Arkansas State Red Wolves Add Alcorn State To 2012 Schedule

JONESBORO, Arkansas -- Arkansas State Director of Athletics Dr. Dean Lee announced Wednesday the addition of a home game against FCS member Alcorn State to ASU's 2012 football schedule, completing the Red Wolves' non-conference lineup of opponents for next season.

The Red Wolves will play their fourth game of the season when they host SWAC member Alcorn State on Sept. 22, catching the Braves for the first time in school history. The Red Wolves first four games will all be against non-conference opponents, including longtime rival Memphis in their home opener on Sept. 8.

A-State will open its 2012 campaign on the road at Oregon on Sept. 1 and play at Nebraska a week before its game against Alcorn State.  With the addition of Alcorn State to its schedule, the Red Wolves will have six home games on its schedule for the second consecutive year and the third time over the last five. Arkansas State is 5-0 at home this season and has put together seven consecutive seasons with a winning record at ASU Stadium.

The Sun Belt Conference office will set the dates early next year for ASU's eight league games.

"We are thrilled to complete our 2012 non-conference schedule with the addition of Alcorn State," said Lee.  "We feel like alternating home and road games to complete our non-conference schedule before starting conference play benefitted our team this year, so we are excited that the 2012 schedule will mirror that layout. We feel like this schedule is built for success."

While ASU has never played Alcorn State, the Red Wolves have played four current SWAC members a combined five times and hold a 5-0 record in those games. A-State most recently defeated Mississippi Valley State 61-0 in its 2009 season opener, but also defeated the Delta Devils in 1995 and holds additional victories over Jackson State, Grambling and Texas Southern. The Red Wolves will play an FCS opponent for the second consecutive season and for the third time over the last four seasons.

Courtesy: Arkansas State

Arkansas State 61, Mississippi Valley 0

MVSU Delta Devils head coach Willie Totten

Red Wolves Roll Past Mississippi Valley State in Season Opener

Senior tailback Reggie Arnold rushed for 126 yards and four touchdowns and senior quarterback Corey Leonard became the Arkansas State all-time yardage leader as the Red Wolves rolled to 61-0 victory over the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils in the season opener Saturday night at ASU Stadium. Leonard passed for 129 yards and a touchdown and rushed for seven more to finish the night with 7,433 career yards, surpassing Cleo Lemon's mark of 7,309 set from 1997-2000.

Arkansas State piled up 496 yards on the night while holding the Delta Devils to 69 yards of total offense. The shutout was the Red Wolves' first since a 3-0 overtime victory over Florida Atlantic during the 2005 season. "We did what we needed to do, we came out and got a victory," said ASU head coach Steve Roberts. "I was very proud of the preparation of our young men, coming out and taking care of business. We got to play a lot of people tonight and got sloppy towards the end on special teams, but I thought our offense and defense continued to play well. We got a lot of guys on scout team who never get an opportunity to play, and we rewarded them by letting them play in the 3rd and 4th quarters."

Next up for Arkansas St.: Nebraska

Arkansas State won't have long to savor its 61-0 victory over Mississippi Valley State. Next up for the Red Wolves is a trip Saturday to Nebraska, which opened its season with a 49-3 victory over Florida Atlantic. Like ASU, Florida Atlantic is a member of the Sun Belt Conference. Against Mississippi Valley, Reggie Arnold scored four touchdowns for the Red Wolves and rushed for 126 yards on 12 carries. Corey Leonard completed 8 of 13 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown, and he rushed for another 10 yards. Leonard became ASU's leader in career total offense, with 7,433 yards. ASU's defense held the Delta Devils to 69 total yards.

Delta Devils Armon Williams goes in for the tackle.

Valley braced for brutal first game

Mississippi Valley State's first game will be its toughest. Trying to rebound from back-to-back 3-9 seasons, the Delta Devils kick off the 2009 season Saturday at Arkansas State - a Football Bowl Subdivision team (formerly known as Division I-A) that returns 17 starters from last year's team that went 6-6 and defeated Texas A&M."No doubt this will be a challenge for us," Valley coach Willie Totten said. "They play a lot of tough competition in Division I-A in the Sun Belt conference."The good news is that we will know exactly where we are with this team, and with an open date coming up, we will have two weeks to get it right before we open conference play.

"The Red Wolves are 4-0 against Southwestern Athletic Conference teams, with the last two wins coming in major blowouts (55-3 over MVSU in 1995 and 83-10 over Texas Southern in 2008). This is obviously not the way Totten would have preferred to open the season, but this game gives Valley's strapped athletic budget a boost because Arkansas State will pay MVSU $200,000 to play Saturday. Totten says the program should net at least $185,000 once all the travel expenses are paid.

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Arkansas State smashes Texas Southern, 83-10

Courtesy: Arkansas State

Arkansas State vs. Texas Southern final stats (.pdf)

JONESBORO, AR – Arkansas State scored early and often in its home debut Saturday night, pounding Texas Southern 83-10 in front of a crowd of 21,741 at ASU Stadium.

Freshman tailback Derek Lawson rushed for 209 yards and a touchdown in the game, the 8th most rushing yards in ASU history. Junior tailback Reggie Arnold added 123 yards and two touchdowns and junior quarterback Corey Leonard accounted for 229 yards of total offense and threw for four touchdowns as Arkansas State finished with 670 yards of total offense in the game, the second most in school history.

“I’m proud of a lot of individuals. They all played a great game,” said ASU Head Coach Steve Roberts. “All four of the running backs that carried the ball did a tremendous job. Reggie obviously got out of the game very early, and then Derek Lawson came in and rushed for more than 200 yards. You guys got to see a little bit of Derek Lawson that we get to see every day in scout team. I am also really proud of David Johnson. He had a big night, especially early in the game.”

“Defensively, we went out and did what we needed to do and shut them down,” added Roberts. “We gave up a couple of big plays, but overall did a good job. Our football team has got to get over this win in a hurry because we have a big game next week.”

ASU got on the board with less than two minutes gone in the game with a 53-yard pass from Leonard to Johnson. Two minutes later, Leonard connected with junior tight end Trevor Gillott from 39 yards out for the 14-0 ASU lead.

A 25-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown from sophomore linebacker Javon McKinnon, a 33-yard field goal from junior Josh Arauco, and a two-yard pass from Leonard to freshman fullback Jeff Blake wrapped up a 31-0 first quarter for ASU.

Leonard and Johnson hooked up for their second touchdown pass of the night just 29 seconds into the second quarter, and Arnold scored on touchdown runs of two yards and 56 yards before Texas Southern got on the board with a 34-yard field goal from Robert Hersh to make it 52-3 at the half.

A five-yard touchdown run from Lawson, a 30-yard field goal from Arauco and an eight-yard touchdown run from senior quarterback Travis Hewitt made it 69-3 before the Tigers scored their only touchdown of the night on a 32-yard pass from quarterback Bobby Reid to wide receiver William Osbourne.

Blake added a 15-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, and freshman linebacker Demario Davis returned a fumble 53-yards for a touchdown to set the final at 83-10 after Arauco’s 11th extra point. Arauco was 11-for-11 on extra points to tie the ASU record, and 2-for-2 on field goal tries on the night.

The Red Wolves’ 83 points were the second most in school history and the most in the history of ASU Stadium. The 73-point margin of victory was the most under head coach Steve Roberts.

Arkansas State continues a three-game home stand next week when they host Southern Miss in a 6 p.m. game at ASU Stadium.

Texas Southern next game is Sept. 13 at the Capital City Classic (Sacramento, California) Hughes Stadium, against CIAA Division II foe, Shaw University (N.C.). Game time is at 2:05 pm PT. The Tigers are currently on a 15 game losing streak.

Attendance: 21,741 (70.2%) at ASU Stadium, Little Rock, AR (Capacity: 30,964).