 2008 Arkansas State Preview DJ Boyer takes an in depth look at the Arkansas Stae Red Wolves and what may lie ahead for them in the 2008 season. Coaching - Steve Roberts is back for his seventh campaign with the Red Wolves (yes….Arkansas State is no longer the Indians). Roberts has amassed 31 victories in six years at Arkansas State and had some good seasons before a 5-7 record in 2007. Roberts may need a turnaround in 2008 or it may be his final season at the helm. Schedule - The non-conference schedule is always tough for schools from a small conference and Arkansas Sate will open the season on the road at Texas A&M. The Red Wolves will have to travel to Alabama and they get a few conference foes on the road late in the schedule with Troy and North Texas. The highlighted home games will be against Southern Mississippi, Middle Tennessee and pre-season conference favorite Florida Atlantic. Offense - The Red Wolves have some positive things going on the offensive side of the ball. Corey Leonard is back at quarterback after posting 2,265 yards and 16 touchdowns through the air and adding another 547 yards and 5 rushing touchdowns to the offense on the ground. Leonard is short on targets and after completing just 52% of his passes with 15 interceptions you can see he is far from being a messiah. Good news for Arkansas State is Leonard is only a junior and seemed to improve as the year went on and they are expecting big things from him in 2008. It seems like all Leonard may have to do is provide a threat for the passing game and hand the ball off to fellow junior Reggie Arnold who has been chosen as First Team All-Sun Belt to start the year. Arnold 1,060 yards and 9 touchdowns on only 163 carries for a paltry 6.9 YPC average in 2007. Another encouraging sign for Arkansas State was that these numbers were not inflated against inferior Sun Belt competition. Arnold gained 62 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries against Texas and had 130 and a touchdown against Tennessee (with both games on the road). Brandon Thompkins proved to be one of the best return men in the country last year but will now be looked upon to improve in the receiving game where he caught 41 passes a season ago. Arkansas State has a reliable tight end/h-back in David Johnson who should be the red zone target of choice for Leonard. 305-pounds left tackle Matt Mandich also begins the season as an All-Sun Belt player but he is the only returning starter along a line that allowed 41 sacks a season ago. The offensive line will be the biggest question mark heading into the season. Defense - The big concern here is the secondary. Tyrell Johnson was lost to the NFL Draft along with the other three starters from 2007. Arkansas State had amazing talent in the secondary and they finished the season ranked 19th in the NCAA against the pass. This is an amazing stat when you factor in that they registered only 13 quarterback sacks and failed to get consistent pressure on the opposition. The best defensive end on the team is Alex Carrington and at 280 pounds he is more of a run stopper. Brian Flagg will be asked to provide most of the pressure while linebacker Ben Owens will patrol the middle and has a shot at being an outside linebacker at the next level. The secondary is the mystery here because many of the starters from 2007 have been replaced with players coming in from the JUCO level. Cordarious Mingo and Daylan Walker will be looked at as the top players in the secondary but expect to see a steady rotation of players used. If Arkansas State ranks in the middle of the pack in the Sun Belt in total defense than the season will be considered a success. Special Teams - We've talked about Thompkins and his ability as a return man and he is the best player the Red Wolves have on special teams. There are concerns with kicker Josh Arauco who missed 8 field goals last year with 5 being inside 40 yards. Punter Brett Shrable had a respectable 41.7 punting average but many of his kicks were returnable and he is slow getting rid of the ball. Shrable had a pair of punts blocked last year and a few near misses. Arkansas State will have to improve on special teams if they want to steal a game or two in this category. Outlook - There are certainly more questions with this team than answers moving into 2008 and it's a shame because the job of head coach Steve Roberts could be on the line. Arkansas State will be a fun team to watch with Reggie Arnold being one of the best running backs in the nation that nobody outside of the Sun Belt has heard of. I expect a season similar to 2007 when Arkansas State finished 5-7.
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