2008 Woodie Awards
Arkansas State head coach ready to unleash his 'bowling ball'
By: Brad Cox
Issue date: 8/29/08 Section: Sports
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The 2008 season marks the second consecutive year that ASU has opened its season against a Big 12 team. The Wolves fell to Texas 21-13 on the road to open the 2007 season.
ASU is 0-3 against A&M and has been outscored in the three meetings 32-86.
The last time the two schools met, the Aggies were breaking in head coach Dennis Franchione with a 26-11 victory to kick off the 2003 season. Coincidentally, A&M head coach Mike Sherman will also be cutting his teeth against the Wolves.
"It really doesn't matter, we're trying to worry about ourselves and control what we can control," Arkansas State head coach Steve Roberts said about facing the rookie coaching staff. "But it is a strange coincidence."
The shining star in the Wolves 2007 season was junior running back Reggie Arnold. On top of the 1,060 yards he put in the stat sheets in 2007, he also rushed for nine touchdowns. The season marked his second consecutive season rushing for at least 1,000 yards.
"I've got a lot of confidence in Reggie," Roberts said. "He's like trying to tackle a bowling ball. He's very strong. [He's] a guy who benches 440 pounds. He sees things well and has good speed."
ASU also returned its veteran quarterback junior Corey Leonard. A preseason All-Sun Belt Conference pick, Leonard threw for 2,235 yards in 2007 and added 16 passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns to his stats for the year.
On the other side of the line of scrimmage, the Wolves have been successful defensively in recent years, leading or ranked second in total defense in the Sun Belt Conference in the previous two seasons.
"Obviously we don't know a whole lot about Texas A&M's offensive line," Roberts said about his defense matching up with an inexperienced Aggie line. "I know that the guys we're going to stick out there initially are going to compete. Hopefully the guys that come in after them will react very well."
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