ASU closes out overtime against UALR with a 12-2 run to seal the game and advances to face Western Kentucky on Sunday at 6:30pm.

Video Highlights
Adams Scores

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Women defeat Troy 60-54. Will face #1 seed UALR at noon tomorrow on Summit Arena.

Arkansas State will play at ASU Stadium five times in the 2010 season. ASU will host an ESPN2 telecast against Middle Tennessee State on Tuesday, November 2. The Red Wolves will be seen on CBS College Sports on November 20 against Navy.

In non-conference ASU hosts Louisville on October 2 and will travel to Auburn to open the season on September 4 and will play at Indiana on October 16. The Indiana game is likely to be telecast on the Big 10 Network.

FULL ASU RELEASE
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Arkansas State Alumni Association events in Hot Springs. The Sunday brunch is free but the hospitality room is only open to Association members. Memberships may be purchased at the door.

JONESBORO (2/3/10) -Arkansas State Head Football Coach Steve Roberts announced the Red Wolves 2010 signing class, which currently includes 19 high school and seven junior college standouts from nine different states, at a Wednesday afternoon press conference at the ASU?Football Facility.

“We are very proud of the 2010 recruiting class and signees,” said Roberts. “Our staff worked extremely hard in our evaluations and in recruiting and building relationships with the young men that we signed today. ?We feel like we continue to upgrade the talent of our program and look forward to the contributions these young men will make to A-State football in the coming years.”
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From February 1
If you followed the twitter stream for ArkSt_com from the Little Rock Tipoff Club meeting you caught some entertaining comments from ASU head coach John Brady.

What stood out to me the most was one thing. ATTITUDE.
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JONESBORO (12/24/09) – Arkansas State head football coach Steve Roberts announced Thursday that Clay Helton, a coaching veteran with over 14 years experience at the NCAA FBS level, has been named the Red Wolves new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Helton spent the last 10 seasons on the Memphis coaching staff, including the last three years as an assistant head coach and the offensive coordinator. Helton began his stint at Memphis as the running backs coach in 2000 before taking over receivers in 2003 and quarterbacks upon his promotion to offensive coordinator in 2007.

“We are very excited about coach Helton joining our staff,” said Roberts. “He is an outstanding person, a great football coach and an excellent communicator. He is innovative, fast paced and designs ways to get the ball into the hands of the playmakers on your football team.”

“My family and I are really looking forward to the opportunity to be a part of the Arkansas State family,” said Helton. “This is a great opportunity to work for a head coach the caliber of Steve Roberts and to be a part of the tremendous staff he has assembled.”

The Memphis offense ranked among the top 26 teams in the nation in total offense during two of Helton’s three years as offensive coordinator. The 2008 team ranked 26th nationally in total offense and 22nd in rushing offense, while the 2007 squad ranked 23rd in total offense and 13th in passing offense.

Helton guided the Tigers’ offense to numbers that ranked among some of the best in school history. Memphis’ 5,767 yards in 2007 ranks second all-time in Memphis history, while the 2008 total of 5,424 yards ranks fifth. The 353 points scored in 2008 was good for the sixth most in school history, while the 2007 Tigers ranked fourth with 380 points.

Helton directed the Memphis offense in 2009 that saw Curtis Steele rush for over 1,000 yards for the second consecutive season, Duke Calhoun become the all-time leading receiver in school history and Carlos Singleton become the Tigers’ all-time leader in receiving touchdowns.

Under Helton’s guidance, quarterback Martin Hankins finished his two-year career ranked second in most career passing categories at Memphis, and set single-season records during the 2007 season in completions (261), yards (3,220) and touchdowns (25).

As wide receivers coach at Memphis, Helton guided two receivers to All-C-USA Freshman honors and directed a receiving corps that played a vital role in the Tigers’ offense.

In 2006, Tiger receivers accounted for 21 of Memphis’ 33 touchdowns and averaged 225 yards per game. A year after taking over the receivers, Helton’s 2004 wideouts accounted for 25 touchdowns and 3,086 yards receiving, and were part of an offensive unit that ranked second in C-USA in total offense. In 2003, Helton inherited a depleted receiving corps and coached the group to school-record marks for receptions (260) and yardage (3,419).

In his first three seasons at Memphis as running backs coach, Helton played a huge role in the development of several young running backs, including Jeff Sanders, Dante Brown and eventual Heisman Trophy candidate DeAngelo Williams.

Helton coached at Houston from 1997-99 under his father, Kim Helton, before arriving at Memphis. While at UH, he directed the Cougar running backs for three seasons, and was responsible in 1997 for the development of All-C-USA?performer Ketric Sanford.

A native of Sugarland, Texas, Helton played quarterback for Houston in 1993 and 1994, after transferring from Auburn University. While playing for the Auburn Tigers in 1991, Helton received SEC All-Academic honors. He was voted one of Houston’s team captains in 1994.

Following graduation from Houston, Helton entered the coaching profession as a member of Fred Goldsmith’s staff at Duke University. He worked as a graduate assistant for Duke in 1995 and was hired as the Blue Devil’s running backs coach in 1996.

JONESBORO (12/10/09) – Arkansas State Director of Athletics Dr. Dean Lee announced Thursday that Steve Roberts will continue his duties as head football coach in 2010, which will be his ninth season at the helm of the Red Wolves’ football program.

Roberts, named ASU’s 26th head football coach on December 21, 2001, led ASU to back-to-back victories to conclude the 2009 season in which the Red Wolves finished 4-8 overall and 3-5 in Sun Belt Conference play. Roberts will oversee offseason changes to the Red Wolves’ football program, starting with the naming of a new offensive coordinator.

“As a result of our annual evaluation with Coach Roberts about the status of our program, we are confident the changes that are being made will assist us in making positive strides for the future,” said Lee. “We are all working to put ourselves in the best possible position to advance this program and look forward to Steve’s continued leadership in directing our football team.”

Roberts, the 2005 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, holds the fifth most victories in school history with 41 and led ASU to the 2005 New Orleans Bowl, ASU’s first bowl appearance as an NCAA Division I-A member.

“We have made a decision to go a different direction with the offensive coordinator position,” said Roberts.  “Coach (Doug) Ruse is an outstanding football coach and has done a tremendous job in his position at Arkansas State, but sometimes change can be healthy for your program.”
ASU-Jonesboro Chancellor Robert Potts expressed his continued support for Roberts and Lee as the football program moves forward.

“I commend Coach Roberts and Dr. Lee for formulating a positive plan, following a comprehensive evaluation, to take our football program forward,” said Potts. “Our fans and our university deserve a winning program, and we have confidence that Coach Roberts is the right person to continue to lead the effort to achieve that goal.”

ASU dropped five games in 2009 by eight points or less, including three-point setbacks against nationally-ranked Iowa and Sun Belt Conference champion Troy. Four losses came against teams that will play in bowl games and six against teams that finished the year .500 or better.
The Red Wolves ended the season ranked first in the Sun Belt Conference in total defense, marking the fourth consecutive year they have ranked among the top two teams in the league defensively. While ASU slipped from third in the conference in total offense in 2008 to seventh in 2009, it ranked among the top four teams in several special teams categories that included kickoff coverage (1), field goals (3), punt return average (3), kickoff returns (4) and punting (4).

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JONESBORO (12/7/09) – Arkansas State senior kicker Josh Arauco (Grand Prairie, Texas) and senior defensive end Alex Carrington (Tupelo, Miss.) were named the Sun Belt Conference’s Special Teams and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, Monday for their performances in the Red Wolves’ 24-20 victory over Western Kentucky.
Already the Sun Belt Conference’s all-time leader in field goals made with 58, senior kicker Josh Arauco became the league’s all-time leader in points by kicking during the final game of his career at Arkansas State. Arauco kicked a 27-yard field goal and made all three of his extra-point attempts to finish the game with six points and give him the SBC record with 288 career points.

Arauco, named the league’s special teams player of the week for the fifth time of his career, also completed his career as ASU’s all-time leader in field goals made and points by kicking.
Carrington tied both the ASU and Sun Belt Conference record for sacks with four, posted a career-high five tackles for loss, tallied a season-high seven tackles and returned a fumble 27 yards with 3:49 left in the fourth quarter for the game-winning touchdown.

Carrington’s four sacks gave him nine total for the season, which ties the most this season and the eighth most all-time by an SBC player. His four sacks also gave him 21.5 for his career, moving him into second place for the most in school history and into fourth place for the most in Sun Belt history.
Carrington’s 5.0 tackles for loss were the most by an SBC player this season and gave him 14.5 for the season, the third most in the league. The play before Carrington recovered and returned the fumble for the touchdown, he posted his third sack to set up a 3rd-and-16 for WKU. Carrington posted his final sack on WKU’s last possession to help preserve the victory for ASU.

ASU had four players receive one of the Sun Belt Conference’s weekly individual honors this season. In addition to Arauco and Carrington, sophomore linebacker Demario Davis was named the league’s defensive player of the week on Oct. 26 and sophomore kicker Ryan Wilbourn was named the special teams player of the week on Nov. 30