Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Catching on nicely
ASU WRs don’t want drop-off vs. No. 1
JONESBORO — Arkansas State University senior wide receiver Justin McInnis was the proper spokesman.
Minutes after Arkansas State’s 48-21 shelling of Southeast Missouri State on Saturday evening at Centennial Bank Stadium, McInnis was asked about the blowout victory and, expectedly, about what’s next: No. 1 Alabama at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“It’s just another game,” McInnis said about playing top-ranked Alabama. “I know we’ve got one of the best receiving corps in the nations. If we go out there and play the way that we can play, the sky’s the limit for our group. The sky’s the limit for our offense and the sky’s the limit for our team.”
McInnis’ response voiced a respect earned after a superb Week 1 outing by ASU’s wide receivers, a group emphatically displaying depth, experience and talent as one of the Red Wolves’ premier position groups.
McInnis, a senior who caught one of the school’s record-breaking seven touchdown passes to seven receivers last Saturday,
was one of 11 Red Wolves to catch two or more passes en route to a near-500-yard aerial dismantling of Southeast Missouri’s secondary.
No receiver produced more than junior Kirk Merritt’s five catches for 55 yards. No receiver produced less than sophomore Brandon Bowling’s two receptions for 13 yards.
Yet, 11 wideouts piled up 497 total yards receiving.
“We want to be hard to pinpoint,” ASU Coach Blake Anderson said. “We want you to realize that if you take this away, then you’re giving us something else and we’re willing to take those matchups.”
The options, the threats and weapons aplenty, allow the unit to ooze with an abundance of potential.
“You may never look out there and see a guy with more than eight or 10 catches,” ASU offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner said. “But I think we completed a good number to
those guys, plus the tight ends, the running backs. That’s one thing we pride ourselves on as an offense that with these kids is making sure that they understand anybody can get the ball at anytime. You’ve just got to be ready when your numbers called.”
Up next, the Red Wolves’ pass-catchers will face an inexperienced, yet very talented, Crimson Tide secondary that lost all of its starters from last year’s national championship team.
Redshirt junior Deionte Thompson, who started each of Alabama’s College Football Playoff games last season en route to a fifth national championship in the past nine years, has the deepest resume of any Tide defensive back.
The starters atop the Crimson Tide’s secondary depth chart — Thompson and fellow juniors Trevon Diggs, Saivion Smith, Shyheim Carter and sophomore Xavier McKinney — had just three combined careers starts entering this season.
The Tide’s secondary allowed 100 yards passing before it held a 28-0 lead at halftime
of Saturday’s 51-14 win over Louisville and another 152 second-half yards once the victory was well in hand.
“Our wideouts have a challenge,” Faulkner said. “They’re going against some of the best DBs in the country. [Alabama Coach Nick] Saban is well-known for producing some the best safeties and defensive backs. Our kids just have to go down there and execute what’s called.”
ASU senior quarterback Justice Hansen, the Sun Belt Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week for his six-touchdown performance Saturday, guided the Red Wolves’ pass-happy offense to 17.8 yards per catch and 685 yards total, a hefty chunk to the diversity of ASU’s wide receiver targets.
“I think in a lot of offenses, guys tend to lock onto one receiver because that’s kind of their go-to guy,” Hansen said. “I’ve said it leading up to this season, I don’t think we just have one guy. As a quarterback, that truly allows me to go through all of my reads and put the ball wherever it needs to be.”