Arkansas State Red Wolves vs Central Arkansas Bears Preview

Kickoff: 6:00 PM CST Saturday, September 24

Location: Centennial Bank Stadium (30,964)

TV: Streaming on ESPN3

Radio: EAB Red Wolves Network (107.9 FM Flagship)

Series History: UCA leads 12-10-2. First met in 1916

Live Stats: astatestats.com/astateredwolves.com

Line: No Vegas Line

What Blake Anderson Is Saying: “I think we have a very dangerous UCA team coming in this week. I wish they were terrible, they’re not.”

“Should be a great crowd with it being an in-state game, which is rare.”

On Justice Hansen taking over at QB1 “When we made the move, we didn't know if it was a temporary move or permanent move.”

What UCA Coach Steve Campbell Is Saying About Tempo: “Offensively they are a tempo team. They’re gonna tempo, tempo, tempo...The good thing for us is we’ve played some tempo, Samford was a tempo team. We do a lot of tempo stuff. We work against tempo every week. I think we will be prepared for the tempo.”

Last Time We Saw the Red Wolves: ASU (0-3) had one of its poorest halves of football enroute to a 34-20 loss at Utah State but did seem to find a spark with a swap at QB from graduate transfer Chad Voytik to sophomore Justice Hansen. Hansen came into the game off the bench in the first quarter and proceeded to throw for 277 yards and a touchdown with a completion percentage of near 70%. Hansen will draw his first start of his career Saturday night.

Last Time We Saw the Bears: UCA (2-1) used a pounding running game to topple Northwestern State (LA) 24-10 to run their conference record to 2-0. The Bears amassed 227 yards on the ground led by senior Antwon Wells carrying it 25 times for 129 yards.

What Should Happen: ASU should be able to physically impose its will on the FCS Bears but don't expect the Bears to flinch from the opportunity, ASU is the only FBS team on their 2016 schedule.

What Will Happen: UCA has made it clear that they intend on running the football, they have had 2 different running backs go over 100 yards in a game this season and don't seem afraid to play as many 5 in a game. Expect the Bears to find rushing the ball difficult and being forced to go to the air which will allow the Red Wolves athleticism to show on defense, especially up front. Offensively for ASU, expect new starting QB Justice Hansen to be given plenty of opportunities to find a rhythm early in the passing game, with Buster Faulkner looking to expand the passing vertically down the field as the Red Wolves should give the Bears matchup problems.

Prediction: Arkansas State 48 UCA 13