ASU at La.-Monroe in-depth

ASU at La.-Monroe in-depth

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Coach Hugh Freeze 
Arkansas State continues Sun Belt Conference
play this week, traveling to Monroe, La., to
face ULM at 6 p.m. Saturday. Every A-State game
can be heard live on 107.9 FM in
Jonesboro, 88.3 FM in Little Rock and at
AStateRedWolves.com.

2011 ASU SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Sept. 3 at Illinois (TV) L, 15-33
SEPT. 10 MEMPHIS (TV) W, 47-3
Sept. 17 at No. 13 Virginia Tech (TV) L, 7-26
SEPT. 24 CENTRAL ARKANSAS (TV) W, 53-24
Oct. 1 at Western Kentucky* (TV) W, 26-22
Oct. 8 at Louisiana-Monroe* 6 p.m.
OCT. 18 FIU* (TV)  p.m.
OCT. 29 NORTH TEXAS*^  p.m.
Nov. 5 at Florida Atlan c* TBA
NOV. 12 LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE*  p.m.
Nov. 19 at Middle Tennessee* (TV) TBA
DEC. 3 TROY* 2 p.m.
*SBC game ^Homecoming All Times Central

THE PRINCIPALS: A-State moved its overall
record (3-2) above .500 for the first time this season last
week with a 26-22 victory over Western Kentucky in
its Sun Belt Conference opener. ASU is looking
for its first three game winning streak since 2006,
while ULM is coming off an open week and will
be playing its first league game of the year.

THE ARKANSAS STATE-ULM SERIES: ASU has
played ULM 32 times, which is the fifth most in
school history among all opponents. Arkansas
State leads the all-time series with ULM 18-14
since the first meeting in 1959. As Sun Belt foes,
ASU leads the series 6-4 after picking up a 34-20
victory over the Warhawks in Jonesboro last season.
The home team has won the game the last
six seasons.

ASU-ULM ALL-TIME SERIES: ASU leads 18-14
ASU-ULM ALL-TIME SUN BELT SERIES: ASU leads 6-4
ASU at ULM (SBC SERIES ONLY): ULM leads 3-2
ULM at ASU (SBC SERIES ONLY): ASU leads 4-1

A-STATE vs. SUN BELT CONFERENCE: Arkansas
State is 64-63-1 all-time against current members
of the Sun Belt Conference. Since the league's
inaugural football season in 2001, the Red
Wolves hold a 35-36 on-field record against all
opponents that have been a member of the
league. Against current members of the conference,
ASU is 30-32 since 2001. The Red Wolves
hold their most all-time victories against
Louisiana-Monroe with 18. The Red Wolves have
defeated every team in the SBC since the football
league was formed in 2001.

AN A-STATE VICTORY WOULD . . . Give the Red
Wolves their best record through six games since
2008 when they were 4-2 . . . Give the Red
Wolves a 2-0 start to Sun Belt Conference play
for the first me since 2008 . . . Give the Red
Wolves two consecu ve road victories for the
first me since 2006 . . . Mark its first three-game
winning streak since 2006 . . . Give the Red
Wolves back-to-back road wins over Sun Belt opponents
for the first me in school history . . . Improve
its all- me record against ULM to 19-14 . .
. Snap a three-game skid against the Warhawks
when playing in Monroe.

HEAD COACH HUGH FREEZE: After enjoying successful
stints as both a head and assistant coach
at the NCAA FBS, NAIA and high school levels
over the last 18 years, Hugh Freeze was named
Arkansas State's 27th head football coach on
Dec. 2, 2010. Freeze most recently completed
his first season as Arkansas State's offensive coordinator,
guiding the Red Wolves' offense to a
record-breaking year in 2010.

ON THIS DATE: Arkansas State stands 5-4 all-
me when playing on Oct. 8, including a 3-1
home record and 2-3 road mark. The Red
Wolves last played on the date in 1994, falling 26-
0 to Louisiana-Lafaye e on the road. A-State's
last victory on Oct. 8 came 13-12 at Akron in
1988, but ASU has also defeated Lamar,
Louisiana Tech, Ouachita Bap st and Memphis
on the date.

THROUGH FIVE: Arkansas State holds its best
record through five games since the 2008 season
when it was 3-2 as well. The last time ASU
started a season 4-2 or better through six games
was 2008 when it held a 4-2 record.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Arkansas State snapped
a five-game road skid with its victory over Western
Kentucky. The last time ASU won two road
games in a row was 2006, but it has never won
back-to-back road games against Sun Belt Conference
opponents.

ON A ROLL: ASU won back-to-back games for
the first me since defeating Florida Atlan c and
Middle Tennessee on Oct. 23 and Nov. 2, respectively,
last season. The last time A-State won
three consecutive games was during the 2006
campaign.

UNBUCKLE THE BELT: With its victory over WKU,
A-State improved to 7-4 all-time in Sun Belt Conference
openers. The Red Wolves snapped a
two-game skid in Sun Belt Conference openers
with the victory. ASU played Western Kentucky
in its SBC opener for the first me ever. The last
me ASU started conference play 2-0 was 2008.

APLIN NAMED SBC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior
quarterback Ryan Aplin was named the Sun
Belt Conference Player of the Week following the
WKU game. Aplin received the honor for the
fourth me of his career, also earning the recogni
tion three mes last season as a sophomore.
He is the second ASU player this year to receive
one of the league's weekly honors, joining kicker
Brian Davis who was named the Special Teams
Player of the Week on Sept. 26.

APLIN SHINES: Ryan Aplin put up some of the
best numbers of his career last game, including a
school-record 37 comple ons that topped his old
record of 34 set last season against Indiana.
Aplin also recorded 396 passing yards, which was
the second most of his career and the fourth
most in school history. Aplin posted his first career
recep on as well, which went 23 yards for a
touchdown.

APLIN GOES OVER 5,000: Ryan Aplin went over
5,000 passing yards for his career during ASU's
game against Western Kentucky. He currently
has 5,213 career passing yards to rank fourth in
school history. He needs 171 yards to pass James
Hamilton (1968-71) for the third most in school
history.

HILLS HIGHLIGHTS: Senior safety A.J. Hills
recorded a career-high 11 tackles last game,
which is also the most by an ASU player this season.
Hills has now led A-State in tackles in three
of five games, has a team-best 37 total stops and
is ranked No. 10 in the Sun Belt in tackles.

STOPPING THE STREAK: The Arkansas State defense,
which has not surrendered 100 yards rushing
to an individual player this season, was the
first to hold WKU running back Bobby Rainey
under 100 yards this season. Dating back to last
season, Rainey entered the game with eight consecu
tive 100-yard rushing performances. ASU
also held Virginia Tech's David Wilson, the na-
on's seventh leading rusher, under 100 yards
earlier this year.

TWICE AS NICE: The Red Wolves are one of just
five teams in the na on to record at least 600
yards of total offense in two or more games this
season, joining Georgia Tech, Houston, Oregon
and Wisconsin. A-State piled up 646 yards of
total offense, the fourth most in school history,
last game against UCA. ASU also posted 611
yards of total offense, the eighth most in school
history, against Memphis.

TOP 50: Arkansas State is ranked among the top
50 teams in the na on in 10 statistical categories,
including total offense (22) and total defense
(36). ASU also ranks in the top 50 in tackles for
loss (13), sacks (25), net pun ng (47), pass offense
(18), pass efficiency (38), scoring defense
(39), punt returns (40) and pass defense (43).

THE RETURN GAME: Senior WR Rod Hall finished
the WKU with 46 kickoff return yards, making
him the ninth player in school history to
record over 1,000 career KO return yards in a career
with 1,015 to his credit. Senior WR Dwayne
Frampton had a career-long 43 yard punt return,
which was also the longest by an ASU player
since 2008. His 50 yards total was also the most
of his career.

TWO OVER 100: Senior WR Dwayne Frampton
recorded 9 recep ons for 126 yards and junior
WR Josh Jarboe hauled in 9 passes for 112 yards
last game against WKU, marking the fist time two
ASU players have posted over 100 yards receiving
in the same game since 1997. RB Austin Tinsley
and WR Lenny Johnson were the last duo to accomplish
the feat with 107 and 104 yards, respec
vely, against UL Lafayette on Oct. 4, 1997.

1,000 YARD CLUB: Junior wide receiver Taylor
Stockemer and senior receiver Dwayne Frampton
both went over 1,000 receiving yards for
their careers this season. Stockemer accomplished
the feat during the Virginia Tech game
and Frampton against UCA. Stockemer has a
team-high 1,212 yards and Frampton 1,197 as
both near top-10 marks at ASU. Steve Lockhart
(1969-71) is currently ranked 10th for career receiving
yards at ASU with 1,216.

FRAMPTON EXTENDS STREAK: Senior wide receiver
Dwayne Frampton caught nine passes for
128 yards against WKU, extending his streak of
consecutive games with at least one recep on to
17. He has caught a pass in every game he has
played at A-State. Frampton is ranked ed for
23rd in the na on in receptions (6.8 rpg) and
40th in receiving yards (91.8 ypg).

PICK IT OFF: While the Red Wolves didn't record
an intercep on in either of their first two games,
they've now posted a combined five over the last
three. Cornerbacks Darron Edwards and Darryl
Feemster both had a pick against Virginia Tech
and safety Sterling Young returned his first career
intercep on 31 yards for a touchdown
against UCA. Feemster picked up his second intercep
on against WKU and redshirt freshman
linebacker Qushaun Lee was responsible for the
first of his career.

DAVIS HONORED: After breaking the ASU and
Sun Belt Conference records for both field goals
made in a game (6) and points scored by kick (23)
during the Red Wolves' game against Central
Arkansas, sophomore kicker Brian Davis received
numerous honors. Davis, who was only
one field goal and one point shy tying NCAA
records, was named a Lou Groza Star of the
Week, the Sun Belt Conference Special Teams
Player of the Week and the College Football Performance
Awards' Na onal Placekicker of the
Week. Davis was a perfect 6-of-6 on his field goal
a empts and 5-of-5 on his extra point a empts.
He has now made 8-of-10 field goals on the season
and is 12-of-12 on extra points.

GETTING TO THE QB: Dating back
to last season, senior defensive end Brandon
Joiner has recorded at least 0.5 sacks in eight of
ASU's last 10 games. In fact, 8.5 of his 9.0 career
sacks at A-State have come over the Red Wolves
last 10 games. He has at least a par al sack in
four of ASU's first five games this season. Joiner
recorded a career-high 2.5 sacks against Middle
Tennessee in the 10th game of last year.

300-PLUS: Dating back to last season, Arkansas
State has posted at least 300 yards of total offense
16 of its last 17 games. ASU's schoolrecord
14 consecu ve games with over 300 yards
of total offense came to an end against Virginia
Tech earlier this season when the Hokies limited
the Red Wolves to 269 yards. ASU posted over
300 yards of total offense in just six games the
season prior to Hugh Freeze taking over as offensive
coordinator in 2010.

ECLIPSING 200/300: Junior quarterback Ryan
Aplin passed for at least 200 yards for the 15th
me of his career last game with 396 yards to his
credit against WKU, and all 15 games have come
over his last 19 played. Aplin has recorded over
300 yards of total offense eight mes during his
career, including the Illinois, UCA and WKU
games this season.

CROWD SUPPORT: Arkansas State's first two
home games this season were played in front of
the largest back-to-back crowds in ASU Stadium
history. The 29,872 in a endance for the Memphis
game was the second largest in ASU Stadium
history and the 27,918 announced for the
UCA game was the fourth largest. ASU Stadium
reached 94 percent of its maximum capacity for
the Red Wolves' first two home games combined.
Based on a endance sorted by percent
of stadium capacity, ASU ranks No. 41 in the na-
on.

JARBOE HONORED: Following the Memphis
game, junior wide receiver Josh Jarboe was selected
as one of nine wide receivers from across
the na on to be named to the honorable men-
on list for the College Football Performance
Awards' Wide Receiver of the Week award. Jarboe
hauled in seven passes for 162 yards and
two touchdowns in the Red Wolves' 47-3 victory
over Memphis. Jarboe's 162 receiving yards
ranked as the 10th-best single game performance
all-time at ASU and is the 13th-highest total
in the nation this season. His 162-yard performance
was also the best by an ASU player since
1999. Jarboe is ranked 39th in the nation in receiving
yards this season, averaging 86 per game.

DIALING IT UP FROM LONG DISTANCE: Sophomore
kicker Bobby Zalud kicked a career-best 56
yard field goal against Memphis that tied the
third longest in school history and ties the
longest in the NCAA this season. His 56-yard
field goal is also the second longest in Sun Belt
Conference history behind only a 57-yard make
by North Texas' Jason Ball in 2001. Zalud also
had a 49 yard field goal against Illinois in the season
opener and is 2-of-3 on his field goal attempts
this year.

97th SEASON UNDER WAY: Arkansas State
kicked off off its 97th season of football on Sept.
3 at Illinois. ASU now holds a 409-453-37 record
since the inaugural 1911 season and has played
in seven bowl games. A-State did not field a football
team from 1942-44 due to World War II.
ASU also didn't have a team in 1918 as World
War I was ending.

NATIONAL COVERAGE: Arkansas State will play
at least one nationally-televised game for the
third consecutive year in 2011. The Red Wolves
will host a nationally-televised game for the second
straight season as well, catching Florida Internati-
onal at ASU Stadium Oct. 18 on ESPN2.

RIMINGTON AWARD WATCH LIST: Senior center
Tom Cas law is on the 2011 Rimington Award
Watch List issued annually to the nation's top
center, making him the second ASU player to
ever earn the preseason recognition. Tanner
Jenkins was also on the list in 2006. Cas law was
a 2010 Second Team All-Sun Belt Conference selec
tion after starting the final 11 games of the
season.

LOMBARDI AWARD WATCH LIST: Senior linebacker
Demario Davis is the fifth player in school
to be named to the Lombardi Award Watch List,
issued to the top college lineman at the end of
the season. Davis, a 2010 First Team All-Sun Belt
choice, joins Alex Carrington (2009), Matt
Mandich (2008), Tanner Jenkins (2006) and Garry
Johnson (2001 and 2002) as A-State players that
have been named to the award's watch list.

BILETNIKOFF AWARD WATCH LIST: Senior wide
receiver Dwayne Frampton and junior wide receiver
Josh Jarboe are the first player in school
history to ever be named to the Biletnikoff Award
Watch List for the na on's top receiver.

 

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