ASU takes on rival during short week

JONESBORO -- Short on rest and time, Arkansas State University football Coach Blake Anderson began his weekly news conference Monday while his normally available coordinators were a floor below studying the opponent that snapped their 15-game Sun Belt Conference victory streak a season ago.

The Red Wolves (3-2, 2-0) will host Louisiana-Lafayette (3-2, 2-1) on Thursday in one of the seven nationally televised games the Sun Belt is guaranteed in its contract with ESPN, which runs through the 2019 season.

It's the first time ASU has hosted a nationally televised game since its 27-26 victory over Georgia Southern in 2016, which broadcast on ESPN2.

This season's Sept. 9 home game against now-No. 8 Miami would have been broadcast on ESPNU, but the game was canceled in anticipation of Hurricane Irma in Florida.

Since the TV deal with ESPN began in 2012, ASU is 12-3, last losing 45-27 at Texas State in 2014.

A minimum of five Sun Belt games must be on weeknights, according to the contract, which can leave teams preparing for opponents on a short turnaround.

ASU avoided a short week for a Wednesday night game earlier this season, a 43-25 victory at Georgia Southern, because it came after a bye week.

Senior defensive end Ja'Von Rolland-Jones had just started getting rested up last week.

"It's like a relief," he said Wednesday, coming back from a two-game road trip. "You don't have to travel anywhere. You can just take a deep breath. You're in your backyard. It's a good thing to play at home."

The short rest this week is not bringing him down.

"It's at home again, though," Rolland-Jones said. "So we don't have to do too much traveling. It won't take a big toll on our bodies as far as mentally. So, I think it'll be fine."

The Red Wolves have had mixed results in games on short rest in the three previous seasons under Anderson, totaling a 3-2 record. All those games were on the road.

"We've gone on the road and been in great shape ... and won games on the road," Anderson said. "Which, statistics will tell you, is really hard to do on a short week. To me, that's because of the process and how we build our guys."

This will be the fifth time during the TV deal that an ASU and Louisiana-Lafayette game will be nationally televised. The two programs have finished side by side in the conference standings 13 times since the Sun Belt was formed in 2001.

ASU finished first and Louisiana-Lafayette second in the standings in 2016, 2012 and 2011, and the programs shared conference titles in 2013 and 2005 -- though the latter was vacated due to NCAA sanctions.

"A competitive rivalry is the best way to explain it," Anderson said. "It's definitely not because of proximity. But when your names are at the top of the list every year, and that game's going to matter, I think you just have a healthy respect for each other.

"I don't know, maybe healthy hatred. Whatever you want to call it. I think it's what makes college football unique, and it's a good rivalry for our league and it's good for us."

Anderson announced that junior running back Warren Wand is listed as "day to day" with an ankle injury he suffered in Saturday's 51-17 victory over Coastal Carolina. Junior cornerback Justin Clifton and senior wide receiver Christian Booker also hurt their ankles in the game.

Anderson said Clifton and Booker will be ready, but the short week makes it a "50 percent chance" on Wand.

"With a Saturday game, I'd tell you, 'No doubt he'll be ready,' " Anderson said. "But with a Thursday game, it's hard to say. That's a quick turnaround."

Wand is ASU's leading rusher with 285 yards on 49 carries (5.8 yards per carry) and 4 touchdowns.

Redshirt sophomore Jamal Jones and senior Johnston White replaced Wand in the third quarter Saturday, and they combined for 76 yards on 19 carries.

Sports on 10/17/2017