Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Arkansas State lost many of its top playmakers on defense from a 10-victory season in 2011. Gone too is the defensive coordinator who helped the Red Wolves’ resurgence last season.

Any concerns about how the unit will perform while replacing seven starters might not have been totally alleviated in a Saturday scrimmage, but there were some encouraging signs from the defense. ASU’s offense — presumed to be a strength of the team under Coach Gus Malzahn — only scored twice and turned the ball over four times.

“I’m really excited for our defense,” Malzahn told reporters after the scrimmage, which ran 80-plus plays.

“They were flying around got some turnovers. We've been preaching that,” he added. “It's good to see."

Safety Sterling Young intercepted a pair of passes. Don Jones led the defense with seven tackles and a forced fumble. Artez Brown also intercepted a pass.

Reigning Sun Belt Conference offensive player of the year Ryan Aplin did not put up big numbers in the scrimmage. He completed 14 of 23 passes for 102 yards.

Sophomore running back Rod Smith led the team with 50 yards on eight carries. Julian Jones was the top receiving threat with 76 yards.

It was a disappointing outing for an offense that had set records the previous two years. ASU looked little like a team that averaged 32.5 points and 447.8 yards per game in 2011.

“We just did not come out to play, including myself," Aplin said during post scrimmage interviews.

 ASU opens the season Sept. 1 at Oregon.