QB Hansen feeds Wolves’ WR pack
JONESBORO — Arkansas State redshirt senior wide receiver Dijon Paschal caught his first touchdown pass of the season, the 11th of his career, in Saturday night’s 51-17 victory over Coastal Carolina at Centenial Bank Stadium.
But there was no hint of a complaint from Paschal (981,588 receiving) about the slight delay.
Paschal, who has caught no fewer than three touchdown passes in each of his first three seasons, said ASU’s offense is “like the best thing ever for a receiver.”
Paschal’s comments came in the aftermath of another five-touchdown game by redshirt junior quarterback Justice Hansen, who tied a school record for the second
time this season.
But Hansen’s five touchdown passes were so spread out, senior tight end Blake Mack had a hard time keeping track of them.
“How many receivers had touchdowns?” Mack asked after the game. “Like four?”
It was four — one shy of the five receivers who caught touchdown passes when Hansen tied the school
record against the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in the season’s second week.
Mack had two of them Saturday, and the first was a wide-open, 10-yard play-action play in the middle of the end zone that gave ASU (32, 2-0 Sun Belt Conference) the a 14-7 lead with 6:58 left in the second quarter.
This came a week after senior Chris Murray set a Sun Belt Conference record with 37.6 yards per catch in a 43-25 victory over Georgia Southern in which he had career highs in receiving yards (188) and touchdowns (2).
The Red Wolves rank 15th in the NCAA with 39.8 points per game — the 2015 school record was 40 — and 5 receivers have multiple touchdown receptions and 6 are within a 157-yard range in receiving totals.
Mack’s postgame confusion and Paschal’s euphoria are both rooted in the same truth: Every wolf will have his day in ASU’s Run-Pass Option offense.
“That’s the way we’re built,” ASU Coach Blake Anderson said. “We don’t care who gets it. We don’t care who gets credit.”
Anderson said it comes down to who the opponent decides to cover.
“We’ve got to be ready to push it,” he said. “That’s part of the quarterback’s job.”
On Saturday, Hansen pushed a 12-yard fade touchdown to Murray, a 38-yard downfield completion to 6-6, 210-pound junior Justin McInnis on the right sideline, and a 4-yard touchdown pass on a slant to junior Kendrick Edwards.
The variance can confound defenses.
“I think that’s something that’s really good about us,” Hansen said. “Especially when you’re scouting us, cause one guy isn’t scoring all the touchdowns.”
Mack leads the team with six touchdown receptions, but he’s got somewhat of an inside advantage with Hansen, the ball distributor.
“He’s beside my locker, so I kind of suck up to him so I can get the ball,” Mack said jokingly.
Every receiver who has had a reception this season has scored at least once, making Hansen the Oprah of college football.
Everyone gets a touchdown.
“It can be anyone’s game any day. … Your time is going to come,” Paschal said.
“We keep each other up. We do a real good job of that. So we just feed off each other.”