A-State 2017 Outlook

[Seminole Indian]

With the thought of Anderson leaving I took a quick look at what A-State had returning, and their prospects for 2017, which helps landing a new coach.

A few more issues than last year but really nothing that cannot be corrected in time for the 2017 season.

The biggest issue is replacing the entire OL, which was really not that good. The good new is that the expected starters are already on campus, and are bigger, stronger, and more highly recruited than the players leaving. The bad news is they have almost zero experience at the FBS level, so there  will be a learning curve for sure. By conference play they may be a decent unit, and at least as good as this  years under performing group, that they were still able to win a championship with.

Having a returning starter at the QB position is a huge plus but they do need to shore up the depth chart behind Justice Hansen, but otherwise are absolutely loaded at all the other skill positions on offense, where they only graduate one player.

Lose eight starters on defense, but were three deep at a lot of positions, and played a lot of players, so not as bad as it seems.

Real shortage of depth, at the corners, and safety positions, and could use at least one more DL. Expected to address most of these depth issues with some quality mid-term additions, something that Anderson & Company have been very good at. Probably a little drop-off from 2016, but still should be good on that side of the ball.

Must upgrade the kickers and punters big-time in 2017.

Outlook: Even getting Miami at home it looks like another slow start in 2017 ( 2-2 at best, against Nebraska, Miami, UAPB, and SMU), but the talent should be there to again make a run at another SBC Championship, and at least make another bowl game. Not playing AppSt, and getting Troy, and ULL at home is a plus in conference play.

[Seminole Indian]

A good example of their depth on defense was shown today when Jr DE Ja'Von Rolland‐Jones was named POY in the SBC. He was normally listed as #2 on the depth chart behind Jr Caleb Caston.

[pigture perfect]

I've got a friend with season tickets. I probably need to buddy up a little closer this fall.

[Seminole Indian]

I like where they have their program now, and they are by any standard ( attendance, facilities, budget, coaching, talent, etc.) a solid G5 football program.

Their consistent success has really enabled them to recruit really good players, and coaches the last few years, and as a result they expect to win, not just compete for, a conference championship, and go to a bowl game every year.

In the south, and southwest success in football, makes for a good experience for the students, which makes them loyal alumni, so the real benefits of the current success are still years down the road. 

[GolfNut57]

I like where they have their program now, and they are by any standard ( attendance, facilities, budget, coaching, talent, etc.) a solid G5 football program.

Their consistent success has really enabled them to recruit really good players, and coaches the last few years, and as a result they expect to win, not just compete for, a conference championship, and go to a bowl game every year.

In the south, and southwest success in football, makes for a good experience for the students, which makes them loyal alumni, so the real benefits of the current success are still years down the road.

That is not accurate in the case with the ASU students. The numbers of students on average that showed up for the football games this fall was a putrid amount. Back in the 70-80s when I was a student in Jonesboro the football games were an event not to be missed as they were heavily attended by the Greek organizations and the general student population as a whole. It wasn't strange to see a student turnout that numbered in the range of 1,000+ in the East stands. And this was before the east upper desk was built. This season we were lucky if we saw more than a couple hundred show up for games. The student support can only be described as pathetic these days at the football games. Apparently winning 4 titles out of the last five years going into this season just wasn't enough to make them care about ASU football to attend the games in acceptable numbers. Where the disconnect between the students and the football program came from is anyone's guess.


With Miami coming to Jonesboro next fall it will be interesting to see what kind of student turnout we get for that game. Guess it depends on how well ASU fares vs Nebraska to open the season.

[Seminole Indian]

People said it was not true back when I attended in the late 60's and early 70's , and A-State was labeled a suite case college because most students packed their bags and went home for the weekend, and seldom if ever attended any activity on campus on the weekend, unless we got snowed in, but they were wrong.

In fact the only A-State football game I attended in my first two years was because I was working off some demerits for ROTC, and had to stand guard at the track when the horse ran around the track.

[holeinthewall]

With Miami coming to Jonesboro next fall it will be interesting to see what kind of student turnout we get for that game. Guess it depends on how well ASU fares vs Nebraska to open the season

I will be at that one. I am hoping they don't jack up ticket prices like they did for Missouri.

[GolfNut57]

I will be at that one. I am hoping they don't jack up ticket prices like they did for Missouri.

Oh you can bet you will pay a higher price for a ticket to that game than you would for a game against the likes of ULM. May as well get ready for it.

[Seminole Indian]

What happens with mid-term players starting next Wednesday will go a long way in determining what kind of a team they put on the field against Miami. Their ability to add quality mid-term players has been a key to their recent run of success.

According to AStateNation.com they are going after a large number of bounce-back players this year. Players like current QB Justice Hansen, and RB  Armond Weh Weh, who signed with
other four year schools out of HS, then transferred to a JC.

Looks like their focus is the secondary, and the OL.

[Seminole Indian]

A-State apparently picked up a few commits this weekends but only one has been confirmed, Safety Jeff Gibson a bounce-back Safety from Clemson.

https://twitter.com/ThaTru_11_Based

[holeinthewall]

A-State apparently picked up a few commits this weekends but only one has been confirmed, Safety Jeff Gibson a bounce-back Safety from Clemson.

https://twitter.com/ThaTru_11_Based

3 star Safety coming out of HS.

[Seminole Indian]

According to AStateNation, they had 11 Mid-Term JC prospects on campus this weekend, 2-OL, 2-DL, 1-DE and 6-DB's, and 3-4 committed.

Three ( both DL's, and an OL bounce-back from Memphis)were listed as committed before this weekend but were still being recruited by other schools, so it is a case of holding on to them.

IMO their ability to bring in quality mid-term graduates who have the talent to contribute, and not just fill in gaps in their roster, has been the key to their continuing to win.

The mid-term players this year will again join several other transfers who are already on campus( either setting out to gain eligibility, or red-shirting) to again give them another talented roster  of players to build a team out of. The down side has been it has taken several games for all the newbies to mesh, and thus the poor OOC record.

[Seminole Indian]

A-State signed four mid-term JC's, yesterday and may add a couple of more by January.

Anderson said they only recruit mid-terms that they feel can start for them and the four they signed yesterday certainly could all end up as starters.

Safety Jeff Gibson(6-4,192), the bounce-back from Clemson probably has a good chance at starting. The Clemson coaches said they were sorry he left their program.

OLB/DE Ronheen Bingham (6-2,225) was rated the #1 hybrd, and #6 OLB in the JUCO ranks, and should compete for a starting job.

NG Tony Adams (6-1,344) also will be a strong candidate to start.

OLT/C Chase Johnson (6-4,280) a Memphis bounce-back ( who gained national attention for using his helmet as a weapon in a fight with BYU players as a freshmen, and before that because of a note to his mother during recruiting by the Mississippi State HC), should at the very least add depth to their OL.

They will join some other potential starters sitting out this year like OT Lanard Bonner (6-5,330), WR Kendrick Edwards II (6-6, 225) and RB Armond Weh Weh (5-11,215),  insuring that  A-State again has enough roster talent to cobble together a decent team at some point in 2017.

As the folks at Alabama know, having more talent than the other teams in your conference is normally a good thing, and the folks at  A-State agree.

http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Football/CollegeTeamTalentComposite?Conference=SBC

[Seminole Indian]

Despite Sophomore QB Justice Hansen being 8-2 as a starter, many posters on AStateNation are saying that current Freshman Logan Bonner(6-1,224) will probably be the starting QB in 2017.

They say the A-State coaches are not happy with Hansen's progress in reading defenses, and going through his progressions.

Observers have said all year that Bonner has been the better player in practice, and is far and away the better passer, and has a very quick release( a real issue for Hansen). Their coaches have also made similar comments.

[Seminole Indian]

Sorry GolfNut57, caught your post as i was headed out the door, and while I may be a little  thin skinned did like the way you implied i was making things up, and I did not have time to provide a few post for you.

Here are a few post since the bowl game, but there have been similar post all season long, and sorry I don't have time now to find them or the multiple times in multiple places the the coaches have made similar comments about  Bonner being the best passer on the team.

"Based on the tone of conversations that I have had the last few days. Even before the Bowl win I can tell you that no changes were planned.
I can also tell you that the coaches are quite unhappy with Justice's progression and leadership and I was told that "they believe there is about a 50/50 chance that we'll have someone else under center next fall."
Unless Justice makes significant offseason progress, fair chance he gets bumped on the depth chart."


"That's why Anderson keeps taking up Bonner. I've said all season he talks higher about Bonner than any player I've ever heard him speak of. He's going to have a real shot at talking over."

"Do you think this is a reflection of Justice's demeanor? The coaches have referenced several times that they were unsure of Justice because he comes off as cool/aloof rather than overly passionate/loud/engaging/etc.
Lack of progression I can more easily see...by now I would have expected his passes to be a little more crisp and on-target; his decision-making to be quicker and more resolute. And the fact that the team kept Voytik as Captain, even after his demotion to QB2, is rather telling about Justice's ability to be the leader the team needs. Just wondering if his tendency to not be that "firecracker" is where the coaches see him lacking as a leader."

"yeah... kid has tools that I would have killed for when I was qb-ing but just doesn't seem to put them together at this level... no "IT" factor at all.  Plus, when I heard during the bowl game broadcast that Voytik is team captain, I thought "good for him", then "damn, doesn't say a lot about the team respect for the reigning qb".  Probably has little to do with anything at all, but it just seemed to reinforce the opinion I've held all year, we don't have a quarterback yet. Keep trying to convince myself it's a coaching issue, but damn it, we had some outstanding quarterbacks with some really sorry-ass coaches over the years.  I hope Justice proves me bad wrong, but out of all the ASU qb's I've watched since 1968, he's closer to the bottom of the list, than the top, in my opinion.  But, credit where credit is due - qb's job is to win, not just rack up stats, and he does have wins under his belt."

(About Hansen)"Tabary 2.0    kid with good tools but not quite right for this level."

"Justice gave us a lot of great memories this year and was a tough competitor despite all that's been said on this board about this demeanor.  That run against Georgia Southern was unforgettable, and if he doesn't pull that off, we start out 0-5, and are discussing our losing season right now. (I don't want to hear about CEL's "hold."  That was a close call and you could argue it was a good no call.)
However, except for his TD to INT ratio, he really didn't show a lot of improvement from week to week, and his accuracy was not great--about 58% which is about what he pulled off in JC.  I think that as much as anything contributed to our woeful third down conversion rate and kept us from moving the chains.
For this reason, I think the coaches would be crazy not to give Bonner a great shot this spring. I didn't see anything in Hansen's performance in 2016 that would make him the guaranteed starter in 2017.  I think he still has to earn it.  I know we're all probably tired of QB competitions, but I think that would be best."


"I was hoping for improvement from Hansen, but it just wasn't there this season. Here was my dad and I thoughts on Hansen.....PS my dad was a really good linebacker so he has some knowledge...as for me I am a amazing couch coach
1.   Hansen struggles reading defenses
2.   He is throwing to first option no matter what
3.   Folds under pressure without a fight, he is soft.
4.   Lacks serious arm strength
5.   No Accuracy
6.   Zero Leadership and you can't have that at the QB spot
We can't honestly tell you one thing he does great, he just looks like he goes through the motions. I thought he was going to be like an Adam Kennedy and he is far from him. That guy took a beating and kept on ticking.
We were hoping to see progression throughout the but that never came, I am not blaming fault on anyone yet. I want to blame Buster for a lot of issues, but I also see the hand he was dealt with. I hope we can find a QB and we take off next year. I just don't think Justice is the answer."


"I think some of this analysis might be a little too hard on Justice, but I do agree that he hasn't progressed like I expected to see by the end of the season. He still seems to struggle reading defenses and seeing the field. Part of that might be all the times he is hurried, but he's missed seeing several wide open receivers this year.

I welcome seeing Bonner challenge him for the job. It can only make both of them better."

[Seminole Indian]

Let me add that while I was off on my 9 win +/-1 prediction for the regular season, I'll bet  I was not as far off as most though when they were 0-4, with a loss to UCA.

My prediction of their overall record for 2016 is the only thing I take ownership of, and no one expected them to lose to 17 point dog UCA............no one, not even UCA.

[hawginbigd1]

To me it's weird on the arm strength deal, he throws a nice long deep ball fairly easy, but that 12-15 yard out seems like a dying quail getting there, and don't make him throw one from the far hash. It's like he can throw deep with some touch, but can't drive the ball. However he is MVP compared to Voytik, I didn't think the guy was any good at Pitt.......seems I was right.

[GolfNut57]

To me it's weird on the arm strength deal, he throws a nice long deep ball fairly easy, but that 12-15 yard out seems like a dying quail getting there, and don't make him throw one from the far hash. It's like he can throw deep with some touch, but can't drive the ball. However he is MVP compared to Voytik, I didn't think the guy was any good at Pitt.......seems I was right.

I think it is because Hansen tries to "finesse his throws instead of throwing them with real steam

[holeinthewall]

Looks like a 1-3 start next year. 2-2 if ASU can beat SMU in Dallas. No way Miami or Nebraska losses although the atmosphere for Miami should be the best ever in Jonesboro especially if they don't price tickets out of the ASU faithful price range like they did Missouri then had 5k empty seats. SMU improved this year and should be better next year under Chad Morris.  But avoiding App St again in conference paly is big.

Found this as a possible schedule

Home: Troy, Coastal Carolina, Texas State, UL Lafayette

Away: South Alabama, UL Monroe, New Mexico State, Georgia Southern

[GolfNut57]

Looks like a 1-3 start next year. 2-2 if ASU can beat SMU in Dallas. No way Miami or Nebraska losses although the atmosphere for Miami should be the best ever in Jonesboro especially if they don't price tickets out of the ASU faithful price range like they did Missouri then had 5k empty seats. SMU improved this year and should be better next year under Chad Morris.  But avoiding App St again in conference paly is big.

Found this as a possible schedule

Home: Troy, Coastal Carolina, Texas State, UL Lafayette

Away: South Alabama, UL Monroe, New Mexico State, Georgia Southern

Last year when ASU played at App St they were huge underdogs but did the same thing to the Mountaineers that they did to Troy this year when ASU was once again a huge underdog. ASU smoked dat ass. So missing App again this next year doesn't really mean all that much. The game would be a 50-50 tossup as to who would win it.

As to your schedule above I think you basically have it correct. The OOC games will be @Nebraska to open the season followed by home  vs Miami, @SMU in Dallas and then back home to face UAPB to wrap up their OOC slate. Word has it that tickets for the Miami game will likely run in the $25-30 dollar range.

[Seminole Indian]

IMO getting Troy at home is a big plus, and UL also.

Not that UL is any good just they can't seem to beat them at their place.

As far as the OOC I lean toward 1-3, but if their OL , which has some talent, gels early they have a shot at doing better.

As far as the rest of the SBC, you expect Troy, and AppSt will be good, but it is hard to tell who will do like Troy and  Idaho did this year, and break out of the pack.

[holeinthewall]

Word has it that tickets for the Miami game will likely run in the $25-30 dollar range.

If true no excuse for not being a sell out. 

[GolfNut57]

If true no excuse for not being a sell out.

Well that info is coming from a guy by the name of J. Martin, who I believe is connected to the ASU ticket office in some capacity. I have never met the man so I don't know what his specific job is but he is the one that is able to tell us how many season tickets we sell for football every year. So if he says the Miami tickets are going to run in the $25-30 range I have no reason to disbelieve him.

As for being a sellout at that price? Just depends on if the people living in the surrounding areas think they have better things to do that day. Some have some of the dumbest reasons for not going to games at ASU.

[holeinthewall]

As for being a sellout at that price? Just depends on if the people living in the surrounding areas think they have better things to do that day. Some have some of the dumbest reasons for not going to games at ASU.

True but even though Miami hasn't been good the last decade they are still the biggest name team to ever play in Jonesboro.  I know I will be there.

[Seminole Indian]

Miami looked good and only had 6 or so seniors, so should be good next year, and ranked. Glad to see this game in Jonesboro,but to be honest OOC home games against Memphis, SMU and Tulsa is fine.

The only other P5 I know of coming to Jonesboro after Miami is Iowa State, but I'm sure there will be more, because most P5's can't afford the close to 2 million it would take to get a non-return game.   

The bottom line is that winning is all that counts, so other than the obligatory one money game , A-State should schedule to win in their OOC schedule(that does of course mean beating the FCS on your schedule, even if they are a good one).

[holeinthewall]

Miami looked good and only had 6 or so seniors

The secondary were SR other than that Coley the WR. Kaaya and Njoku turned pro. But Miami started 5 true FR on defense against WV.  Lost no one from DL or LB.  Their D is going to be one of the best in the country next year.

I don't see anyway ASU wins that game with the losses on the OL.  Only thing going for ASU is Miami will be starting a new QB and possibly a FR.

[GolfNut57]

The secondary were SR other than that Coley the WR. Kaaya and Njoku turned pro. But Miami started 5 true FR on defense against WV.  Lost no one from DL or LB.  Their D is going to be one of the best in the country next year.

I don't see anyway ASU wins that game with the losses on the OL.  Only thing going for ASU is Miami will be starting a new QB and possibly a FR.

Kaaya played as a freshman vs ASU and Miami still had no trouble winning. 

[holeinthewall]

Kaaya played as a freshman vs ASU and Miami still had no trouble winning. 

This is the guy that more than likely will be starting next year.  Only thing is he is not an EE. That might lead to Allison or Rozier starting at QB. But this is Richt hand picked QB and the top priority of all players recruited to Miami this year.

http://247sports.com/player/nkosi-perry-85231

[Seminole Indian]

The secondary were SR other than that Coley the WR. Kaaya and Njoku turned pro. But Miami started 5 true FR on defense against WV.  Lost no one from DL or LB.  Their D is going to be one of the best in the country next year.

I don't see anyway ASU wins that game with the losses on the OL.  Only thing going for ASU is Miami will be starting a new QB and possibly a FR.

While I expect A-State will again be a solid G5 team at some point,Miami is by any measure the more talented team.

I expect A-State will be better in the OL at some point next year, but that is not saying very much because they were never very good this year.

[Seminole Indian]

In the  interview on Brad Bobo's  The Drive on 95.3 Fm where Anderson said he would be taking over play calling duties in 2017, he also said he expects the 2017 team to be as "deep or deeper" in the OL, DL and at safety next year which were the only questions.