Belt, gloves help dress up defense
JONESBORO — Joe Cauthen wracked his brain last summer searching for a way to emphasize Arkansas State’s desire to force turnovers.
ASU’s defensive coordinator couldn’t come up with anything, so he turned to a trusted source for outside-the-box ideas.
“If we need something, Troop’s got an idea,” said Cauthen, referring to cornerbacks coach Trooper Taylor.
So Cauthen explained his problem to Taylor, and Taylor came back with something he had seen Alabama use in years past on game days.
Taylor went searching online, and by the time the season started ASU had a pro wrestling style championship belt and a pair of boxing gloves on its sideline.
Both, courtesy of Taylor, serve as sought-after prizes for Cauthen’s defensive players as the Red Wolves (4-3, 3-0 Sun Belt) head into tonight’s game against Georgia State (2-4, 1-1) at Centennial Bank Stadium.
Players can gain possession of the belt by coming up with interceptions, while the gloves are awarded for forced fumbles. The ploy has helped create one of college football’s top ball-hawking defenses, one that has intercepted a Football Bowl Subdivision-high 15 passes and is tied for ninth nationally with 17 turnovers forced.
“We spend most of our time critiquing what’s bad,” Cauthen said. “They need to know what’s good, too. So that’s just a reward for them and they’re fighting for it.”
Eleven ASU players have intercepted passes. ASU is the only Sun Belt team to have two players with three interceptions (cornerback Rocky Hayes and safety Cody Brown) and three players (linebacker Khari Lain, nickel back Justin Clifton and Brown) with touchdowns on interception returns.
“They’ve been kind of contagious,” Coach Blake Anderson said of the turnovers. “Success breeds more success. They did not at any point last year have confidence over there, and now they have that. To have it in the building is a lot of fun.”
Brown, a junior transfer from Independence (Kan.) Community College, said the belt and the gloves help emphasize the need for takeaways. Brown’s 30-yard interception return for a score in ASU’s Oct. 20 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette gave him possession of
the belt for about a quarter, but he had to give it up to safety Money Hunter after he turned away the Ragin’ Cajuns with an interception in the end zone.
Anderson and Cauthen acknowledge the impact the belt and gloves have made, but new personnel have been just as important. Brown is one of five defensive players who transferred to ASU in January, and all have made an impact in some way.
Brown has three interceptions
and a team-high six pass break-ups, and safety Allen Sentimore intercepted a pass that set up a touchdown in ASU’s Sept. 12 loss to Missouri before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Defensive tackles Robert Mondie, Waylon Roberson and Jake Swalley have helped create a pass rush that Cauthen said has been a key part of ASU’s pass defense.
It’s all worked for ASU, which is fourth in the Sun Belt in yards allowed (391.4) and points allowed per game (31.4) but has created opportunities for its offense with the turnovers. Seven of the 10 turnovers ASU has forced in three Sun Belt games have been turned into points, including six in a row since the start of the fourth quarter in a victory over South Alabama on Oct. 13.
Cauthen said credit goes beyond the gimmicks.
“You’ve got to have guys that can make plays, first of all,” Cauthen said. “Then, you’ve got to preach it. It’s preached through our head coach and all the way down. We want to take advantage of every opportunity that we can.”