Red Wolves report Blackman shows off versatility
JONESBORO — There was little flash involved with Arkansas State’s 45-28 win against Louisiana-Monroe last Saturday.
There were a handful of chunk plays during the Red Wolves’ run of three touchdowns in as many possessions prior to Johnnie Lang’s 98-yard kickoff return, but none went for more than 25 yards as ASU strung together drives of 11, 9 and 10 plays.
“This is my sixth year in college, and a lot of people know that James Blackman wants to go deep,” Blackman said postgame. “I feel like a lot of teams have been playing top-down, making us take long drives, making us execute because in college football … there’s going to be somebody making a mistake [and] you might get a turnover.”
Such was the case against Old Dominion when a pair of Red Wolf giveaways led to go-ahead scores for the Monarchs.
But Blackman was more effective in the short passing game against the Warhawks than any other game this season, completing 21 of his 24 passes that traveled less than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage for 192 yards and both of his touchdowns.
Coincidentally, despite ranking ninth among
Sun Belt Conference quarterbacks in deep passing (20 or more air yards), Blackman is second in the league in intermediate passing (10-19 air yards).
Through five weeks, Blackman’s average depth of target is 7.5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. That’s a massive reversal after posting marks of 10.1, 12.7, 10.0, 8.0 and 11.4 in his five college seasons.
“What we’ve seen is mainly man coverage and quarters coverage all year,” Coach Butch Jones said. “Football is a game of matchups, and it’s your strengths versus their strengths and weaknesses versus their weaknesses.”
Jones didn’t necessarily agree with Blackman’s general assessment, saying he’s seen defenses playing more over-the-top primarily on third down.
But he noted that such a strategy, particularly on third-and-long scenarios, combined with Blackman’s maturity has enabled the Red Wolves to be successful in both critical-down scenarios and as they approach the end zone.
Against LouisianaMonroe, ASU converted on 11 of 19 third- and fourthdown attempts and scored on each of its five red-zone trips.
“What James has done a good job [of] is having a high vision in the pocket,” Jones continued. “The throw game is based on rhythm spacing and timing. When I get to my second hitch in the pocket, that tells me I’ve got to exhaust the progression, I’ve got to get the ball down to my third or fourth read. Those are things where James has really done a good job.”
A turning point?
In the week leading up to the Red Wolves’ most recent game, Butch Jones spoke to the idea of a “breakthrough moment” for his program.
He pointed to specific victories during his previous stints at Cincinnati and Tennessee, so Jones was asked Tuesday whether his team’s win against LouisianaMonroe was worthy of a similar label.
“That’s hard to say right now,” Jones said. “What
I will tell you is we gave the illusion of starting fast. But again, I didn’t like our whole mental disposition, I didn’t like our energy level. I thought we were kind of flat.”
ASU punted on three of its first five drives against the Warhawks, and on one of the two when it scored, the Red Wolves had two incomplete passes and a run for no gain — setting up a Dominic Zvada 46-yard field goal only because Louisiana-Monroe had fumbled a punt.
So what would constitute a breakthrough in Jones’ mind?
Almost certainly a win against a James Madison team that received the fifth-most votes of the teams outside this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.
But Jones says he’ll judge it based on “gut feel,” adding that his team’s most recent win was as big as any because his players were excited about each other’s success.
“Being satisfied with just our first conference win would be a real mistake for us as a team if that’s the mindset we have,” running back Johnnie Lang said. “I’m pretty sure that’s not the mindset we have with the leaders on this team.”
‘We’re beat up’
Coach Butch Jones didn’t provide any specific updates with regard to injuries during his Tuesday media availability beyond saying that he’ll “know more later in the week” on several players.
Right guard Jordan Rhodes fought through injury to play 44 of 78 snaps against Louisiana-Monroe, per Pro Football Focus. Ernie Ramirez played right guard in Rhodes’ stead and also spelled Noah Smith at right tackle, so it’s unclear who will start on that side of the offensive line against James Madison.
Wyatt Begeal, who warmed up and was dressed last weekend, could soon join the wide receiver rotation. There will likely be fewer snaps available, however.
Te’Vailance Hunt was on the field nearly twothirds of the game against the Warhawks, catching six passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. Champ Flemings, who missed ASU’s game at Old Dominion, played 38 of 78 snaps — closer to the first two weeks when he was with the firstteam offense 75% of the time or more.