ASU problems stem from offensive woes

JONESBORO — Arkansas State’s most recent offensive showing in a 31-13 loss at South Alabama on Saturday was confounding, to say the least.

It’s not that the Red Wolves have been some juggernaut. They’re averaging 27.5 points per game, putting them right in the middle of the pack at 76th in the nation. ASU’s rushing attack is fourth-worst among all FBS teams, averaging 81.5 yards per game, and the Red Wolves have often been trailing, meaning they have little choice but to pass the ball.

But ASU’s 224 yards of total offense in Mobile was the low-water mark, even worse than a September trip to Washington in which the Red Wolves were routed 52-3.

On Saturday, ASU was inefficient, converting three of 13 third-down attempts. It was also ineffective, completing less than half of its passes for an average of only 5.0 yards per play through the air. To top it off, the Red Wolves were sloppy — they committed four turnovers and had six penalties, including a couple of costly second-half fouls that dented any chance of a comeback.

Have the Red Wolves have actually made progress on offense, following a 2020 campaign in which they had a top-15 unit that averaged nearly 500 yards a game?

“Last year, you had the Sun Belt [Offensive] Player of the Year [Jonathan Adams] and all you had to do is throw a vertical route four times and you’re probably getting 14 points out of it,” Coach Butch Jones said at his weekly media availability Tuesday. “It’s really hard to win games when you’re one-dimensional and we all know we’ve struggled to run the football. You’re going to have to overachieve and do a lot of things schematically in the throw game.”

Despite multiple in-game quarterback changes and an injury to James Blackman, the Red Wolves are still 10th nationally in passing offense and are only one of 17 teams averaging better than 300 passing

yards per game.

Yet, quarterback Layne Hatcher is in the midst of his worst season at ASU. His completion percentage is hovering just above 55 percent and he’s thrown only 12 touchdowns to six interceptions. Other than Corey Rucker and Te’Vailance Hunt, no ASU player has more than two touchdowns. And the offensive line is below-average in both pass- and run-blocking, with the latter grading seventh-worst in the nation per Pro Football Focus.

It’s hard to point to any area that’s been an upgrade from a year ago.

“When you’ve got different guys, the biggest thing is building that chemistry and coming together and trusting each other,” left tackle Andre Harris Jr. said, emphasizing the fact that five of ASU’s regular contributors weren’t on the team last fall. “I can easily sit here and say, ‘Yeah, we’ve improved in the running game.’ But you look at the box score from the last game and you’re like, ‘No, you didn’t.’ ”

Progress has come in flashes. ASU’s offense topped 30 points in four of the first five games. Its defense just played two of its best halves of the season.

If there’s going to be an end to the Red Wolves’ seven-game losing skid, they recognize it’s going to take the kind of complementary football Jones so often speaks of.

That means if the defense is going to take a step up in these final weeks, the offense will have to hold up its end of the bargain.

“It’s just the consistency and being able to build on the things we do well,” Harris said. “It’s hard. I understand everybody’s frustrations. It eats at me like it eats at everybody else. But I promise y’all, we’re going to get it right.”