ASU mistakes

A day after Arkansas State University (1-1) took a 57-7 beatdown from No. 1 Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium, the Red Wolves uploaded Saturday’s game film to their tablets and computers and started dissecting how, when and where things went wrong against the Tide. “There’s going to be a ton,” said senior quarterback Justice Hansen of the things the Red Wolves will find.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A day after Arkansas State University (1-1) took a 57-7 beatdown from No. 1 Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium, the Red Wolves uploaded Saturday’s game film to their tablets and computers and started dissecting how, when and where things went wrong against the Tide.

“There’s going to be a ton,” said senior quarterback Justice Hansen of the things the Red Wolves will find.

The Red Wolves pointed to a recurring tendency of incurring penalties as too “self-destructive,” ASU Coach Blake Anderson said of the few quick assessments ASU made during and after Saturday’s loss. Ten flags thrown against the Red Wolves followed a 12-penalty against Southeast Missouri State on Sept. 1.

Numerous missed tackles crippled ASU against Alabama, which rolled up 599 yards of total offense and uncorked a 40-0 lead before halftime. Anderson also cited “mechanical busts” and communication issues on offense, thwarting the pass-happy Red Wolves from progressing downfield at a rate they would prefer.

“Anytime you don’t play your best in this environment, it’s going to be a recipe for disaster,” Anderson said. “That’s what we saw.”

ASU’s Tide-caused troubles were spotlighted early as Alabama’s strength, size and skill overwhelmed the Red Wolves. Alabama’s wide receivers, which Anderson pinpointed as the fastest and most powerful receiving unit ASU will see this season, had a majority of the Tide’s 20 receptions for 321 yards.

“We just didn’t execute the plan,” Anderson said. “I think the plan was the right plan. And at times, it worked really, really well at making them play our game. That was the whole goal. We just didn’t execute well enough, often enough. That, combined with really poor tackling and some mistakes on defense, and you look up and you’re [trailing by three touchdowns].

ASU will travel to Tulsa for a 6 p.m. meeting with the Golden Hurricane on Saturday. The Red Wolves will return home Sept. 22 to host UNLV.