JONESBORO – Arkansas State Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Terry Mohajir announced Thursday that head football coach Blake Anderson has resigned to accept the same position at another FBS program.

Arkansas State assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Keith Heckendorf has been named interim head coach, and a national search to fill the head football coach position at A-State will begin immediately.

“We appreciate Coach Anderson’s contributions to our program,” said Mohajir.  “He is the only head coach in our FBS history to win two conference championships, and he played for a third while also leading us to six bowl games.  We wish him the best moving forward.”

The national search for Arkansas State’s next head football coach will be led by Mohajir along with Arkansas State University Chancellor Dr. Kelly Damphousse and Arkansas State University System President Dr. Charles Welch.

“We’re excited about this search,” said Mohajir.  “We believe we have an attractive program and that we’ll have a great pool of candidates.  We look forward to finding our next head coach to continue advancing our program and building our emerging brand.”

Anderson was named Arkansas State’s 30th head football coach on Dec. 19, 2013, and ended his time with the Red Wolves’ with 51 career victories that tied Bill Davidson for the third most in school history.  He led the program to back-to-back Sun Belt titles in 2015 and 2016 and competed for another in 2017 in A-State’s regular-season finale that was a de facto championship game.

“I had the privilege of watching Blake interact with his student-athletes behind the scenes, and I know how much he cares about their development beyond the playing field,” said Damphousse. “Importantly, I can tell that the students know it too. Beth (Damphousse) grew to be very fond of Blake, Wendy (Anderson), and their children over the years. We are sad to see Blake go, but we are excited about his future.  He is leaving our football program better than he found it.”

Under Anderson’s direction, A-State played in six straight bowl games from 2014 through 2019.  The Red Wolves claimed the 2016 Cure Bowl title when they defeated UCF 31-13, and they also ended the 2019 season with a 34-26 win over FIU in the Camellia Bowl.

The Anderson-led Red Wolves were one of just 20 FBS programs in the nation, including six from the Group of Five, to post a winning record six consecutive seasons from 2014-19.  A-State’s 51 wins under Anderson were tied for the 41st most in the country during his seven seasons at the helm.  He also posted 38 Sun Belt Conference wins at A-State, a total that stands as the second most ever by any of the conference’s all-time head coaches.

Not including 2020, Anderson coached 65 different players to 97 All-Sun Belt Conference selections – the most in the league from 2014-19.  Including defensive Ja’Von Rolland-Jones, quarterback Justice Hansen and wide receiver Omar Bayless, the Red Wolves had three players named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year four times with Anderson serving as head coach.

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JONESBORO – One day after reporting for fall camp, conducting its annual Media Day activities and also receiving 19 votes in USA Today’s Amway Coaches Poll, the Arkansas State football team hit the practice fields Friday morning for its first fall-camp practice of the 2018 season.

The preseason favorite in the Sun Belt Conference Coaches’ Poll to win the league, A-State took the field in shorts and helmets for the first of 15 practices leading up to the first day of classes at Arkansas State University on Aug. 20.

“(The players) bounced around pretty well and the energy was good, as it always seems to be day one,” said head coach Blake Anderson following the workout.  “The new guys looked new, and we didn’t get out on the grass during the spring, so being out here is a little different. It was energetic, though, and it was fun to get out there and let the grass fly a little bit.

“It was sloppy at times, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort.  We’ve just got to knock the rust off a little.  I know they’ve had good practices in the summer on their own, but it’s different with everybody else out there.”

The Red Wolves will hold four additional practices every day at 8:50 a.m. before using next Wednesday, Aug. 8, as a recovery day.  The team will resume its practice schedule with 8:50 a.m. workouts on back-to-back days before conducting its first fall-camp scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 11, at 10:00 a.m.

As part of its media day activities yesterday, the squad took new photos, videos and more for promotional purposes while also spending time conducting interviews with numerous radio, print, online and television outlets.

A-State has been tabbed as the No. 25 team in the nation in Phil Steele’s preseason top-25, and was also picked to win the Sun Belt Conference for the first time in the history of the league’s preseason coaches’ poll.  With A-State tying fellow Sun Belt Conference member Troy for the most points by a team in league history in the preseason Amway Coaches Poll, Anderson addressed the attention the Red Wolves’ have received leading up to this season during a press conference yesterday.

“The 2018 season is here and the excitement and anticipation may be higher than it has ever been here.  That is what we want to be a part of, and hopefully we have something to do with why the expectation-level is as high as it is.

“I’m just anxious to get out there and see what this group of guys can become.  We’re excited about the athletic ability that we’ve put together with this team.  We’ve recruited every young man that is a part of program at this point over the last four-and-a-half years to go into season five, and we feel like we’re going to be putting our most athletic team on the field.  We have more experience than we did a year ago.  This group has worked extremely hard, and I think they’ve approached January to now the right way to go into this fall and have what could be a special year.”

Arkansas State will kickoff its 2018 campaign Sept. 1 at Centennial Bank Stadium with a 6 p.m. game against Southeast Missouri State. Season tickets can be purchased through the A-State Ticket Office, located at First National Bank Arena’s lower red entrance, in person, by phone at 870-972-2781 or online by visiting AStateRedWolves.com/Tickets.

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JONESBORO – The Arkansas State football team began its spring camp Tuesday evening at Centennial Bank Stadium, taking the field in shorts and helmets for the first of 15 practices that will run through Apr. 24.

“I thought we bounced around well, and the guys were excited to be outside practicing,” said Blake Anderson, who is the first head coach in A-State history to win 24 or more games over his first three seasons at the school.  “We’ve been talking about it for weeks now and, even coming back from spring break, you could tell when we met on Sunday night the guys were ready to go.  I don’t know if it was a good practice, but it was an energetic practice – a lot of tempo and guys flying around, so that’s a good start.”

The Red Wolves worked individual and position drills while going through several team and special teams periods, all part of what Anderson said was day-one installation that included base formations.

“We really just wanted to see how they handle themselves and what they retained,” Anderson noted.  “We’ve been teaching them for a couple of weeks, so it was seeing how much they remembered coming back from spring break.  For the most part, we didn’t have very many busts, so the retention was good.  The execution wasn’t great, but that will come in time.”

A-State, which has appeared in a school-record six consecutive bowl games while winning 52 games and five Sun Belt Conference championships since 2011, has nine returning starters, 50 lettermen and five midyear signees among its players in spring camp.  While it is still very early, Anderson said many of those players stood out today.

“We couldn’t block Dee Liner – of course we didn’t have any pads on, and I would hope we couldn’t,” Anderson said.  “I thought Omar Bayless made a couple of big catches today, which was fun to watch, and Warren (Wand) looked like he knows what he is doing as you would expect.  Kyle Wilson showed up as he always does, made a couple of plays down the middle and communicated well.  You can tell he’s taking charge of the defense, which was good to see.”

Asked about the offensive line by media members following practice, the Red Wolves’ head coach discussed the process of replacing all five starters from a year ago, including All-Sun Belt Conference performers Jemar Clark and Colton Jackson.

“I think the first step is them knowing what to do,” Anderson stated.  “It’s hard to go out and compete if you don’t know what to do, so that is going to be the first thing – how quickly can they understand the scheme, and then from there technically can they can compete.  I think it is going to be rough all spring for (offensive line) Coach (Allen) Rudolph to find the right five guys.  We still have several coming in the fall – most of them will be here in June.  So it will be a work in progress, but we’ve got guys to work with, and they’re all eager and working hard.  They collectively had a great offseason and prepared for a good spring, and we didn’t have that option a year ago.  They were all coming out of surgery, so this is a completely different environment and virtually no experience.”

The Red Wolves will have three more practices this week, including Wednesday and Friday at 4 p.m. and Saturday at 9:30 a.m.  A-State will hold its spring game at Centennial Bank Stadium on Friday, Apr. 21, at 6 p.m.

“I want to make sure we get the most out of every practice – don’t take any of them for granted,” said Anderson.  “We talked about that as a staff and with the team.  Fifteen (practices) seems like a big number, but it’s really not – it just goes by so quickly.  I felt like the one thing that came out of offense, defense and special teams film review from the season was we’ve got to be much more detail oriented, and we’ve got to take that into the spring.  So that’s really what we’ve stressed.  We want coachable guys with great attitudes who are ready to get better at the techniques, and that’s in every phase.”

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ORLANDO, Fla. – Senior wide receiver Kendall Sanders was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2016 AutoNation Cure Bowl after three touchdown receptions helped Arkansas State football cap the season with a 31-13 win over UCF Saturday at Camping World Stadium.

Arkansas State (8-5) forced three turnovers, blocked a punt for a touchdown and held UCF (6-7) to 223 yards of offense. The Red Wolves defense totaled six sacks and 11 tackles for loss in the outing, capping the last two outings with 14 sacks and 34 tackles for loss.

Junior Ja’Von Rolland-Jones had two sacks on the night to give him 13.5 on the year, a Sun Belt Conference single-game record total. Rolland-Jones had already broken the Sun Belt Conference career record and he will enter his final season with 30.5 career sacks.

Sophomore quarterback Justice Hansen was 12-of-26 passing for 205 yards finding Sanders five times for three touchdowns and 127 yards. Hansen finishes the year with 19 touchdown passes, tied for the fourth-most in single-season program history. The 205 yards through the air helped A-State top 3,000 passing yards this season for only the fifth time in program history and second time under head coach Blake Anderson.

“We’ve leaned on our defense all year and that didn’t change tonight,” A-State head football coach Blake Anderson said. “Our defense played lights out and we knew that UCF had a very good defense and would make it really tough on us. Special teams play was tremendous and we made enough plays offensively to get out ahead. It was a big play to come out in the second half to get the throw and catch to Kendall. It was just enough against a really good defense. I hate we are going to lose some of these guys on defense because it was so fun to watch them play.”

Defense and special teams carried the Red Wolves to the Sun Belt Conference championship this year and A-State brought it in the opening four minutes of the game to grab a 7-0 lead. Rolland-Jones and Wilson combined to sack UCF on third down of the opening possession forcing the Knights to punt from the back of the end zone.

A-State was unable to take advantage of good field position offensively on the opening drive, but the Red Wolves pinned the Knights at the 15-yard line for their second possession. The defense again stepped up as Wilson registered a tackle for loss on first down and the Knights were forced to punt once again.

Johnston White rushed the edge on the punt and blocked it and B.J. Edmonds was the first of many Red Wolves to pounce on the ball in the end zone for the touchdown as A-State took a 7-0 lead with 10:59 left in the first quarter. The blocked punt was the 11th blocked kick in three seasons under head coach Blake Anderson and special teams coordinator Luke Paschall.

UCF was able to pick up a few first downs on their next two possessions, but the Red Wolves forced the Knights to punt each time. Blaise Taylor registered a 12-yard punt return with 6:18 left in the first quarter, breaking the school record for career punt return yardage with 754 yards.

The Red Wolves offense got going with a big 67-yard pass completion to Blake Mack, advancing A-State inside the 5-yard line, but UCF forced a field goal attempt. Sawyer Williams booted a 22-yard field goal, his first attempt of the season, to make it 10-0 with 4:24 left in the first quarter.

Following the field goal, special teams continued to make plays, forcing the first turnover of the game. Avery Johnson forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Kirk Louis recovered the fumble to set up the Red Wolves at the Knights 16-yard line. Three plays later, Hansen hit Sanders with a perfectly thrown pass to the back of the endzone and Sanders got two feet down for the score to make it 17-0 with 2:48 left in the quarter.

UCF scored the next 10 points in the game, but A-State held a 17-10 lead at the halftime, but Sanders broke free for a 75-yard touchdown reception early in the second half. The quick scoring drive saw the Red Wolves take a 24-10 advantage just 51 seconds into the second half. The 75-yard touchdown pass and catch is the longest play in Cure Bowl history.

The Knights added a field goal to make it 24-13 with 4:52 left in the third quarter, but special teams again came up with a big play to make sure UCF didn’t gain any momentum. UCF forced A-State to punt with under a minute to play in the third quarter, but long snapper Ryan Eustace raced down field on coverage and forced a fumble that was recovered by Logan Moragne.

The Red Wolves took over at Knights 37-yard line and Hansen hit Sanders for a gain of 20 just before the third quarter expired. Hansen hit Sanders again for a 17-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to put A-State up 31-13. UCF ran 15 plays in the fourth quarter, but A-State closed out the game by limiting the Knights to just 39 yards on those plays.

“It was an unconventional night, but we got it done,” said Anderson. “I’m really proud about how our players handled the week. They did a great job with the charity events and showed up in full force, not only showing up, but going above and beyond. It was a great trip, a great bowl, and there could not be a better way to end a season for a team that went through a lot of adversity. To come back and win eight games, it’s pretty cool. We had a blast tonight and this is one of the best trips I’ve had in my career.”

Making a sixth-straight bowl appearance, Arkansas State finishes the season, the sixth consecutive winning season for the first time since 1912-17. Arkansas State is home to the only FBS program to win five conference championships in the last six seasons.

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JONESBORO – Sophomore quarterback Justice Hansen passed for four touchdowns and ran for another while sophomore running back Warren Wand caught two touchdown passes and punched another one in on the ground as A-State cruised past ULM 51-10 Saturday night at Centennial Bank Stadium.

A-State (3-4, 3-0 SBC) held a 42-3 advantage at halftime and extended its conference win streak to 12 games. The Red Wolves, which went 7-for-7 in the red zone, finished with 434 yards of total offense, including 335 in the first half, behind 316 yards in the aerial attack.

Defensively, A-State allowed 336 total yards with 174 coming on the ground and 162 in the air. The defense held ULM to 10 points marking the first time since 2006 that A-State has held back-to-back opponents to 10 or fewer points since 2006 (at FIU: 31-6, vs ULM 10-6). The 41-point margin of victory ranks as the fourth-largest in a Sun Belt contest for A-State.

Hansen finished 21-for-36 passing for 303 yards and four touchdowns while rushing four times for 20 yards and a touchdown. Johnston White was the leading rusher with seven carries for 72 yards. Wand finished as the leading receiver with four catches for 65 yards and the two touchdowns.

“I thought it was our most complete game we have played this year,” said A-State head coach Blake Anderson. “We made plays in all three phases. Special teams wise, no big issue that we are concerned about. We actually got the return game going and flipped the field. Defensively, we created turnovers and were stubborn against the run.

“Really, until we started making substitutions and had some mechanical problems with guys that don’t play a lot of snaps and then offensively until we started making substitutions, we were really solid. We were able to move the chains on third down and were seven-of-seven on third down and really taking what they were giving us.

“I don’t think they ever got to Justice and we protected him well and he made good decisions. I thought we improved and took a step in the right direction, but I think we can be better.”

Hansen was 3-for-5 on the opening drive for 61 yards, hooking up with Wand for a 28-yard touchdown on 4th-and-5. The scoring drive marked the first time this season that the Red Wolves had scored a touchdown on their opening drive.

Hansen completed 3-of-4 passes on the ensuing drive and found Chris Murray on a 3-yard shovel pass for the score, his second touchdown pass on the night. White broke the drive open with a 50-yard run on 1st-and-15 to set up A-State with 1st-and-goal from the 7-yard line.

The combo of Hansen and Wand was seen again as Wand caught a 31-yard pass to end the first quarter and put the Red Wolves within one yard of another score. After a one yard loss on a rush, Chad Voytik hit Wand for a 2-yard touchdown pass and the Red Wolves grabbed the 21-0 advantage early in the second quarter.

The passing game continued to be a force for A-State as Hansen tossed his third touchdown pass of the night to make it 28-0 with 10:21 left in the first half. Hansen completed 3-of-4 attempts on the drive, finding Sterling Stowers for an eight-yard touchdown.

A pass interference call against A-State helped ULM advance inside Red Wolves territory for the first time. The Warhawks later got within four yards of a touchdown, but A-State held ULM to a 21-yard field goal to make it 28-3 with 4:55 left in half.

Daryl Rollins-Davis returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards to make it 1st-and-goal at the 6-yard line. Wand was the focal point on all three plays, catching a pass for four yards before plunging into the end zone on a 2-yard touchdown plunge to make it 35-3 with 3:54 remaining.

The first turnover of the game was a Blaise Taylor interception and Taylor returned the pick 33 yards to set up A-State in scoring position once again. After an 11-yard pass on first down, the Red Wolves later faced 4th-and-1 from the ULM 6-yard line. Hansen rushed into the end zone on fourth down and made it 42-3 with 37 seconds left in the half.

A-State added a touchdown on their opening possession of the third quarter with Hansen hooking up with Blake Mack for an eight-yard touchdown. Hansen targeted Mack three times on the drive and Mack hauled in two receptions for 32 yards.

J.D. Houston added a 27-yard field goal later in the quarter to make the score 51-3, but ULM broke free for a 61-yard touchdown to make it 51-10 with 4:05 left on the third quarter clock.

A-State faces a quick turnaround and hits the road to face Georgia State on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 6:30 p.m. (CT) on ESPNU. The Red Wolves close out the home schedule with Senior Day on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. against New Mexico State.

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However, the question was still there.

The one in which he is asked if his team finds motivation in again not being picked to win the league.

“I was informed today, and I didn’t really know this, but we have never been picked to win the league, but we have found a way to win it in four out of the last five years” Anderson said.

“Obviously, it is where we finish not where we begin. We started the season last year picked number two or three, I can’t really remember and that tells you how much I pay attention to it. The expectation at our place is high regardless of where the rankings tell us where we are.”

The Red Wolves were picked second this year in the preseason football poll, just behind Appalachian State, and each received five of the 11 first-place votes.

But because of the way the schedule falls in 2016, the two teams don’t play this year.

Anderson was asked how closely he would be following what the Mountaineers are doing through the season.

“I take the approach that all we can do is control us anyway,” Anderson said. “We have to assume that they are going to run the table.

“We can’t play them so we can’t worry about what someone else is doing. We have to take the approach that they are going to win them all, so we have to do the same. If somewhere along the way that changes, then maybe at that point it is worth a conversation.”

A-State begins the season on a Friday night at Centennial Bank Stadium. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. with a national broadcast on ESPNU.

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