 yards.
TREND CONTINUES: ASU, which ranked ninth in the nation in 2006 in passes intercepted, recorded two interceptions Sept. 1 against Texas to start the season strong once again.
CONTINUING ANOTHER TREND: The Indians won time of possession, 30:12 to Texas' 29:48 last week in the season opener. ASU won time of possession in 11 of 12 games in 2006 and ranked first in the Sun Belt Conference in the statistic.
spreading it around: ASU completed at least one pass to eight different players in the Sept. 1 season opener at Texas, matching its most players to record a reception in a game for all of last year.
SEASON openers: Following its Sept. 1 loss at Texas, the Indians are now 43-44-6 all time in season openers.
93rd SEASON BEGINS: Arkansas State kicked off its 93rd season of football last week with its game against Texas. The Indians hold a 397-423-37 record since the inaugural 1911 season and have played in seven bowl games. With three more victories, ASU will become the fifth Sun Belt Conference school with 400-plus wins.
CHALLENGING START: The Indians faced the No. 4 Longhorns Saturday, Sept. 1, opening their season with a nationally ranked opponent for the first time since playing then-ranked No. 17 Missouri in 2004.
FIVE-YEAR IMPROVEMENT: Since head coach Steve Roberts arrival in 2002, Arkansas State's football program has seen its win total increase by almost 100 percent over the previous five years. ASU has posted 26 wins over the last five years, 11 more than it recorded the five years prior to Roberts. In fact, ASU's 26 wins over the last five years are the most for a five-year span since it collected 33 victories from 1986-90.
TEAM CAPTAINS: ASU's senior class will alternate throughout the year as team captains. The team will vote on permanent captains at the end of the year.
SBC Preseason awards: The 2007 preseason accolades continue to pile up for Arkansas State football players Tyrell Johnson (Sr., S), Matt Mandich (Jr., OL) and Koby McKinnon (Sr., LB) as all three were named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Team and Johnson was tabbed the league's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, announced at the conference's annual media days.
ASU Predicted to Finish Third in 2007 SBC Race: The Arkansas State football team was picked to finish third in the 2007 Sun Belt Conference race according to the league's preseason poll of its eight head coaches, announced by the conference office.
ASU received one first-place vote and 43 points, finishing just one point behind second-place Middle Tennessee in the voting. Defending New Orleans Bowl champion Troy received five of the eight first place votes and 59 points to finish first in the poll. Louisiana-Monroe and Florida Atlantic picked up the remaining two first-place votes.
ASU Football Set For SIX Televised Games in 2007: The Sun Belt Conference has announced its 2007 football television package, which includes three Arkansas State games that will be televised by ESPN Plus and another game televised by CSS.
The Indians' home games against Troy on Oct. 27 (6:00 p.m.), Florida International on Nov. 3 (2:00 p.m.) and North Texas on Nov. 15 (6:00 p.m.) will be televised by ESPN Plus, while their game at Tennessee on Sept. 22 (6:00 CT) will be carried by CSS.
Additionally, the Indians' season opener at Texas on Sept. 1 (6:00 p.m.) will be televised by Fox Sports Net, which feeds a five-state region including Arkansas. The Indians' game against SMU will also be televised with details to come.
ASU's six regular-season televised games for 2007 are the most in school history, just ahead of the 2005 season when the Indians were on television four times during the regular season.
Opportunities still exist for different television entities, including SuddenLink cable in Jonesboro, to pick up and air the televised games. As additional details on ASU and Sun Belt Conference televised games are finalized, information will be released by the ASU athletic department.
ASU ADDS DEEP SNAPPER ADAM GASTON: Included among the 105 players reporting for ASU's fall camp was one additional scholarship player in deep snapper Adam Gaston. The 5-9, 215-pound Gaston was a three-year varsity letterman for the Oak Grove High School (Hattiesburg, Miss.) football team, where he earned first team all-district honors as a senior. He helped lead Oak Grove to a 34-7 record in three years.
He was ranked among the top 10 high school long snappers in the nation according to several websites, including prokicker.com's No. 1 spot for its Ray Guy/ProKicker.com National Camp rankings. He was also ranked among the top 12 underclassmen deep snappers in the nation at the 4th annual National Kicking Competition hosted by Chris Sailer Kicking in Las Vegas in January of 2006. Gaston was a member of the Oak Grove High School swimming team.
ASU Football Radio Broadcasts to be Carried by KABF 88.3 FM in Little Rock: Arkansas State football fans in and around Central Arkansas will have no problems following the Tribe this season, as ASU Athletics and East Arkansas Broadcasters have announced that all ASU Football games this year will be carried on KABF 88.3 FM in Little Rock.
KABF is operated by the Arkansas Broadcasting Foundation and has a 100,000-watt signal. The station's signal reaches more than 70 miles on any side of the Capitol City, reaching Brinkley to the east, Fordyce to the south, Clarksville to the west and the Twin Lakes area to the north.
ARNOLD ON DOAK WALKER AWARD WATCH LIST: Reggie Arnold has been listed among the 51 candidates for the 2007 Doak Walker Award, presented annually to the nation's top college running back. Arnold was named All-Sun Belt Conference, Sporting News Third Team Freshman All-America and Football Writers Association of America Scripps Freshman All-America after rushing for 1,076 yards and four touchdowns in 2006. The 2006 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year was twice named the league's Offensive Player of the Week and finished last year ranked third in the nation among all freshmen for rushing yards. Arnold has also been named Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference by 2007 football publications such as Athlon's, Phil Steele's and Lindy's.
McKINNON ON BUTKUS AWARD WATCH LIST: Koby McKinnon (Junction City, Ark.) has been named to the 2007 Butkus Award Watch List, announced Tuesday morning by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, Inc. (DACO). McKinnon, a 2007 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference selection, is one of 66 candidates for this year's award that also includes three players from the Sun Belt Conference. McKinnon has been named Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference by several football publications, including Athlon's, Sporting News, Phil Steele's, Lindy's and Street & Smith's magazines.
LEONARD ON DAVEY O'BRIEN WATCH LIST: Arkansas State sophomore quarterback Corey Leonard has been named to the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award Watch List as announced by the Davey O'Brien Foundation. The award is given by the Davey O'Brien Foundation to honor the nation's top quarterback based on performance on the field, in the classroom, and as a team player who displays leadership, character, and sportsmanship. Leonard started eight games, including the Tribe's final seven as a redshirt freshman in 2006, passing for 1,321 yards with eight touchdowns. He added 331 rushing yards on the season with a pair of touchdowns.
JOHNSON ON BRONKO NAGURSKI WATCH LIST: Safety Tyrell Johnson (Sr. Rison, Ark.) is one of just 49 players from across the nation to appear on the watch list for the 2007 Bronko Nagurski Trophy. The award is given annually to the best defensive player in college football by the Charlotte Touchdown Club. Johnson was the only Sun Belt Conference player to appear on the watch list, which is compiled by the FWAA All-America committee, with input from schools and conferences from across the country.
O'NEAL DRAFTED & MAKES ROSTER: Former Arkansas State standout fullback Oren O'Neal (Stuttgart, Ark.) was selected by the Oakland Raiders with the first pick in the sixth round of the 2007 NFL Draft on April 29, and has made the Raiders roster for the 2007 season. The Raiders made O'Neal the 175th overall pick and the third fullback taken in the draft. O'Neal became the 40th ASU player to ever be selected in the NFL draft and the first since Corey Williams was taken in the sixth round of the 2004 draft by the Green Bay Packers. Over 90 all-time Arkansas State players have signed pro contracts with a NFL franchise.
TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD: The Arkansas State football team has won the Sun Belt Conference Team Academic Award three of the past four years, including 2006-07.
AFCA AWARD: The American Football Coaches Association recently announced that the Arkansas State University football team is one of just 34 Division I-A football programs that graduated 70 percent or more of its student-athletes from their freshman classes of 2001-02.
THE WOLF NEW FLAGSHIP FOR ASU RADIO: The Arkansas State University Athletic Department, along with East Arkansas Broadcasters, announced July 6, 2007, that radio station KWHF 95.9 FM “The Wolf” will become the flagship station for ASU football for the 2007 season.
ROBERTS PARTICIPATES IN YOUTH FOOTBALL CLINIC: Arkansas State Head Football Coach Steve Roberts joined the head football coaches from all the Sun Belt Conference schools on July 22 in hosting a free youth football clinic as part of a recent $750,000 contribution by NCAA Football to Youth Football Initiatives in the city of New Orleans. The Sun Belt and Conference USA are working with NCAA Football and the New Orleans Recreation Department to provide two clinics. Roberts and fellow Sun Belt coaches participated July 22 at the Wilson Athletic Center at Tulane University, while Conference USA coaches will host July 30.
ROBERTS IN CLOSE GAMES: Sixth-year skipper Steve Roberts has seen numerous close games during his tenure with the Indians, holding a 15-7 record in games decided by eight points or less (36 percent of all his games). Roberts' teams have been especially successful recently in games decided by just one score, holding an 13-4 record in its last 17 games that ended under those circumstances. Following is his record in close games:
Margin Roberts record
1 point 1-0
2 points 1-0
3 points 4-3
4 points 3-1
5 points 0-1
6 points 2-0
7 points 3-1
8 points 1-1
MILESTONE Victory at Indian Stadium: Arkansas State's 10-6 victory over Louisiana-Monroe on Oct. 7, 2006, was the 100th victory for the Indians in their home stadium. ASU now stands at 101-64-1 all-time at Indian Stadium.
17 AND UNDER: Arkansas State holds a 14-2 record under head coach Steve Roberts when holding its opponents to 17 points or less. However, ASU is 11-30 over the last five seasons when allowing 17 or more points. The Indians have won their last 11 consecutive games when holding their opponent to 17 or fewer points and has won 26 straight games when holding their opponents to 10 or fewer points.
SUN BELT CONFERENCE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Five Arkansas State players received the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week award a combined six times during 2006. Reggie Arnold (RB) received the award twice, while Brett Shrable (P), Corey Leonard (QB), Devrett Wade (LB) and Jamarrow James (DL) earned the honor once.
TEN PLAYERS NAMED 2006 ALL-SUN BELT CONFERENCE: For the second consecutive year ten Arkansas State football players were named to the All-Sun Belt Conference Team, and running back Reggie Arnold was named Freshman of the Year. Senior center Tanner Jenkins and junior safety Tyrell Johnson represented the Indians on the First Team, while Reggie Arnold (RB, Fr.), Matt Mandich (OL, So.), Jamarrow James (DL, Sr.), Koby McKinnon (LB, Jr.), Devrett Wade (LB, Sr.) and Khayyam Burns (DB, Jr.) were all Second Team selections. Senior fullback Oren O'Neal and senior defensive end Jonathan Najm were named Honorable Mention.
SIX PACK: Arkansas State was bowl eligible with six victories in 2006 and recorded at least six victories in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 1986 and 1987 seasons. ASU has won six games three times in five years under head coach Steve Roberts. The Indians' six victories ties its most over the last 10 years.
GROUND GAINS: ASU posted a 5-1 record in 2006 when rushing for 200 or more yards. Dating back to 2005, ASU is now 8-1 over its last nine games when rushing for 200 or more yards.
TURNING IT AROUND ON THE ROAD: Arkansas State won three road games in the same season, 2006, for the first time since 1989. The last time ASU posted a winning road record was 1987 (3-2-1) and the last time ASU won four or more road games was 1986. With back-to-back road victories over Florida International and Memphis, ASU won two consecutive road games in the same season for the first time since 1988.
CONFERENCE RECORD: Arkansas State finished with a winning Sun Belt Conference record for the second consecutive season in 2006. ASU posted a 4-3 SBC record in 2006 after recording a 5-2 mark in 2005.
OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION: ASU posted over 400 yards of offense three times last season and its 466 yards against North Texas was a season high. ASU tallied 300-plus yards of offense in eight games and ranked fourth in the Sun Belt Conference in total offense, averaging 312.2 yards per game.
ARAUCO EXTENDS STREAK: Josh Arauco tied the ASU school record for consecutive field goals made with 10 and finished the 2006 year hitting 12-of-16 attempts for a .750 percentage. Arauco recorded a career-best 38 yard field goal in ASU's last game, but five of his field goals were from at least 33 yards out. He made a season-high three field goals in ASU's victory over Troy and made multiple field goals in three games.
SUN BELT STREAK: Dating back to the 2005 season, ASU won five consecutive Sun Belt Conference games before falling to Florida Atlantic on October 28, 2006. That was the longest winning streak ever by ASU in the Sun Belt. The last time ASU won five or more consecutive games in any league was 1985-86 when it won 10 Southland Conference games in a row.
BREAKING THE TREND: ASU's victory over Army in its 2006 season opener was its first over a non-conference Division I-A opponent since defeating Tulsa 21-19 in 2002. With its victory over Memphis, ASU defeated two non-conference Division I-A opponents in the same season for the first time since returning to Division I-A in 1992.
CONTROLLING THE CLOCK: The Indians won the time of possession battle in 11 of its 12 games in 2006 and led the Sun Belt Conference in time of possession at 33:03.
FAN INTEREST: Arkansas State's average attendance of 17,882 in its four games played at Indian Stadium during the 2006 season was a school record for single-season attendance at the stadium. ASU's next highest single-season average attendance record at the stadium was 17,454 in 1991. The Indians opened its season at Indian Stadium for the first time since 1995 and the crowd of 23,426 in attendance for the Army game was the fourth largest in Indian Stadium history. The official attendance of 19,141 vs. North Texas was the 10th largest crowd in the history of Indian Stadium. The largest crowd in school history was 30,427 when ASU played Memphis in 2004. The 23,816 fans on hand to watch ASU's game against Oklahoma State was the largest ever to watch an Arkansas State game at War Memorial Stadium.
RISING STAR: Arkansas State tailback Reggie Arnold ranked third in the Sun Belt in rushing with an average of 89.7 yards per game in 2006. That figure was also good enough to rank Arnold at No. 30 nationally. He became the 16th player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season.
ARNOLD AMONG TOP THREE FRESHMEN RUSHERS: Reggie Arnold not only ranked 30th in the nation in rushing among all players in 2006, he was No. 3 in the nation in rushing among all freshmen.
ARNOLD NAMED LRTC ASU PLAYER OF THE YEAR: The Little Rock Touchdown Club named redshirt freshman running back Reggie Arnold its 2006 College Player of the Year for Arkansas State. Arnold joined former ASU stars Antonio Warren and Eric Neihouse as LRTC Player of the Year award winners. Warren, a running back, received the recognition in 2004 and Neihouse, a kicker, in 2005
WILKERSON HAS CAREER GAME: In his very young career, redshirt freshman Cedric Wilkerson had his biggest game of the year against Memphis on Oct. 14, 2006. Wilkerson carried the ball 23 times for a career-high 116 yards and added 23 receiving yards on two catches.
BREAKING INTO THE TOP 10: ASU Junior wide receiver Levi Dejohnette of Bastrop, La., moved into the top-10 all-time leaders at ASU in 2006 and now sits in eighth place with 91 receptions to his credit.
DEFENSE SHINES: The Indian defense ranked second in the Sun Belt and No. 32 nationally in total defense in 2006. ASU's defense yielded just 309.4 yards per game. The Indian defense was also 37th in the nation in turnovers gained, taking the ball away from its opponents 26 times.
ASU AMONG TOP TEAMS NATIONALLY IN INTERCEPTIONS: Just eight teams ranked ahead of Arkansas State's defense in total interceptions in 2006. ASU had 19 interceptions on the season. Safety Khayyam Burns led the team with a career-best four interceptions.
TOP 20 PASS DEFENSE: ASU's pass defense ranked 12th nationally last season. The Indians are gave up just 160.9 yards per game through the air, a figure that was the second best in the Sun Belt Conference.
SPECIAL TEAMS THREAT: Defensive back Darren Toney became the seventh player in school history to surpass 1,000 kickoff return yards in a career last season and is now ranked third all-time at ASU with 1,260 yards to his credit. James Hickenbotham (1999-02) is the all-time leader with 1,746 yards to his credit.
SPREADING THE BALL AROUND: A season-high eight different players caught a pass against SMU on Sept. 23 and against Middle Tennessee on Nov. 11 last season. Fifteen different ASU players caught at least one pass last season. ASU completed a pass to at least six different players in 10 of its 12 games in 2006.
UNBUCKLE THE BELT: ASU finished its sixth year as a member of the Sun Belt Conference last year, joining the league for its inaugural 2001 season. After defeating Florida International in its Sun Belt opener Sept. 30, ASU is now a perfect 6-0 in Sun Belt openers with wins over Louisiana-Lafayette (2001), Louisiana-Monroe (2002-2004) and Florida International (2005-2006).
STRONG DEFENSE: The ASU defense held Army to just 164 yards of total offense in last season's season opener, which is the Indians' fewest offensive yards allowed since holding Sam Houston State to 150 yards in 1986, in its season opener.
A NEW LOOK: Arkansas State played four games on brand new ProGreen turf in Indian Stadium during 2006. The Indians hosted Army (Sept. 2), Louisiana-Monroe (Oct. 7), North Texas (Oct. 21), and Middle Tennessee (Nov. 11). ASU's fifth "home game" was played Sept. 9 in Little Rock against Oklahoma State.
LETS SEE THAT AGAIN: XOS Technologies, a leading provider of sports technology and media solutions to professional and collegiate teams and conferences, was selected by the Sun Belt Conference to provide in-game instant replay capabilities during all of its conference and non-conference football games in 2006. XOS Replay is a fully integrated digital video recording solution that will enable replay officials to watch, and simultaneously record, live feeds from the various cameras mounted in the stadium.
A TIME TO BOND: When Head Coach Steve Roberts came to ASU, he brought a tradition with him which caught on in a hurry with the players. The night before each game, team members and coaches get together for milk and cookies. During this time, each player sity by and visits with at least three other players he has not visited with throughout the week in order to learn more about his teammates.
