ARKANSAS STATE at SMU
Saturday, Sept. 23 • 7 p.m. • ESPN3
Gerald J. Ford Stadium (32,000/FieldTurf)
Dallas, Texas
Television
ESPN3
David Saltzman and Stanford Routt
Radio
KTCK-FM 96.7 (SMU flagship)
THE GAME
Saturday’s game will be the third meeting between SMU and Arkansas State … The teams split a home-and-home series in 2006 and 2007 as SMU took a 55-9 win in Dallas in the first meeting before the Red Wolves gained a 45-28 win in Jonesboro, Arkansas, in the second … The Mustangs are 2-2 against teams from the Sun Belt Conference.
ARKANSAS STATE
1-1, 0-0 Sun Belt
Head Coach
Blake Anderson (Sam Houston State ’92)
25-16, fourth season
Notes
Arkansas State looks for its second straight win after the Red Wolves scored a 48-3 victory against Arkansas-Pine Bluff last Saturday … The Red Wolves opened with a 43-36 setback at Nebraska and had been scheduled to host Miami (Fla.) in Week 2 before Hurricane Irma forced the cancellation of that game … Arkansas State has won five Sun Belt championships in the last six years … The Red Wolves started last season at 0-4, but rallied to win eight of its last nine games to claim a share of the Sun Belt crown and defeat UCF in the Cure Bowl … QB Justice Hansen has completed 70.7 percent of his passes (70 of 99) for 751 yards and eight touchdowns with two interceptions … RB Warren Wand has rushed for 131 yards and a TD … WR Christian Booker, WR Chris Murray and WR Kendrick Edwards have 11 catches each.
SMU
2-1, 0-0 American
Head Coach
Chad Morris (Texas A&M ’92)
9-18, third season
Notes
SMU suffered its first loss of the season last Saturday as the Mustangs dropped a 56-36 decision at TCU … SMU was poised to take a 22-21 lead into halftime, but saw the Horned Frogs connect on a 38-yard touchdown pass as time expired in the second quarter … SMU opened the season with wins against Stephen F. Austin (58-14) and North Texas (54-32) … QB Ben Hicks has thrown for 729 yards and eight touchdowns with three interceptions … RB Ke’Mon Freeman has a team-high 151 rushing yards with three touchdowns … Preseason All-America WR Courtland Sutton has 11 catches for 185 yards and five touchdowns, whlie WR Trey Quinn leads the Mustangs with 17 catches for 256 yards to go with two TDs … The defense has been led by LB Kyran Mitchell, who has 17 tackles, 3.0 sacks and 5.0 tackles for loss.